List of Features Removed in Windows 7 - Other Windows Applications and Features

Other Windows Applications and Features

• To preserve the digital signature of a Windows Installer (MSI) file during uninstall, embedded cabinets are no longer automatically stripped off by Windows Installer 5.0 to save disk space. As a result, MSIs cached in the %Windir%\Installer directory take more disk space than earlier Windows versions with no option to disable the caching.
• Transient Multimon Manager (TMM), a Windows Vista feature to automatically detect hot-Plug and Play displays as well as configure and save the multi-monitor setup is removed in favor of Win+P.
• The On-screen keyboard removes direct access to function keys. Function keys are now accessed using the 'Fn' key.
• Windows Remote Assistance does not support file transfer and clipboard sharing in Windows 7.
• The Offline Files cache can be relocated, however, an existing cache with previously cached files cannot be moved without resetting it as was possible in Windows Vista using Windows Easy Transfer or in Windows XP/2000 using Cachemov.exe
• The DFS Replication Service included in Windows Vista for peer-to-peer DFS Replication service groups, has also been removed.
• The 3D visuals from WinSAT benchmark have been removed.
• Some features have been removed from Windows Defender such as the Software Explorer, configuration of security agents and notifications of program activities or when running startup programs as administrator.
• Removable Storage Manager (RSM) has been removed, so applications that depend on it—such as NTBackup or the NTBackup Restore Tool—cannot back up to physical or virtual tape drives.
• Windows Meeting Space, and the InkBall game have been removed.
• Windows Ultimate Extras for the Ultimate edition which included Windows DreamScene, Microsoft Tinker, and the Hold' Em poker game among others, was removed. Microsoft had initially announced that they will re-offer Tinker and Hold 'Em in the near future. On December 15, only Tinker was made available for free as a Games for Windows - LIVE downloadable game which requires signing in to Windows Live ID.
• Microsoft Agent 2.0 technology was removed, breaking compatibility with Microsoft Agent applications. A separate installation package has been provided by Microsoft "due to customer feedback."
• The sidebar for Desktop Gadgets was removed, although gadgets can align to any side of the screen like they did in Vista.
• The Contacts, Notes and Stocks Desktop Gadgets have been removed. The Notes gadget has been replaced by Sticky Notes, allowing for both text and ink-based notes. An upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 retains the user's notes from the gadget and transfers them to the Sticky Notes program.
• The import, export, drag and drop and voice note features in earlier versions of Sticky Notes have been removed.
• The Windows Firewall Control Panel does not allow configuring port-based filtering although the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security MMC-based snap-in allows this.
• Filtering policies in Group Policy to show only a specific operating system or application is no longer available.
• Software Restriction Policies no longer support multiple levels of trust such as "basic user" (only block or allow are still supported); this functionality has been superseded by User Account Control and AppLocker.
• The common font selector dialog box does not show the type of font (OpenType, TrueType, Symbol font, etc.)
• Windows Registry Reflection for x64 editions replaced with merged 32/64-bit keys.
• File backup to a network share (non-system image backup) is only available in Windows 7 Professional and above whereas it was included in Windows Vista Home Premium.
• Windows Import Video, a feature in Windows Vista which allowed one to import live or recorded video from a digital video camera and save it to the hard disk, has been removed.
• The option in Windows Vista to send search queries (keywords) of searches performed in the Control Panel category view to Microsoft has been removed in Windows 7.