Unplugged

Here are the Removed and Deprecated Features in Windows 10 1809

By Brian Burgess

Published September 22, 2018

With each new major Windows 10 update we get cool and useful new features, and at the same time, some classic features are removed or replaced.

Soon Microsoft will be rolling out its next feature update – Windows 10 version 1809 aka October 2018 Update. We showed you the features that were removed or deprecated in Windows 10 1803 earlier this year. And this time Microsoft is removing some more features and utilities. Some you might miss and others you might not even know existed. Losing features isn’t anything new as Windows has lost various features throughout the years and replaced them with others. In all, there are seven features being removed and three that the company will no longer actively developed.

Removed Windows 10 Features

Here is the full list of features being removed from Windows 10 1809 and what you can use instead:

• Business Scanning, also called Distributed Scan Management (DSM): We’re removing this secure scanning and scanner management capability – there are no devices that support this feature.
• FontSmoothing setting in unattend.xml : The FontSmoothing setting lets you specify the font antialiasing strategy to use across the system. We’ve changed Windows 10 to use ClearType by default, so we’re removing this setting as it is no longer necessary. If you include this setting in the unattend.xml file, it’ll be ignored.
• Hologram app: We’ve replaced the Hologram app with the Mixed Reality Viewer. If you would like to create 3D word art, you can still do that in Paint 3D and view your art in VR or Hololens with the Mixed Reality Viewer.
• limpet.exe: We’re releasing the limpet.exe tool, used to access TPM for Azure connectivity, as open source.
• Phone Companion: When you update to Windows 10, version 1809, the Phone Companion app will be removed from your PC. Use the Phone page in the Settings app to sync your mobile phone with your PC. It includes all the Phone Companion features.
• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) management console: The information previously available in the TPM management console is now available on the Device security page in the Windows Defender Security Center.

Deprecated Windows 10 Features

Here is the current list of features that Microsoft will no longer support and stop development on in Windows 10 1809.

• Companion device dynamic lock APIS: The companion device framework (CDF) APIs enable wearables and other devices to unlock a PC. In Windows 10, version 1709, we introduced Dynamic Lock, including an inbox method using Bluetooth to detect whether a user is present and lock or unlock the PC. Because of this, and because third party partners didn’t adopt the CDF method, we’re no longer developing CDF Dynamic Lock APIs.
• OneSync service: The OneSync service synchronizes data for the Mail, Calendar, and People apps. We’ve added a sync engine to the Outlook app that provides the same synchronization.
• Snipping Tool: The Snipping Tool is an application included in Windows 10 that is used to capture screenshots, either the full screen or a smaller, custom “snip” of the screen. In Windows 10, version 1809, we’re introducing a new universal app, Snip & Sketch, that provides the same screen snipping abilities, as well as additional features. You can launch Snip & Sketch directly and start a snip from there, or just press WIN + Shift + S. Snip & Sketch can also be launched from the “Screen snip” button in the Action Center. We’re no longer developing the Snipping Tool as a separate app but are instead consolidating its functionality into Snip & Sketch.

Just to mention about the Snipping Tool which we have covered in the past, it will still be there, however, no further development will take place for it. As Microsoft mentions above, it is being consolidated into the Snip & Sketch tool. I’ve been testing it out on the Redstone 5 Insider builds, and you can read our article on how to use the new Snip & Sketch tool. It’s just as intuitive as the classic Snipping Tool but with more options including easy annotations and sharing.

Are you going to miss any of the features listed above? You probably didn’t even know some of them existed. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.