List of features removed in Windows 8

Windows 8 is the successor to Windows 7 in Microsoft's Windows line of operating systems. Several features which were present in Windows 7 are no longer present in Windows 8.

    1.     Shell

•     The Start button has been removed, although it is still accessible as a hotspot in the lower left corner of the screen, via the Windows key, and on the charms menu.

•     Aero Flip 3D has been removed. Win+Tab now activates an app switcher only for Metro-style apps.

•     The Start menu has been removed in favour of a full screen interface called the Start screen.

ü  Start screen lacks the global "Recent Documents" menu.

ü  Start screen lacks the automatically filling by usage tracking "Most Frequently Used" (MFU) programs list, each with its "Recent Documents" menu.

•     The Aero Glass theme, which has been featured in Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been removed from Windows 8 in favour of a Metro-style theme.

•     Windows Desktop Gadgets which has been featured in Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been removed from Windows 8.

•     The User Log on/Log off sounds have been removed. The startup sound remains but is disabled by default.

•     The Windows Classic theme has been removed. High Contrast mode has been modified to accommodate.

   2.     File Explorer

•     The command bar is no longer present, and has been replaced by a new Ribbon UI.

Games

•     Games such as Chess Titans have been removed. However some of them are now available on the Windows Store.

•     Shortcuts to the Games Explorer have been removed. It can still be accessed by manually creating a shortcut.

   3.     Networking

•     For dial-up connection (DUN), some of the options under Redialing options such as "Redial attempts" and "Redial if line is dropped" is no longer available. Although dial-up using PSTN telephone line is becoming increasingly rare, this could affect users that still use DUN to connect to 2G/3G/3.5G mobile network and also DSL subscribers that use Windows' PPPoE dialer.

•     The Manage wireless networks under Network and Sharing Center is no longer available, although a similar function is still available through netsh command (netsh wlan).

•     Similarly, creating an ad-hoc wireless connection ("Set up a new connection or network" > "Set up a wireless ad hoc") is no longer available through the GUI; users need to use the same netsh command or third-party utility such as Connectify.

   4.     Media features

•     Windows Media Center will no longer be included by default in any version of Windows 8, but is available as a free add-on for Windows 8 Pro until 31 January 2013.

•     Windows Media Player will no longer include codecs to play DVDs, but DVDs will be playable if the Windows Media Center add-on is installed.

•     Windows Media Center cannot run on start up or on top of other windows because of “new Windows OS requirements and behaviors”.

•     Windows DVD Maker has been removed.

•     Windows Media Player no longer has the Media Guide.

   5.     Standards compliance

•     The POSIX subsystem, SUA, has been deprecated and will be removed from the next release  of Windows.

   6.     Other

•     Backup and Restore has been renamed Windows 7 File Recovery in favor of the new feature called File History.

•     The Blue Screen of Death no longer shows as much technical information about the error that caused the computer to stop.

•     Windows CardSpace has been removed in favor of the new feature U-Prove.

•     The Parental Controls feature present in earlier versions of Windows has been removed and replaced by the Family Safety feature.

•     Chkdsk only shows a percentage when running at start up.

•     Windows Defender no longer has a scheduling feature. During a scan, the currently processed item isn't showed anymore.

•     Windows XP Mode is not supported; Hyper-V is only available for processors with SLAT

•     There is no longer default user account pictures bundled with the system. User account pictures can be copied over from Windows 7, but will need to be placed in user pictures folder (%UserProfile%\Pictures) to be able to set them as account picture in PC Settings.

•     Most of the sounds which were present in Windows 7 were removed.

•     There is no longer an option for allowing the user to disable touch as an input device, though the driver can be disabled manually.