9 Windows Features That I Still Miss

It's been astir 4 years since Windows 11 came out, and it inactive feels similar it's successful beta. Now that Microsoft has thoroughly botched the merchandise of Windows 11, I miss immoderate aged features of Windows 7 and XP much than ever. I stake you'll subordinate to astatine slightest one.

Aero Glass

I similar the plan connection of macOS to Windows successful beauteous overmuch each iteration, but one. The Aero Glass plan language, which Windows Vista introduced, and Windows 7 perfected, was highest of the Windows aesthetic.

Following the agleam and plasticky “Luna” taxable of Windows XP, the Aero Glass felt modern and fresh. It wholly rebuilt the look and consciousness of Windows with a cleanable and airy interface.

The Frutiger Aero epoch invited surface and the fuzzy points of airy that converged into the Windows logo with that serene startup sound. Thinking back, astir each dependable effect and chime successful Windows 7 had that soothing quality.

The archetypal happening you noticed aft a caller instal (other than the iconic wallpaper) was the see-through taskbar. Every model and dialog container had that aforesaid transparent look, adjacent erstwhile you dragged them around. The rubric barroom and its buttons were glassy excessively (unless hovered over, which made them glow). Stacking aggregate windows made them blurry, giving the illusion of frosted glass. You tin rhythm done unfastened windows with the “Flip 3D” shortcut that stacks them each successful 3D space.

Almost each constituent responded with a subtle animation. The Start paper fastener would airy up with a satisfying glow erstwhile hovered over. Icons would consciousness arsenic if you're “pressing down” connected them whenever hovered over. Active tabs person unrecorded previews of the progressive model successful the thumbnail.

Then determination were smaller touches similar the sleek and glossy advancement bar, which smoothly progressed dissimilar the blocky advancement barroom successful Windows XP. The taskbar icons besides flashed successful brushed greenish erstwhile a task was successful progress, arsenic did the unrecorded thumbnail previews. The in-built themes made the UI adjacent much awesome with transitioning wallpaper slideshows.

No Windows aesthetic beats the cleanable and crisp look of the Aero Glass plan language. I volition everlastingly stay nostalgic for those elegant animations and the clarity of the UI. If they ever redesign Windows, I anticipation they bring backmost Aero Glass. It was decidedly highest plan and ne'er failed to impressment me.

Before Windows 11 broke the Start menu, we utilized it each the time. The Start paper connected Windows 7 features 2 columns, a hunt bar, pinned items, a leap database (with caller items) and an each programs menu, truthful you tin easy find that app you conscionable installed oregon launched. It was functional, and you could usage it with musculus representation alone.

Windows 7 was the past mentation wherever the Start paper made sense. After that, Microsoft started stripping distant utile Start paper features and changing layouts successful each iteration.

The Metro UI of Windows 8 took distant the paper fastener wholly and replaced it with a grid of “Live Tiles” activated with a cursor gesture. Everybody hated it, truthful they brought backmost the classical layout successful Windows 10 but kept the unrecorded tiles from Windows 8, which created a mismatched, awkward mess.

Windows 10 inactive had a somewhat usable Start menu, but Microsoft made definite that Windows 11 didn’t. It moved the Start fastener to the halfway and with it, the full menu. The full paper was stripped wholly but for a mates of default pinned shortcuts. You can’t resistance and driblet things into it. It doesn’t person caller items, explorer shortcuts, oregon antithetic strategy menus.

The hunt barroom shows random garbage from Bing and ads for games and apps. There are adjacent ads successful the main Start menu. Occasionally, you volition spot shortcuts for random, but erstwhile you click them, it starts installing the apps from the Microsoft Store. You tin person much oregon less of these ads, but Windows 11 doesn’t fto you crook them disconnected (currently, there's nary fastener to disable ads successful the settings app.)

In spot of the archetypal Start menu, Windows 11 has a “Feed” widget that shows you quality stories, banal prices, and upwind updates from MSN.

A Taskbar That Made Sense

Microsoft recreated the taskbar for Windows 11 and near retired a clump of halfway features. You can’t personalize the taskbar successful immoderate meaningful mode anymore. You could reposition the barroom anyplace connected the desktop edges, left, right, top, oregon bottommost until Windows 10, but you can’t successful Windows 11. You can’t resize the taskbar either.

When asked wherefore you can't determination oregon resize the taskbar anymore, Microsoft developers explained that not capable radical wanted the personalization, truthful they didn’t codification it. However, that makes nary consciousness to me. Windows has immoderate 1.5 cardinal users worldwide and Microsoft plans connected forcing them each to power to Windows 11. So adjacent if a tiny percent of radical privation it, that’s inactive millions of users, astir speaking.

On apical of that, the toolbar diagnostic has besides been removed, and you person to right-click connected the Start paper to unfastened the powerfulness idiosyncratic menu, arsenic opposed to anyplace connected the taskbar.

Local Accounts That Respected Your Privacy

Logging successful to Windows utilized to beryllium simple. You created a section illustration and acceptable a password to unlock your machine. However, successful a caller effort to excavation arsenic overmuch idiosyncratic information arsenic possible, Microsoft has made it (almost) intolerable to make section accounts connected Windows.

For immoderate versions of Windows 11, Microsoft simply doesn’t fto you proceed the installation if you don’t log successful with an online account. You person to disconnect Wi-Fi oregon pull up the console to bypass that restriction.

Other versions marque it harder to commencement a section relationship by purposefully obscuring the button. The fastener could beryllium labeled “offline account” oregon “continue with a constricted setup.”

Microsoft precocious took down immoderate pages connected its enactment website that contained instructions for creating section accounts. It yet restored them aft facing backlash from customers.

No Bloat

Our machines are truthful overmuch much almighty now, truthful Windows should beryllium snappier than ever. But someway older computers with Windows 7 felt faster and much responsive, particularly nether heavier workloads. What gives? As it turns out, they weren't hamstrung with bloatware.

Microsoft has stuffed ads and bloatware everyplace it tin successful the Windows 11 UI. We had conscionable gotten a interruption from Cortana and Microsoft concocted Copilot. Now Copilot starts up by default connected my computer, adjacent aft I disabled it utilizing the Task Manager. It’s prepackaged with Windows and I tried uninstalling it, but it keeps showing up again.

Bing and MSN are polluting the hunt and Start menus. The Start paper besides pushes Microsoft’s “recommended” apps. File Explorer is present “cloud-powered,” which pushes OneDrive. Xbox Game Bar and Teams are preloaded sometimes. Often, you’ll spot TikTok, Candy Crush, and Spotify successful the Start paper aft a caller installation.

Before the motorboat of Windows 11, Microsoft promised that it would declutter the discourse menu. Sure enough, they decluttered it by turning each the halfway buttons into icons and putting them connected apical of the discourse menu. They hid the remainder of the buttons nether a “Show More Options” menu.

If it was immoderate random discourse menu, I wouldn’t miss the archetypal version. But the File Explorer discourse paper is my astir utilized paper shortcut. I heavy trust connected it to determination files around, rename them, pin them, unfastened them, and archive them. I cognize the Explorer shortcuts for these actions, but (for immoderate reason) I ne'er got utilized to them.

For years, I could usage this paper connected musculus representation alone. With Windows 11, I person to halt and look for the close fastener each azygous time. I privation Microsoft would fto everyone customize their discourse menu, due to the fact that that’ll beryllium the easiest mode to declutter it.

Right now, the lone mode to get the archetypal paper back is by going into the registry and switching a key. It’s not seamless though, due to the fact that Windows Update perpetually breaks that patch.

Old School Photo Viewer

In my humble opinion, the old-school Windows Photo Viewer volition everlastingly beryllium amended than the Photos app. It has wide buttons successful the halfway for navigating images, zooming, rotating, and deleting. It was elemental and worked instantly without immoderate lag whatsoever.

Microsoft Photos offers an inferior idiosyncratic interface and experience. Plus, it lags. I've sat done pinwheels loading images, adjacent connected modern Windows machines. I'm definite you person excessively (the lag is adjacent much pronounced connected somewhat older hardware). That should ne'er hap for an enactment arsenic elemental arsenic viewing a regular representation file.

The Photos app is bogged down with AI and unreality integrations. Even earlier they added these features, the app felt slower than Windows Photo Viewer.

It’s not conscionable the bloat though, due to the fact that Photos has a atrocious idiosyncratic interface. I tin ne'er reliably usage it. Say, you person a folder with a clump of images successful it. If you double-click 1 of them, it opens successful Photos. So acold truthful good. Then you effort flipping done the remainder of the images, but you can’t due to the fact that (for immoderate bizarre reason), Photos doesn’t fto you scroll done images straight from File Explorer. You person to click an representation wrong the Photos assemblage to rhythm done your collection.

Often, it conscionable refuses to fto maine acceptable an representation arsenic the wallpaper oregon fastener screen, nary substance however galore times I try. The navigation buttons which were erstwhile neatly organized successful the Photo Viewer are present scattered crossed the interface oregon replaced with a filmstrip and a clump of icons.

Built-in Games

If you’ve lone ever utilized Windows 10 and onwards, you whitethorn not cognize this, but Windows utilized to travel with immoderate truly amusive games. Windows XP had 3D Pinball: Space Cadet, which I utilized to play with my cousins. For a clump of kids who didn’t person net access, it was a large mode to walk lazy summertime afternoons.

Windows 7 had Chess Titans, Minesweeper, Freecell Solitaire, and a fewer others. My dada taught maine Solitaire, Chess, and Minesweeper. I inactive retrieve the animation that came up erstwhile helium won a game.

Chess Titans was 1 of the archetypal 3D games I played. I’m conscionable arsenic atrocious astatine chess contiguous arsenic I was backmost then, but I distinctly retrieve feeling impressed by the realistic look and consciousness of the game.

Picking Your Default Apps Without the OS Fighting Back

There was a clip erstwhile you could prime the default apps connected Windows with conscionable 1 click. On newer versions of Windows, you person to tediously configure each record and nexus benignant to unfastened with the app of your choice.

For example, if you privation to acceptable a default media player, you person to scroll done 10 antithetic record types and manually alteration the defaults for each azygous one.

Windows 10 concisely restored the archetypal default menu, with the added enactment of refining defaults by record benignant and nexus type. That was the cleanable solution. Microsoft's enactment pages accidental that Windows 11 offers the aforesaid solution with aggregate default benignant options, but my transcript of Windows 11 doesn't person them.

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Not each is mislaid though, due to the fact that you tin get galore of these features backmost connected Windows 11. You tin reconstruct the old discourse menu, marque local accounts, get Windows Photo Viewer back, and remove immoderate bloatware.