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List of features removed in Windows XP

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Windows XP
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As the next version of Windows NT after Windows 2000, as well as the successor to Windows Me, Windows XP introduced many new features but it also removed some others. Following is a list of these.

Shell

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  • The balloon notification (or dialog box) that warns the users when removing external flash storage devices without safe unmounting has been removed.[1]
  • The Line Up Icons command on the desktop was removed and replaced by the Align to Grid option.[2] Due to this being a toggle, simply aligning desktop icons once without further constraining their placement requires an extra click.[3]: 47 
  • The Minimize all windows command on the taskbar was removed.[3]: 76  The purported replacement, Show the desktop, co-existed with this feature on Windows 2000 and in any case only hides windows temporarily instead of actually minimizing them. It is still accessible through the ⊞ Win+M keyboard shortcut but it is not available through the mouse.
  • The Show icons using all possible colors (which was previously introduced in Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0) option in Display Properties has been removed. Icons are always shown using all possible colors. Microsoft states that this is by design.[4]
  • The VGA screen resolution and 8-bit color depth options have been removed from the Settings tab of Display Properties. It is still possible to select these options using the Advanced button available under this tab, however Microsoft states that this workaround is unsupported.[5]
  • In the Command Prompt, QuickEdit mode and Insert mode are disabled by default.[6]
  • Links to Phone Dialer[7] and NetMeeting[8] were removed from the Start menu.

Boot

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  • All mentions of Windows 2000 on the boot loader were changed to just say "Windows".
  • The "Starting Windows..." message and its associated text before the boot screen (which was present in Windows 2000) has been removed. The "Resuming Windows..." message and its associated text when the computer is turned on after hibernation remains, but with the mention of "Windows 2000" being replaced with "Windows" (see above).
  • The boot screen has been simplified to an extent, with the progress bar being changed from a determinate progress bar seen in Windows 2000 to an indeterminate one. The animated gradient bar seen on the boot screens of Windows 95, 98, Me and Windows 2000 was also removed, as was the text "Starting up…" which was located next to the progress bar in Windows 2000's boot screen. The "Built on NT Technology" text from Windows 2000 was also removed.
  • The "Built on NT Technology" text on the login screen (as present in Windows 2000) was removed.

Personalization

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  • With the Desktop Themes utility in 2000 becoming the Themes tab in Display Properties in XP, the Rotate theme monthly option in Desktop Themes, which was introduced in Microsoft Plus! 98 and later included in Windows 2000 and Me, and both the options to select what parts of a theme to apply and the previews for parts of a theme were removed.
  • The old desktop themes included with Windows 98 and Windows Me including the Baseball, Dangerous Creatures, Inside your Computer, Jungle, Leonardo da Vinci, More Windows, Mystery, Nature, Science, Space, Sports, The 60's USA, The Golden Era, Travel, Underwater, Windows 98 and Windows Millennium were removed. Windows Default is replaced by Windows XP and Windows Classic.
  • The previous wallpapers and tiles from Windows 95–98, Windows Me, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 including the Plus! wallpaper were removed.
  • The Utopia sound scheme, first included in Windows 95 and included up to Windows Me, was removed. Despite this, the files for the sound scheme are still included on the Windows XP CD-ROM in the i386 folder and could be manually installed on Windows XP from the CD-ROM.
  • The Microsoft Sound, as well as Windows 2000's startup and shutdown sounds under the names Windows Logon Sound and Windows Logoff Sound respectively were removed in favor of the new startup and shutdown sounds introduced with Windows XP.
  • It is no longer possible to save or delete schemes under the Appearance tab of Display Properties.
  • The option to select a Pattern under the Background (9x/NT)/Desktop (XP) tab of Display Properties was removed. Users can only set a pattern with the Registry Editor.[9]
  • The 3D FlowerBox, 3D Flying Objects, 3D Pipes and 3D Text screensavers have been updated to use Direct3D instead of OpenGL.
    • The Channel Screen Saver and Plus! themed screensavers were completely removed as well.
    • The 3D Flying Objects screensaver was updated to replace the classic Windows logo in use since Windows 3.1 with the then-new Windows logo introduced with Windows XP, while the 3D Maze and Flying Windows screensavers were removed entirely as they were never updated to accommodate the aforementioned Windows logo changes. The 3D Pipes teapot easter egg was also removed from Windows XP.
    • The ability to View my Active Desktop as a web page in the Web tab has been removed due to the removal of Active Channels.

Windows Explorer

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  • Small Icons view was removed from Windows Explorer.[10]
  • Web view in folders was disabled by default but can be reinstated by editing the registry. Additionally, the Customize This Folder Wizard was removed.[11] Due to the removal of Web view, pie charts showing disk space are no longer available immediately upon opening a drive.[12]
  • The status bar no longer shows the free space remaining on the given disk when browsing through folder paths of shell namespace extensions,[13] removable drives,[14] and network shares when the navigation pane (Folders) in Windows Explorer is turned on, unlike in Windows 2000. It continues to show the free space remaining only for paths on local drives. In combination with the Web view-related lack of pie charts previously mentioned, this means it is no longer possible to immediately view the amount of space remaining in these three cases.
  • The Directory icon was removed from My Network Places.[15]
  • The default sort order in Windows Explorer has changed but can be restored by editing the registry.[16]

Media components

[edit]
  • Deluxe CD Player, which was also first part of Microsoft Plus! 98 before being included in Windows 2000, was removed.[17] Some functionality, including uploading[18] and on-demand (as opposed to automatic) downloading of audio track information and track previewing was not available in the replacement, Windows Media Player.
  • DVD Player is no longer usable as it is now a stub that simply opens Windows Media Player.
  • The WinMe 3D preset in the Musical Colors visualization was replaced with Ice Crystals in Windows Media Player version 8. The name still exists within the files of the visualization. Some of the previous Windows Media Player skins that were in Windows Me was removed entirely. Musical Colors was not included with Windows Media Player version 9 on clean installs of Windows XP starting with Service Pack 2, but is retained if the player is upgraded from version 8 to 9.
  • Imaging for Windows was removed.[19] It was replaced by the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer and Scanner and Camera Wizard but these two programs do not include some of its advanced functionality.[20]

Protocols

[edit]
  • NetDDE[21] and NetBEUI,[22] which are included in earlier versions of Windows, are no longer installed by default but can still be manually installed from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
  • The DLC network protocol is no longer included. A download was made available by Microsoft.[23]
  • The AppleTalk protocol is no longer included and was not made available for download from Microsoft.[24]

Subsystems

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Hardware support

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Windows 9x

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Later versions

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Service Pack 2

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  • The following raw socket functionality was removed: sending TCP network packets, sending UDP packets with invalid source network addresses, and associating local addresses.[35]
  • Support for TCP half-open connections was removed.[36]
  • Program Manager was removed and replaced with Windows Explorer. The executable is still present, but it was replaced with a stub that redirects to Explorer.
  • Media Bar, which replaced the Radio Toolbar in Internet Explorer 6,[37] was removed.[38]
  • Background message compaction was removed from Outlook Express.[39] Outlook Express in Service Pack 2 automatically compacts messages every hundredth time it is run.
  • The radio edit of David Byrne's "Like Humans Do", as previously included in the original and Service Pack 1 releases of Windows XP, was removed.
  • The Windows Movie Maker Sample File, which was a short video file consisting of clips of a male child riding a tricycle, playing in a playground, and then running in a field, is no longer generated by Windows Movie Player 2.1 when it is started for the first time, as was the case with Windows Movie Maker 1.1 in the original and Service Pack 1 releases of Windows XP.
  • The boot screens for all editions of Windows XP have been unified by Service Pack 2 for Windows XP with a new one that no longer displays the SKU, with the boot screen for Home Edition using a blue progress bar instead of green. The copyright years on the boot screen were also removed.

Service Pack 3

[edit]
  • The Address bar toolbar on the taskbar was removed for legal reasons, according to Microsoft. Windows Desktop Search is touted as a replacement.[40]
  • The ability to use boot disks to boot into setup was removed.
  • The option to display the special Internet Explorer icon on the desktop was removed.[41]
  • The ability to install service packs cumulatively is no longer available in Service Pack 3 as it requires at least Service Pack 1 to be installed first (Service Pack 2 in the cases of the original Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004).[42][43] Cumulative slipstreaming, however, is still possible and supported.[44]
  • The Energy Star logo in the Display Properties dialog, first introduced with Windows 95 and included up to Windows XP Service Pack 2, was removed.[45]
  • The copyright information in the About Windows (winver.exe) box was updated from "1985-2001" to "2007". The banner itself remains unchanged, however.

Media Center Edition 2005

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See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Chen, Raymond (December 16, 2003). "The unsafe device removal dialog". The Old New Thing. Microsoft. Archived from the original on March 8, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
  2. ^ "Line Up Icons Command Is Missing on Windows XP Desktop". Support. Microsoft. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Karp, David A.; O'Reilly, Tim; Mott, Troy (2005). Windows XP in a Nutshell (2nd ed.). Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 0596009003. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  4. ^ ""Show icons using all possible colors" Option Is Not Available". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on January 12, 2009. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  5. ^ "Cannot Change Display Setting to 640 X 480 or 256 Color". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  6. ^ "Command Prompt QuickEdit Mode Is Disabled by Default in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on December 16, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  7. ^ "Phone Dialer Is Not Available in the Communications Menu". Support. Microsoft. January 15, 2006. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  8. ^ "NetMeeting Is Not Available on the Windows XP "Communications" Menu". Support. Microsoft. January 25, 2006. Archived from the original on December 8, 2006. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  9. ^ Wempen, Faithe (April 21, 2010). "10 cool registry edits and tweaks for Windows XP". TechRepublic. Archived from the original on July 14, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  10. ^ Thurrott, Paul (October 6, 2010). "Windows 7 Feature Focus: Windows Explorer". SuperSite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  11. ^ "Windows Explorer no longer displays Web view templates or HTML customizations (using Folder.htt)". Support. Microsoft. October 10, 2003. Archived from the original on October 20, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  12. ^ JCMIT (September 6, 2004). "Free space pie chart missing?". Annoyances.org. Archived from the original on January 26, 2005. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  13. ^ aeneas kaolin (December 29, 2004). "'Disk Free Space' not displayed in Windows Explorer UNLESS viewing files under Desktop > My Computer > C". Annoyances.org. Archived from the original on January 6, 2005. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
  14. ^ ranvel (June 11, 2006). "Free space no listed in status bar for removable drives". derkeiler.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  15. ^ "The Directory icon in Entire Network in My Network Places is missing". Support. Microsoft. March 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  16. ^ "The sort order for files and folders whose names contain numerals is different in Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 than it is in Windows 2000". Support. Microsoft. August 28, 2007. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2012.
  17. ^ "Unable to Locate Either CD Deluxe or CD Player Playlists in Windows Media Player". Support (6.3 ed.). Microsoft. February 28, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  18. ^ Thurrott, Paul (June 25, 1998). "Plus! for Windows 98 Review". SuperSite for Windows. Penton. Archived from the original on September 14, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  19. ^ "Kodak imaging for Windows is not included with Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. March 22, 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  20. ^ "Kodak/Wang Image OCX Controls | Some History". Ilixis. February 29, 2012. Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  21. ^ a b "Understanding Application Compatibility". TechNet. Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 28, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  22. ^ "How to install NetBEUI on Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. June 23, 2005. Archived from the original on September 13, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  23. ^ "The DLC Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 11, 2002. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  24. ^ "The AppleTalk Protocol Is Not Available in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 18, 2001. Archived from the original on April 9, 2005. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  25. ^ a b c "Kernel Enhancements for Windows XP". MSDN. Microsoft. January 13, 2003. Archived from the original on May 27, 2013. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
  26. ^ "POSIX and OS/2 are not supported in Windows XP or in Windows Server 2003". Support. Microsoft. May 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 19, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  27. ^ Mark Edward Soper (2004). Absolute Beginner's Guide to A+ Certification. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. p. 519. ISBN 0789730626. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2020. Other size options are also available in Windows 2000; the /f:size option is not supported in Windows XP.
  28. ^ "Floppy Disk Formats That Are Supported in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 30, 2001. Archived from the original on May 8, 2005. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  29. ^ "You Cannot Format 720 KB Floppy Disks in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
  30. ^ "Non-Plug and Play Network Device Support in Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. October 18, 2001. Archived from the original on October 30, 2004. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  31. ^ "SCSI Host Adapters Removed from Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. January 27, 2006. Archived from the original on July 13, 2007. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  32. ^ "TV and Broadcast Driver Architecture". WHDC. Microsoft. Archived from the original on July 25, 2004. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  33. ^ "How to prepare to upgrade Windows 98 or Windows Millennium Edition to Windows XP". Support. Microsoft. March 5, 2013. Archived from the original on March 6, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  34. ^ "Cannot Restore Backups That You Create in Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me with the Windows XP Ntbackup Tool". Support. Microsoft. May 7, 2007. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  35. ^ "TCP/IP Raw Sockets (Windows)". MSDN. Microsoft. Archived from the original on January 28, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  36. ^ "Source: Tcpip ID: 4226 (Windows Operating System ) - Events And Errors Message Center: Message Details". Microsoft. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  37. ^ "The Radio Toolbar Is Unavailable in Internet Explorer 6". Support. Microsoft. January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on March 9, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  38. ^ "Media Bar". MSDN. Microsoft. September 4, 2012. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  39. ^ Koch, Tom (April 29, 2006). "Inside Outlook Express - Files and Settings - Maintenance Part I". Inside Outlook Express. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  40. ^ "The Address toolbar no longer appears on the taskbar after you install Windows XP Service Pack 3". Support. Microsoft. May 6, 2008. Archived from the original on May 13, 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  41. ^ "Restore Missing or Disappeared IE (Internet Explorer) Desktop Icon in Windows XP SP3". Tip and Trick. May 11, 2008. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  42. ^ "Installing Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)". TechNet. Microsoft. November 18, 2011. Archived from the original on August 22, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  43. ^ "Windows XP Service Pack 3 installation fails with an error message, and the following error is logged in the service pack installation log: "8007F0F4 - STATUS_PREREQUISITE_FAILED"". Support. Microsoft. June 12, 2012. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  44. ^ "After you create Windows XP Service Pack 3 slipstreamed media, your product key is not accepted". Support. Microsoft. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on January 27, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  45. ^ "List of fixes that are included in Windows XP Service Pack 3". Support. Microsoft. September 23, 2011. Archived from the original on October 23, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
  46. ^ "You cannot join your computer to a domain in Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005". Support. Microsoft. November 19, 2004. Archived from the original on November 1, 2005. Retrieved November 7, 2012.
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