Tech giant Microsoft announced Windows 11 on Thursday night, a major version upgrade to the popular operating system after almost six years. The new OS will come with a brand new design, a centred start menu, the ability to run Android apps, and a whole bunch of new features.
However, while everything new was revealed, the company also shared details on features that will be removed.
Here are some big changes to Windows that were announced during the event:
1. Cortana is no longer part of the boot experience. It also won't be pinned to the taskbar.
2. Live Tiles will no longer be available in the Start menu. Microsoft had been exploring de-emphasising them, but in Windows 11, they'll officially be gone. Also, anything you've pinned to the Start menu won't come along for the ride, and you can't resize it, yet.
3. There's no more tablet mode, and Windows 10's lightweight S mode (arguably also handy for tablets) will only be available in Windows 11 Home.
4. Skype is one of a few applications that will no longer be included in clean installs of the new OS. The change, while major, isn't too surprising, given that Teams will be directly integrated as part of Windows 11.
5. OneNote for Windows 10 also won't be included in clean installs.
6. In addition, Microsoft is no longer including Paint 3D and 3D Viewer, which were important enough to be the focus of one of the biggest Windows 10 updates, in clean installs. Microsoft has been moving in this direction already -- the two apps weren't included in fresh installs of a Windows 10 Insider build from March.
7. All of those apps aren't gone forever, though -- you'll still be able to download them from the Microsoft Store if you want.
8. You will no longer be able to pin the taskbar to any side of the screen -- it can only be aligned to the bottom in Windows 11. Apps also can't customise areas of the taskbar.
9. Internet Explorer is disabled. Microsoft Edge is the recommended replacement and includes IE Mode which may be useful in certain scenarios.
10. Snipping Tool continues to be available but the old design and functionality in the Windows 10 version has been replaced with those of the app previously known as Snip & Sketch.
The Windows 11 event took place at 8:30 PM IST and was nearly an hour long. During last month's annual developer conference, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had teased "significant updates" for Windows that will focus on the economic opportunity for developers and creators.
