As the saying goes, you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs. And on the road to Windows Vista, Microsoft broke enough eggs to make a Texan souffle. Features got moved, renamed, and ripped out completely.
If you're fresh from Windows XP or another version of Windows, you might spend your first few weeks with Vista wondering where things went. Here's a handy cheat sheet: features that aren't in Vista (or aren't where you think they should be).
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"Add or Remove Programs" control panel. The Control Panel applet called Programs and Features performs the software-removal function (Start -> Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features). No Control Panel applet remains to add software, because all software these days comes with its own installer.
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Backgammon. All of Windows XP's "play across the Internet" games are gone from Vista.
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CDF protocol. Gone.
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Checkers. All of Windows XP's "play across the Internet" games are gone from Vista.
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Clipbook Viewer. This handy multi-Clipboard feature is no longer in Vista.
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.doc file support in WordPad. Gone. WordPad can no longer read Microsoft Word documents. (Microsoft must really want you to buy Microsoft Office.)
Tip: So how are you supposed to open and create Word files if you don't actually have Microsoft Word?One free, easy way is to use Google's own online word processor, Docs (http://docs.google.com). It can both create Word documents and open other people's.
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DirectAnimation. This technology has been removed from Vista.
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Discuss pane. This Windows XP panel did nothing unless some technically proficient administrator set up something called a SharePoint Portal Servera corporate software kit that permits chat sessions among employees. Anyway, it's no longer in Windows.
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Documents & Settings folder. Now called Users.
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Explorer bar. Gone.
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Favorites folder. Favorites are still around, in the sense of bookmarks from Internet Explorer. But the one that can also list folder windows, documents, and other icons is gone. Microsoft suggest that you use the new Favorite Links list in its place.
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File types. In Windows XP, you could define new file types and associate them with programs yourself, using the File Types tab in the Folder Options dialog box. In Vista, the File Types tab is gone. There's a similar dialog box now, but it doesn't let you make up your own file types and associations. It doesn't let you define custom secondary actions, either, or ask Explorer to reveal filename extensions only for specific file types.
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Files & Settings Transfer Wizard. Renamed Windows Easy Transfer
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Filmstrip view (Explorer windows). Replaced by the any-size-you-like icon view feature.
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Gopher. Removed.
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Hardware profiles. Removed.
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Hearts (Internet Hearts). All of Windows XP's "play across the Internet" games are gone from Vista.
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Hotmail accounts in Outlook Express. Gone. Windows Mail can't check Web-based email accounts.
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HyperTerminal. This old-time, text-only terminal program is gone, along with the BBS systems that were once its raison d'etre.
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Image toolbar (Internet Explorer). Removed. Most of the commands that were on this auto-appearing IE 6 toolbar, thoughSave Picture, E-mail Picture, Set as Background, and so onare now in the shortcut menu that appears when you right-click any picture on the Web.
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Indexing Service. This technical, generally ignored search option has been reborn in the glorious form of Windows Search
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Internet games. Those old Windows XP games that you could play against other people onlineBackgammon, Hearts, Reversi, Spades, and Checkershave been removed.
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IP over FireWire. Removed.
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Macintosh services. The software that offered file and print sharing via the AppleTalk protocol (which even Apple has abandoned) is gone.
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Media toolbar. The Windows Media Player toolbar is the same idea: it lets you control your music playback right from the taskbar.
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My Network Places. To see the other computers on your network in Windows Vista, choose Start -> Network.
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NetMeeting. Removed. Microsoft says that Windows Meeting Space is its successor but Meeting Space lacks NetMeeting's voice- and video-chat features. Well, there's always Skype.
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Offline browsing (Internet Explorer). In Windows XP, you could right-click a Web page's name in your Favorites menu and store it for later perusal when you were no longer onlinecomplete with whatever pages were linked to it. Internet Explorer would even update such pages automatically each time you got back online. This feature is gone from Internet Explorer 7.
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"Parent folder" button. In Windows XP, you could click this button to go up one folder (that is, to see the folder that enclosed the current one). It's gone in Vista, although you can perform the same function by pressing Alt+up arrow key (or by clicking one of the folder names in the Address bar's "breadcrumb trail").
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Password protecting a .zip archive. Removed. In the window of any open .zip file, there's still a column that indicates whether or not each file is password-protectedbut in Vista, there's no way to add such a password yourself.
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Pinball. Gone, although there are several good new games that come with Vista.
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PowerToys. Not available at Vista's release in January 2007, although Microsoft reserves the right to come up with these freebie software goody bag later.
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Reversi. All of Windows XP's "play across the Internet" games are gone.
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Run command. It may seem to be missing from the Start menu, but you can put it right back. Or you can just press (window key) +R to call it up.
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Search assistant (Internet Explorer). Replaced by the new Search bar at the upper-right corner of the Internet Explorer window.
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Search pane. By choosing View -> Explorer Bar -> Search, you could open Windows XP's Search program. But the new Start menu Search box is infinitely superior.
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SerialKeys. This feature for specialized gadgets for the disabled is no longer supported.
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Spades. All of Windows XP's "play across the Internet" games are gone from Vista.
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Startup Hardware Profiles. Removed.
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Taskbar dragging. You can no longer drag the taskbar's top edge off the screen to hide it manually. You can't drag the taskbar to the middle of screen anymore, either. And you can't drag a folder to edge of screen to turn it into a toolbar. (One guess: Too many people were doing this stuff accidentally and then getting frustrated.)
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Telnet. Removed or so it seems. Fortunately, you can restore it using the "Turn Windows Features on and Off" feature. select Telnet Client.
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The prefix "My." Gone, thank heaven. Now your folder names are Computer, Music, Pictures, Documents, and so onnot My Computer, My Music, and so on. (Was there really any doubt whose those folders were?)
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Tip of the Day. No longer part of Windows. Microsoft must expect you to get your tips from computer books now.
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TweakUI. Not available for Vista, at least at its release. Microsoft may well come up with a similar super-tweaking program later.
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Wallpaper. Now called Desktop Background. (Right-click the desktop; from the shortcut menu, choose Personalize.)
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Web Publishing Wizard. Gone.
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What's This? button in dialog boxes. This little link is gone from Windows dialog boxes, probably because it didn't work in most of them. Now, if help is available in a dialog box, it lurks behind the ? button.
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Windows Address Book. Replaced by Windows Contactsa folder more than a program.
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Windows Components Wizard. Now called the Windows Features dialog box
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Windows Messenger. Microsoft's chat program no longer comes preinstalled in Windows, thanks to antitrust legal trouble the company encountered. There is, however, a link on the Welcome screen that lets you download it.
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Windows Picture and Fax Viewer. This old program's functions have been split. Now you view pictures in Windows Photo Gallery Viewer, and faxes in Windows Fax and Scan (available in the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Vista).
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XBM images. Gone.
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Yahoo accounts in Outlook Express. Gone. Windows Mail can't check Web-based email accounts.
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