With less than two weeks left until 2025, it's time to look back at the list of features that Microsoft has stopped supporting or removed from the Windows 10 and 11 platforms in 2024.
Overall, the number of features that Microsoft removed from the Windows environment last year was not as high as in 2023. There were “farewells” that had been predicted in advance, but there were also many features that were removed and left behind. many regrets.
Features removed from Windows in 2024
Windows Subsystem for Android | March 2024
Let's start with the big one: Android app support. A utility that was once considered central to the Windows 11 experience has now been removed.
You can no longer download Windows Subsystem for Android, Amazon App Store for Windows, and any other officially supported apps. However, if you have some apps installed, they will continue to work until March 5, 2025. Although Microsoft has never provided any official explanation for its decision to ditch Windows Subsystem for Android, some of the company's developers revealed that the project was headed in the wrong direction from the beginning.
Test Base | March 2024
Test Base, a cloud-based Azure service that supports application testing, has been shut down. On June 1, 2024. Microsoft “shut down” Test Base and deleted all user information, claiming that Windows 11 itself and the operating system's “continuous innovation” had solved “a large application compatibility issues”, so Test Base is no longer needed.
TLS server authentication certificate with some RSA keys | March 2024
RSA keys shorter than 2048 bits are no longer valid for certificates. Microsoft removed them to improve security when using certificates for authentication and cryptographic purposes.
Password payload in MPR messages | March 2024
This is another security-related change in Windows 11 version 24H2 and later. The NPLogonNotify and NPPasswordChangeNotify APIs have been deprecated to prevent password exposure risk. However, because some customers may still need these APIs, Microsoft is still required to license their use through a dedicated policy.
Microsoft Defender Application Guard | April 2024
The Microsoft Defender Application Guard (MDAG) extension is essentially a security tool to monitor untrusted websites and redirect them from your current browser to an isolated version of Microsoft Edge . This extension (available for Chrome and Firefox) was discontinued in May 2024.
Driver Verifier GUI | May 2024
Driver Verifier is a special component for stress testing Windows drivers. Although the verifier is not gone, its graphical user interface is now outdated. Microsoft recommends that users use Verifier Command Line (verifier.exe) instead of Driver Verifier GUI.
NTLM | June 2024
The New Technology Lan Manager utility has been removed, and Microsoft says all NTLM calls will be replaced with Negotiate calls. What's interesting is that despite promising to retain NTLM, Microsoft has in fact silently removed NTLM from consumer and server versions of Windows in December 2024.
DirectAccess | June 2024
DirectAccess, a remote connection feature to enterprise networks introduced in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, is no longer being used, replaced by Always on VPN.
Adobe Type 1 fonts | August 2024
Adobe stopped supporting Type 1 fonts about two years ago, preventing users from using certain creative applications. Therefore, Microsoft also decided to stop supporting Type 1 fonts in modern versions of Windows, and users are recommended to remove them in Settings > Personalization > Fonts.
Paint3D | August 2024
Paint3D was Microsoft's failed attempt to make classic Paint more modern by adding 3D capabilities. Paint3D is no longer available for download from the Microsoft Store.
Legacy DRM services | September 2024
This is the only feature that doesn't directly impact the Windows 10 and 11 experience. The termination of legacy DRM services means you won't be able to play protected content in Windows Media Player and Silverlight on Windows 7, Windows 8 and Xbox 360.
In total, Microsoft has discontinued support for 11 Windows features and components by 2024. Do you have any special memories of these features? Let's share!