Windows 10 is a version of Windows NT and the successor of Windows 8.1. Some features of the operating system were removed in comparison to Windows 8 and Windows 8.1, and further changes in features offered have occurred within subsequent feature updates to Windows 10. Following is a list of these.
Features removed in version 1507: (RTM)
Windows shell
The charms are removed, and replaced with the Action Center. In Windows Runtime apps, a menu button appears on the title bar that can be used to access the functions that previously required its usage. Users are no longer able to synchronize Start menu layouts across all devices associated with a Microsoft account. A Microsoft developer justified the change by explaining that a user may have different applications they want to emphasize on each device that they use, rather than use the same configuration across each device. The ability to automatically install a Windows app across all devices associated with an account was also removed. Dragging and dropping items from or within the start menu and the list of recent files (accessible from right click on a taskbar shortcut) is no longer possible.
System components
User control over Windows Updates is removed (except in enterprise versions). In earlier versions, users could opt for updates to be installed automatically, or to be notified so they could update as and when they wished, or not to be notified; and they could choose which updates to install, using information about the updates. Windows 10 Pro and Enterprise users may be configured by an administrator to defer updates, but only for a limited time. Under the Windows end-user license agreement, users consent to the automatic installation of all updates, features and drivers provided by the service, and implicitly consent "without any additional notice" to the possibility of features being modified or removed. The agreement also states, specifically for users of Windows 10 in Canada, that they may pause updates by disconnecting their device from the Internet. Drivers for external (USB) floppy drives are no longer integrated and must be downloaded separately. While all Windows 10 editions include fonts that provide broad language support, some fonts for Asian languages (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, etc.) are no longer included with the standard installation "to reduce the amount of disk space that Windows requires", but are available without charge as optional font packages. When software invokes text in languages other than those for which the system is configured and does not use the Windows font fallback mechanisms designed always to display legible glyphs, Windows displays unsupported characters as a default "not defined" glyph, a square or rectangular box, or a box with a dot, question mark or "x" inside. The ability to create MS-DOS bootdisks has been removed. This means the last remnant of MS-DOS (aside from NTVDM in 32-bit editions) has been removed.
Media features
Windows Media Center is discontinued, and is uninstalled when upgrading from a previous version of Windows. Upgraded Windows installations with Media Center will receive the paid app Windows DVD Player free of charge for a limited, but unspecified, time. Microsoft had previously relegated Media Center and integrated DVD playback support to a paid add-on beginning on Windows 8 due to the cost of licensing the required DVD playback related patents, and the increasing number of PCs that have no optical drives.
Internet and networking
Web browsers can no longer set themselves as a user's default without further intervention; changing the default web browser must be performed manually by the user from the "Default apps" page in Settings app, ostensibly to prevent browser hijacking. Parental controls no longer support browsers other than Internet Explorer and Edge, and the ability to control browsing by a whitelist was removed. Also removed was the ability to control local accounts, and the ability to scan a machine for applications to allow and block.
Bundled software
The Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, and Travel apps have been discontinued. Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft does not offer WinHelp viewer for this (or higher) version. The last version of Windows on which it was possible to open WinHelp files, using a downloadable component, is Windows 8.1.
