Microsoft starting rolling out the Windows 10 May 2019 update earlier this week, which introduces several new features including Windows Sandbox, a new Light Theme, a redesigned Xbox Game Bar, and much more. The company also published a list of features that are being removed or deprecated in this update (via Windows Central), and there are quite a few.
Let’s start with the features being removed:
XDDM-based remote display driver: Starting with this release the Remote Desktop Services uses a Windows Display Driver Model (WDDM) based Indirect Display Driver (IDD) for a single session remote desktop. The support for Windows 2000 Display Driver Model (XDDM) based remote display drivers will be removed in a future release. Independent Software Vendors that use XDDM-based remote display driver should plan a migration to the WDDM driver model. For more information on implementing remote indirect display driver ISVs can reach out to [email protected].
Desktop messaging app doesn’t offer messages sync: The messaging app on Desktop has a sync feature that can be used to sync SMS text messages received from Windows Mobile and keep a copy of them on the Desktop. The sync feature has been removed from all devices. Due to this change, you will only be able to access messages from the device that received the message.
Without the ability to send text messages from a Windows 10 Mobile phone, the Windows 10 Messaging app never really had a real purpose on Windows 10 PCs. However, Microsoft won’t remove it from the OS for now, and the app is still useful for receiving carrier text messages on PCs with cellular capabilities.
As for the features being deprecated in the May 2019n there are four of them in total, including the Print 3D UWP that Microsoft wants to replace with 3D Builder. The company will also start warning users connecting to Wi-Fi networks secured with WEP or TKIP that these old ciphers have become insecure, and using AES ciphers will be required in a future Windows 10 release.
You can learn more details about features Microsoft is no longer developing below:
Taskbar settings roaming: Roaming of taskbar settings is no longer being developed and we plan to disable this capability in a future release
Wi-Fi WEP and TKIP: In this release a warning message will appear when connecting to Wi-Fi networks secured with WEP or TKIP, which are not as secure as those using WPA2 or WPA3. In a future release, any connection to a Wi-Fi network using these old ciphers will be disallowed. Wi-Fi routers should be updated to use AES ciphers, available with WPA2 or WPA3.
Windows To Go: Windows To Go in longer being developed. The feature does not support feature updates and therefore does not enable you to stay current. It also requires a specific type of USB that is no longer supported by many OEMs.
Print 3D app: Going forward, 3D Builder is the recommended 3D printing app. To 3D print objects on new Windows devices, customers must first install 3D Builder from the Store.
Microsoft always removes some features with every new Windows 10 Update, but the company recently backtracked on the deprecation of MS Paint. The company no longer plans to move it to the Windows 10 Microsoft Store, and the legacy app actually received new accessibility features in the Windows 10 May 2019 update. If you haven’t done it yet, we invite you to check out our Windows 10 May 2019 Update detailed hands-on with its accompanying video.
