Windows 10 version 1809: removed and deprecated features

As is the case with all new Windows 10 feature releases, some features have either been removed outright from the new version or put on hold for removal in a later version.

Tip: check out the removed and deprecated features of Windows 10 version 1803 here.

The removed features in the October 2018 Update won't affect many users; it may have an impact on some businesses and Enterprise customers.

There is no big impact change such as the removal of the Homegroup feature of the April 2018 Update for Windows 10.

Removed features

Here is the list of features that are removed in the new feature update:

Feature	Alternative
Business Scanning, aka Distributed Scan Management	none, not used by any device
FontSmoothing in unattend.xml	Windows 10 uses ClearType by default
Hologram app	replaced with Mixed Reality Viewer
limpet.exe	released as open source. Used to access TPM for Azure connectivity
Phone Companion	the Phone page in the Settings app to sync mobile phone with the PC
Trusted Platform Module management console	available in the Device Security page of the Windows Defender Security Center
Updates through Windows Embedded Developer Update	Download updates from Microsoft Update Catalog

Deprecated features that are no longer in active development

No word on classic Paint which Microsoft listed as deprecated when it released the Fall Creators Update in 2017. Paint will be removed but Microsoft revealed that it would move the app to the Windows Store so that users who wanted to use it could download and install it that way.

Microsoft lists three deprecated features that are no longer in active development. These features or tools won't be removed in Windows 10 version 1809 but they won't receive any updates either. Microsoft will remove these eventually from the operating system.

The company lists Companion device dynamic lock APIS, replaced by Dynamic Lock, and OneSync service, taken over by Outlook app syncing, as no longer in development.

Probably the most popular of the deprecated features is the Snipping Tool which Microsoft plans to replace with the upcoming Snip & Sketch application that it will introduce in Windows 10 version 1809.

You can check out Microsoft's listing of removed and deprecated features on the company's Docs website.

Closing words

Feature removals in Windows 10 version 1809, the October 2018 Update, should not affect lots of Home users. The removal may affect business workflows, however.

Now You: are you impacted by these changes?