Windows Vista: What's missing?

There’s been plenty written (with plenty more to come) about the features that are set to be included in Windows Vista. But what about features that won’t be in the next version of Windows?

I’m not talking about features that have been cut from Vista during the development process, such as WinFS. I mean features that are currently part of Windows XP that won’t be included in Vista.

The Wikipedia entry on Vista includes at the very end an interesting list of “XP features excluded” from Vista. (The rest of that same Wikipedia entry, about features set to be included in Vista, is a nice, relatively succinct read, as well.)

I can’t vouch for the complete accuracy of "excluded" list. In fact, I saw one entry – file and print services for Macintosh delivered via support for the AppleTalk protocol – that seems to have been discontinued (at least in the vast majority of cases) in 2001 with Windows XP.

But a number of the other entries are right on the money. Among the no-longer-part-of-Windows list:

• Windows Messenger, the instant-messaging program built into previous versions of Windows up to and including Windows XP. In its place: A download link (but not the actual bits, it seems) to Microsoft’s Windows Live Messenger. In South Korea, there will be links to other, competitive IM products, too; I'm not sure if this will be the case in the U.S. or not.

• Integration between Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer (IE). Remember not so long ago when Microsoft was arguing that IE was so tightly integrated into the fabric of Windows that it could not be removed? It seems at least some of that integration can be undone, after all.

• Support for IP over 1394 (FireWire), the Gopher protocol and IPX networks

• Microsoft Pinball. There are a bunch of other new games that will be integrated into Vista, like “Mahjong Titans,” “Spider Solitaire” and “Purble Place." But Pinball is out, as are links to the Backgammon, Hearts, Reversi, Spades and Checkers games on MSN Gaming Zone.

Anyone noticed any other XP features that aren’t in Vista that might be missed?