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Windows 10 2004: These are the features we're deprecating or dropping, says Microsoft

Microsoft details the features it's no longer working on in Windows 10 and those it's removed in version 2004.
Written by Liam Tung, Contributing Writer

With the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, version 2004, now released, Microsoft has detailed the Windows 10 features it's no longer developing and features it's removed. 

Features that are no longer under active development are those that Microsoft might remove in a future update. With every major Windows 10 release, Microsoft details features of the operating system that it stops developing and removes.  

The three features Microsoft is no longer developing in Windows 10 2004 include Companion Device Framework, the legacy Microsoft Edge browser, and Dynamic Disks. 

SEE: Office 365: A guide for tech and business leaders (free PDF)

The Companion Device Framework was restricted to approved developers and was designed to enable IoT devices to be used as an external authentication device for Windows Hello on Windows 10 PCs that lacked, for example, an infrared camera for facial authentication. 

The legacy EdgeHTML Microsoft Edge of course has been replaced with Microsoft's new Chromium-based Edge browser, which isn't shipped with Windows but is available automatically via Windows Update.   

Microsoft has deprecated Dynamic Disks and says this feature will be fully replaced by the RAID-like Storage Spaces software in a future release. The feature helps protect data from drive failures. 

Features removed from Windows 10 version 2004 include Cortana, Windows To Go, and Mobile Plans and Messaging apps.  

With the latest release of Windows 10, Microsoft decided to release its Cortana assistant as a standalone app. This version of the Cortana app was made available this week for systems running Windows 10 version 2004

Microsoft plans to update and improve the app via updates from the Microsoft Store over the coming months. Eventually it will integrate Cortana with Teams so that people can use voice commands on the Teams mobile clients. 

SEE: Windows 10: How long will your next feature update take to install?

Microsoft's previous announcements on deprecating features in Windows have not always gone down well with users.

In 2017, the company revealed it had decided to remove the Paint app from Windows 10. After a public outcry, Microsoft issued a statement clarifying that the app would live on in Microsoft's app store "for free".

Then in 2019, Microsoft decided not to remove the built-in Paint app from Windows 10 after all.

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