As Windows changes and evolves, many new features are added and old ones are removed. And as that happens, it can be easy to forget features that were once part of Windows but were then removed or replaced with something else. So I'm here to remind you of some of those old features that maybe you don't remember anymore. Whether it's from the 90s or as recent as 2015, let's take a look at just 10 of these forgotten features.

10 Windows 2000 and XP disk defragmenter

It's not removed, but it's not the same

This one may sound odd because the disk defragmenter is still available in Windows 11 (now called "Optimize drives"), but the thing is, it's nothing like it used to be back in the XP days. The Disk Defragmenter I grew up with had a much more interesting interface, where you could see the state of the disk in a graph. This would show you bars to represent blocks of storage that were either free or taken, and it really helped you visualize how fragmented your files were. I remember just sitting and watching it do its things and seeing the bars move around.

You would think Microsoft would want to show this, because it really helped sell the idea that defragmenting a drive was doing something significant, even if it wasn't always the case. However, starting with Windows Vista, there were no more fun visuals in this tool, and all you can see a percentage rating the fragmentation of your files.

9 Flip 3D

Switching between apps actually felt cool

Windows Vista came out as 3D graphics were starting to become much more easily attainable, and the new display driver model allowed Windows to take advantage of more powerful hardware, with features like Aero glass. But for me, one of the coolest things I only discovered much later was the 3D task switcher UI that was available in Windows Vista and 7, called Flip 3D.

By pressing Windows + Tab (rather than the typical Alt+Tab), you could see your open apps as a sort of 3D flip book and switching between them was smooth and fun. This didn't serve any purpose other than giving you some eye candy, but it's still so cool to see today, especially compared to the much more boring Task View screen we have now. I would still love to have this option.

8 My People

Get in touch with the important people in your life

I've already talked about the My People feature recently in another article, but it fits just as well here. My People was a feature that was available in Windows 10 for a few years, and it consisted of a series of icons on your taskbar that would give you access to your most important contacts at a moment's notice.

The interesting thing about My People is that it could actually integrate with multiple apps, so you could reach out to people on any of them without having to open those apps individually. Everything was contained in this area so rather than thinking about apps, you'd just think about people. Conceptually, it was pretty cool, but the implementation was far from perfect. Microsoft sort of replaced it with Chat in Windows 11, powered by Teams, but that too was quickly discontinued.

7 NetMeeting

Video calls in the 90s

Before the advent of much more popular tools like Skype, Microsoft was already offering ways for people to participate in video meetings back in the 90s with NetMeeting. This feature, which was first rolled out as part of Internet Explorer 3 and later Windows itself, allowed you to call other people, send messages, and even share files over the internet.

While NetMeeting disappeared in the early 2000s, Microsoft kept offering new ways to engage in video calls, such as Windows Live Messenger and later Skype. Today, we have Microsoft Teams, which still serves a similar purpose.

6 Windows Messenger

My first instant messaging experience

Video calls may not have been super common in the early 2000s, but instant messaging was booming at the time, and Microsoft capitalized on that by building MSN Messenger into Windows, creating what was called Windows Messenger. I feel like a lot of people my age probably had their first experience with instant messaging with Windows Messenger or something adjacent to it. I remember using it on library computers after school.

I was a bit more familiar with its successor, Windows Live Messenger, which wasn't actually a part of Windows, and built-in some additional features like easier video calling. But I still used this one quite a bit, and I still hate how it was replaced with Skype for no good reason.

5 Briefcase

The old way of syncing files

Briefcase is a feature I'm really not familiar with firsthand, but I did see this icon every now and then back in the day. This was a special folder included in Windows versions starting with Windows 95, and it was deprecated in Windows 8. The Briefcase allowed you to store any files you wanted, and it could then be copied onto a mobile PC or a floppy disk so you could take it with you.

If you made changes to the files in the Briefcase on your secondary PC or plugged the floppy disk into something like a work computer to make changes, you could then link back with your original PC and sync the changes you made from one location to the other, and vice versa. This simple two-way syncing only allowed your files to be synced between these two points, so it didn't go further than that, but you cn think of it as a precursor to the OneDrive integration we have today.

4 Phone Dialer

Windows can make phone calls?

Here's a fun fact: if you run the dialer command in Windows 11, you can still open the Phone Dialer app, which would allow you to make calls to telephone numbers using a modem. These days, this app is obviously not really functional on any modern PC, and the fact that it hasn't been removed entirely is kind of mind boggling.

But indeed, the Phone Dialer has been around for decades, and it was designed with the purpose of (surprise surprise) making phone calls. You could even add numbers to a Speed Dial list, and during the Windows XP era, Microsoft even built out the app to be much more robust, though it had to revert to the old app due to licensing issues. It's crazy to think that it's still here, and it seems like someone is still using it, based on search results from the internet.

3 Windows DVD Maker

Who wouldn't want to make their own DVDs?

The early to mid-2000s saw the rise of many technologies, and DVDs were one of the big ones. With much more space than a CD, DVDs were primed for storing videos and movies, and of course, people wanted to take advantage of that. Microsoft was happy to provide with Windows DVD Maker, a tool that allowed anyone to burn their videos and photos onto a DVD that could be played on any DVD player.

Not only could it burn files to the DVD, but the software could also automatically create scenes within a video, which could then be selected with the scene selector feature in a DVD player. Users could even create their own animated menus for the DVD.

I remember seeing this app growing up, but I think I never figured out how to properly use it, so I don't have a whole lot of memories of it.

2 Windows Media Center

All about media and TV

As computers started becoming more and more focused on consuming media, Microsoft wanted to provide an easier way to do exactly that. Windows Media Center was a feature that first appeared as a special edition of Windows XP, but it truly hit the mass market with Windows Vista and 7. I remember having a home PC that even came with a remote designed specifically for use with Windows Media Center.

This was a full-screen UI that was designed first and foremost for consuming media like music and movies, as well as slideshows of photos. But it went further than that, even having support for streaming services like Netflix and the ability to watch live TV by connecting a TV tuner card. The UI was designed to be easy to navigate with a simple remote control, which is why dedicated remotes existed. Windows Media Center was mostly removed with Windows 8, and became entirely unavailable after Windows 10, and while it was interesting, it's a feature I never heard anyone talk about.

1 Windows Movie Maker

Actually, this one is hard to forget

Windows Movie Maker is one of my most sorely missed features from old versions of Windows. This was a simple video editor that allowed you to put together videos, music, and images to make your own videos and share them with friends. I used WIndows Movie Maker a bit growing up, and I have an oddly specific memory of my cousin making a video that used the intro to the TV show Harper's Island with a song I can't recall playing over it.

Windows Movie Maker was superseded by Windows Live Movie Maker, and that was also eventually killed off, leaving Windows without a decent video editing program built in for decades. At least now we have Clipchamp, but having a web-based app for this still doesn't feel quite right to me.

What old Windows features do you remember?

These are just some of the Windows features that have been removed over the years, but there are a lot more that you might miss from your younger days, or maybe even something that was removed recently. For me, no removal hurts more than that of Windows Movie Maker, but I'd love to hear other people's thoughts.