Alternatives For The Features Being Removed In Windows 10

Windows 10 is set for release on July 29, 2015 and in preparation, Microsoft has bundled an app with its recent updates so that Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 users can reserve a copy of the new OS, and also scan their systems for device and app compatibility. Microsoft has also released a brief list of features that it will cut from Windows 10 and these range from minor changes to major ones. Here’s a list of apps to help you fill the void left by the features Windows 10 will no longer support.

Windows Media Center

If you never upgraded to Windows 8/8.1, this will hit you hard. The Windows Media Center is no more. Windows 8/8.1 users had the option to download it as an update but the same option isn’t available for Windows 10 users. In summary, anyone running Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate, and anyone running Windows 8 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro and upgrading to Windows 10 will lose the Windows Media Center.

Alternative

KODI, previously known as XBMC is an excellent replacement for Windows Media Center. It’s free open source, comes with plenty of add-ons, and it can record and play TV channels with support for Netflix, Hulu, and more. The UI is not too shabby either.

Playback Software For DVDs

Windows 10 will no longer play DVDs. You can still read data off a DVD but for movies, you’re going to need an alternative, one of which is the aforementioned KODI player, however, there are two other options as well.

Alternatives

VLC player is something like a swiss knife for playing media so it should come as no shock that you can use it to play DVDs. If you already use this app, the upgrade transition should be painless as far as watching DVDs is concerned.

KM Player is my go-to app for playing media files and I’ve used it on Windows 7 for ages. It’s a little complicated to figure out at first but that’s only because it has so many options that you can customize. You’ll find it supports a fairly large number of formats and screen resolutions as well as subtitles.

Gadgets Removed

I’m not entirely sure how devastated people will be about this feature being pulled. So far, there is one app in the market that claims to bring gadgets back to Windows 10 and that is Sidebar.

Alternative

Sidebar works with both Windows 8 and 10, and is even integrated with Windows Search. You can browse the library of widgets from the developer and you get the old ones you were used to seeing in Windows 7.

Solitaire And Minesweeper Have Been Removed

These two games are easily the best way to procrastinate when the internet is down and you still don’t want to work. They’ve been a part of the Windows OS for a long long time but will not appear in Windows 10.

Alternative

Microsoft Solitaire Collection and Microsoft Minesweeper can be downloaded as stand-alone games from the Windows Store. The games just no longer come bundled as part of the OS but they are pretty much still available to play.

USB Floppy Drive Drivers

I had to google what a USB floppy drive is even though floppy disks were something I used when I was still studying. It’s a device for reading a floppy drive and as you can imagine, it’s going the way of the dinosaurs and Windows 10 will no longer support them. You will instead of have to download drivers either view Windows update, or from the manufacturer’s website.
There is only one other minor change that Windows 10 will make; the OneDrive app you originally downloaded will be replaced with an inbox version from Microsoft. There is little to do here except to just use the alternative already provided.

Use Voice Commands To Launch Apps & Run Scripts [Windows]

Personal assistants are fast becoming part of desktop and mobile operating systems. We’ve seen Siri, Cortana, and Google Now and they all seem impressive in their own right. The desktop still has a bit of way to go before it gets a personal assistant to match anything on mobile but the future does look bright. If you aren’t too keen on waiting for the future of voice commands and would like something now rather than later, give VoiceBot a try. It’s a free Windows app that lets you associate voice commands with actions like launching an app or running a script (among other things) and then executes them on command. The app lets you create profiles that you can associate different commands to. It has both a free and a paid version. The paid version lets you sync your profile between computers, run multiple actions in a single macro, and create unlimited profiles.

Install VoiceBot and when asked if you want to use the trial version or enter a license key, select the trial option. It will automatically revert to the free version once it has been installed.
After installation is complete (the app does not try to sneak in anything extra), create your first profile from the app’s settings. The app comes with some pre-set profiles mainly for gaming but you can create your own custom profile. Click ‘Add’ and name the profile. Next proceed to adding Macros to it.

 

Each macro has a name and you can associate actions with it such as running a program, pressing a key, and even typing text. For apps, you will have to select the app’s EXE file. Once you’ve added commands, save it to your profile and allow VoiceBot to run in the background.

 

 

It will constantly be listening for commands. When it recognizes a command, it duly launches the app or performs the action associated with it. VoiceBot keeps a log of the voice commands it has recognized. Bear in mind, recognition can become distorted by noise around you.

 

Voice recognition isn’t bad but the app is in Beta so taking that into consideration, it does a pretty good job at recognizing and executing commands.