A list of features that are deprecated or removed in Windows 11, including Cortana in the boot experience, Live Tiles in the Start menu, and tablet mode
Context & Ripple Effects
Windows 11's early design reset removed several familiar interaction patterns as Microsoft introduced a simplified interface and a redesigned Start menu. Subsequent coverage shows Microsoft continuing to revise that surface through a customizable Start menu in preview and later Start menu folders in its first major update.
The changes also arrived alongside a release whose new taskbar drew criticism and whose promised Android-app support was absent at launch, making the feature removals part of a broader trade-off between a cleaner UI and continuity for existing users.
First-order effects
- Windows 11 users lose Live Tiles, tablet mode, and Cortana during boot, requiring them to use the new Start and touch interaction model rather than those established Windows features.
- Microsoft narrows the set of built-in Windows experiences it must carry into the new release, concentrating the initial interface around the redesigned Start menu and taskbar.
Second-order effects
- Start-menu customization becomes a more important response point for Microsoft because users who relied on Live Tiles have fewer built-in ways to organize information; later builds added customization and folders.
- Touch-focused users face a transition from the dedicated tablet mode to gesture-based interaction, an area Microsoft subsequently expanded with five new touch gestures.
Third-order effects
- Windows development is moving toward replacing discrete legacy modes and dashboard-style surfaces with a smaller set of adaptable interface components, with Start-menu updates becoming the practical outlet for user choice.
- If Microsoft continues this approach, feature removal will make the quality and reliability of core shared surfaces more consequential; an expired-certificate issue later disrupted several Windows 11 tools, including the touch keyboard and emoji panel.
The trend: Windows 11 is part of Microsoft's shift from maintaining separate legacy interface modes toward a simplified core UI refined through incremental Start and touch updates.