If you love these Windows 10 features, you should hold off on upgrading to Windows 11

Windows 11 is on the way, with improvements for gamers and a visual overhaul of pretty much everything. That’s cool, but not everything that you might use in Windows 10 is going into the new version, and you might find you miss some of those features.

The thing is, Windows 11 is still very much a work in progress. There’s nothing saying Microsoft won’t change their mind on some of these things before the full release. That’s what the feedback loop from Insider Builds is all about, and Windows 11 is no different from Windows 10 in this regard.

Here’s what we know is going to be missing when Windows 11 releases.

Here’s what you’ll be missing in Windows 11 when you do upgrade

Okay, look. We all know that every major Windows update loses (or gains!) some things that people will get up in arms about.

When Windows 8 arrived, everyone hated the forced tiled Start Menu, and Microsoft had to change it to optional. I’ve been using Windows 11 ever since the developer previews came out, and I do miss some of the things on this list.

Your Task Bar can only be in one place

Okay, this is the thing that annoys me the most about Windows 11 so far. In Windows 10, I had my Taskbar docked on the right edge of my screen because I found having it along the bottom distracting. In Windows 11, the Taskbar is locked to the bottom edge of the screen, and the only thing I can change is whether the Start Menu icon cluster is in the left corner or in the middle.

Timeline

Timeline is disappearing in Windows 11. You might not miss it, though, as not everyone used the feature. It was intended to help you sync your activity between multiple computers that you may be logged into, but it never really took off.

Quick Status

Apps in Windows 10 are able to put snippets of information on your lock screen for things like appointments or incoming emails, which is called Quick Status. It won’t be making the transition to Windows 11, possibly as part of Microsoft’s focus on security, as programs putting personal information on the lock screen could be problematic.

Live Tiles

Part of the redesign of the Start menu for Windows 11 is to remove the Live Tiles feature. To be fair, it didn’t really get used all that much outside of the Microsoft Weather app. Microsoft is kind of replacing them with desktop widgets, which will live in a slide-out panel on the desktop.

Start Menu groups

The simplified Start menu in Windows 11 is removing the ability to group tiles together and to rename those groups. You can still rearrange where apps you pinned to the Start menu are displayed, though, so maybe that’s not a bad change.

Internet Explorer

Did you think Internet Explorer was already dead? It’s not, because multiple things still use parts of it in Windows 10. Windows 11 clears out all of those vestigial traces, cutting it out like an appendix. It’s now replaced by Microsoft Edge, and if you really, really need Internet Explorer for legacy apps, you can use the new IE mode in Edge.

Tablet mode

Windows 11 won’t have a dedicated mode to switch to when it detects you’re running in tablet mode, like on one of Microsoft’s Surface devices. Instead, it will reconfigure things as it needs to, based on things like if you connect a Bluetooth keyboard. That’s possibly the smart move, as it keeps more of the user experience intact.

Skype

Skype won’t be the go-to messaging app in Windows 11. Instead, Microsoft Teams is going to be replacing it with a prominent place in the Start menu cluster on the new taskbar. Better get used to using Teams, because it will be everywhere soon.

Cortana

While Microsoft’s digital assistant, Cortana, isn’t completely disappearing in Windows 11, she won’t be quite as prominently featured. She’s gone in the install process, and she won’t be pinned to your taskbar either. Maybe she’ll replace Clippy, as the business-focused helper in Microsoft Office.

Windows S mode

Did you ever use Windows S mode, which locked Windows 10 to only being able to install apps from the Microsoft Store? Well, it’s only going to be an option in Windows 11 Home edition, maybe because Microsoft figures anyone who needs the Pro version of Windows knows how to figure out if that program they just downloaded is sketchy or not.

Well, that’s a fairly long list of things that won’t be making it to Windows 11. Are any of them a dealbreaker to you? Let us know down in the comments.

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