Key Takeaways
- Microsoft has discontinued many products, including Cortana and Zune software, due to competition and changing user needs.
- Windows Movie Maker and MSN Messenger were also axed, despite their potential impact on video editing and online communication.
- Wunderlist, a popular task management app, met the same fate, with Microsoft shutting development in favor of its new alternative.
A lot of programs and services have made it to the tech graveyard over the years, and plenty of them, believe it or not, have come from Microsoft. That’s right, Microsoft has sunsetted a lot of its products and services in the name of innovation, many of which I have very fond memories of using back in my early days of computing. It’s never a bad time to revisit these programs, as they’ve all had a pretty big role in shaping the programs and services we love and use today.
5 Cortana
More than a virtual assistant
Microsoft’s virtual assistant Cortana was pulled out of Halo and thrown into Windows Phone 8.1 in 2014, before officially making its way to Windows 10 and other products. Cortana had pretty big shoes to fill as the virtual assistant for millions of Windows users, but it faced stiff competition from the likes of Google Assistant and Alexa. Cortana couldn’t really keep up with the competition, forcing Microsoft to slowly scale back its support.
Microsoft tried to keep Cortana relevant by directing its abilities to serve Microsoft 365 and other enterprise service users, before sunsetting it in 2023 in favor of what we now know as Copilot. I’d honestly be lying if I said I used Cortana a lot to get through my day-to-day work. But what I loved — and now miss — about Cortana is how less invasive it was compared to Copilot. Microsoft’s constant attempt to shove Copilot down our throats is honestly quite jarring, and that makes me appreciate Cortana more. Also, is it just me who finds it weird how Microsoft decided to kill an AI character right around the time when AI is taking over the world in a big way?
Related
Microsoft Copilot: What is it, and how does it work?
Is Microsoft Copilot the best AI chatbot available right now?
4 Zune (Software)
Long live Zune!
The Zune media management software was essentially just Microsoft’s version of iTunes, and I believe it’s safe to say that more people ended up using and enjoying the software than the actual Zune media player hardware. I, for one, used the Zune software as my go-to media management software to play music I had on my computer and CDs for a long time. It was just a no-frills program that worked very well, until the entire Zune ecosystem was gone in 2012. You can still download a version of Zune and run it on your PC if you’d like, but that’s not something I recommend. You are better off using the Windows Media Player, instead. That being said, Zune will forever remain one of my beloved Windows programs, and it often makes me wonder how it would’ve faired against the modern alternatives.
Related
5 PC programs you don’t need
Uninstall these if you already have them, and put them on your digital blacklist.
3 Windows Movie Maker
Gone too soon
Source: Internet Archive
Another program which I believe was axed too soon is Windows Movie Maker. Microsoft definitely fumbled the bag on this one, in my opinion, by failing to understand and acknowledge its potential. Granted, it wasn’t the most powerful and feature-packed video software, but it was already quite popular among amateur video editors at the time. It had all the basic ingredients and a strong foundation to become a solid video editing tool on Windows, and all Microsoft had to do was build upon its existing features to make it more reliable.
The company discontinued its support in 2017 instead, sending it to the tech graveyard with others on this list. I know I’m not alone in saying that I used the Windows Movie Maker back in the day to edit some basic footage. I even told myself I’d get good at editing videos on it some day, not knowing how it would get axed in a few years. It’s been over 7 years since it faded into the Windows Live brand and ceased to exist. The modern-day alternatives, including the Photos app, just aren’t the same.
Related
Best video editing apps on Windows in 2023
Making good videos requires skill and a lot of practice, but the right tools can also help.
2 MSN Messenger
Among the first of its kind
MSN Messenger is one of those services that played a huge role in shaping the world of online communication during the early 2000s. It quickly became one of the most popular messaging platforms globally following its launch in 1999. It was among the first to offer many features we take for granted in 2024, including real-time messaging with no delays, file sharing, chat rooms, custom emotes, and more.
Microsoft discontinued the service and sent it to the graveyard in 2013, and it encouraged its users to migrate to Skype, which was another messaging platform it acquired back then. Microsoft’s hands were tied for this one as users began to move to other platforms like Facebook Messenger. I wish Microsoft found a way to stay relevant in that space, considering how it already had a huge user base.
1 Wunderlist
This one didn’t last long
Wunderlist was a fairly modern app that was only launched in 2011. This popular task management app, which quickly became popular on the market for its user-friendly and intuitive design, was acquired by Microsoft in 2015. It’s safe to say that it didn’t do much with it as the company ended up shutting the development on Wunderlist in May 2020.
The app’s founder Christian Reber, took note of Microsoft’s decision and offered to buy it back to avoid it being shut down. I’ve embedded Reber’s original tweet above, in which he attached the screenshot of the app from the App Store. Wunderlist was a part of my apps list for a very long time before I moved to other alternatives, and I know many who were still using it at the time when Microsoft decided to shut it down. It’ll go down in history as one of the most popular productivity apps that offered some neat and powerful features under a simple interface.
Related
10 essential apps you should install on your new PC
Just got a new Windows PC? Here are 10 apps you should install to help you make the most of it.
What’s next on its way to the graveyard?
While it’s a shame to see these apps go, we have to acknowledge that Microsoft’s decisions often reflect the changing landscape of technology and our needs. All the aforementioned programs have convincing and reliable alternatives now, which are also more capable. Who knows, maybe some of the features that we know and love from these apps will find a new home in some other programs in the future. That being said, these programs and services left a lasting impact on us, and there’s no denying that they all played a key role in our digital journeys. It’ll be interesting to see what’s next on the list of programs that Microsoft plans to pull the plug on.