IT Professionals

Why Was It Removed?

Posted by on Jul 22, 2008 | 2 Comments

As I was combing over this today, I could not help but wonder why some of the items were removed at all? Take DXDiag for instance. This is a tool that nearly every gamer out there is aware of and has likely used to diagnose issues with DirectX. Why was it cut – get this, it is not “cross platform friendly”. Yup, however according to this, cross platform with regard to Microsoft’s gaming platforms – Xbox and Windows.

So by this logic, because it will not work on Xbox…then it must be eliminated from Windows! Wait, huh?

2) APIs that are eliminated because no cross-platform counterpart exists

 DxDiag gets cut.  There is no real equivalent on Xbox 360 today.  MDX1.1 will continue to support a managed wrapper for DxDiag.  Do you have any concerns here?  If so, let us know.

Yeah, I have “a concern”.I think I speak for a number of Windows users who might object to having their DirectX diagnostic ability being neutered. But that is just me.

Then there is one that I do understand it being phased out, yet had to DIG for its suggested replacement? SerialKeys. Yes, for those who need extra accessibility features with their Windows desktop, SerialKeys was a valued option and having it installed was a major boon to the platform. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. And as surprising as this may seem, I have no problem with this per se. I just wish the replacements: SKEYS and AAC Keys were more readily suggested for new Vista users. Seriously!

On the plus side, despite some people finding it to be annoying, Vista is inherently more secure than previous releases of Windows. And eliminating some of those dated little extras might very well spell less future exploits in the future? I am speculating, but it sure sounds plausible at least…

What say you? Are there any features you had with XP that you are finding lacking in Vista? Perhaps something was added with Vista that was lacking in XP? Whatever it may be, hit the comments and tell me about it.

  • Alan

    All i can say is thank god i’ve switched to a mac and escaped the madness that seems to have overtaken microsoft.

    I am a network engineer who runs XP pro on two laptops, and quite often i need to run hyperterminal to talk to new routers,switches and WAP’s. How are we supposed to do that in vista?

    This makes as much sense as taking the serial ports off laptops and still shipping devices with serial console cales to set them up. Some one needs to take a long hard look at what they are doing before it all implodes on them.

  • ITm

    Hyperterminal!!!! That’s really about all I’ve missed :)
    Being an IT manager, it was nice to be able to quickly hook up to the many console devices I have around.
    Luckily copying Hypertrm.exe and Hypertrm.dll from a windows XP install worked for me :)
    Other than that, I’ve gotten quite used to vista – and although I switched to Ubuntu for a solid month trying to move away from vista – I had to come back to a windows world as I was doing to many “extra” steps to do the same thing I would do in vista for my job. ubuntu was amazing, but it wasn’t worth MORE work. I run ubuntu at home, vista at work with andLinux for the must have terminal progs in vista (for those who don’t know – allows you to run linux apps within vista – much like wine )