This month, a generation of classic operating system Microsoft Windows 7 officially ushered in the end of its life cycle.

Microsoft has announced that it will no longer provide Win7 with any form of updates, including security updates, stability updates and functional updates.

And the friends who are still using win7 believe that they have also received Microsoft's push notice, reminding them to upgrade to win10 as soon as possible.

As an operating system launched in 2009, win7 is indeed at the end of its life.

The disappearance of Win7 is part of a historical process that has accomplished its mission brilliantly.

Driven by the tide of history, more than win7 is the disappearing Microsoft product?

Many of Microsoft's all-powerful software, but also in the operating system and even the entire software ecological update, gradually towards the end.

Today, let's take a look at the classic and even popular Microsoft software in the era of win7, which has been eliminated by history. How many have you used?

Windows Media Player

Windows media player is short for WMP, which is a very familiar player.

In the windows 3.1 era, wmp began to be built into windows, and then had a profound impact on the industry.

First of all, WMP, as a pre installed media player of windows, plays a major role as a platform to promote Microsoft's own media format.

For example, Microsoft's wma audio format is promoted through WMP and competes with MP3 and AAC; for example, Microsoft's vc-1 video coding is promoted through WMP and competes with H.264.

These wars about the right to formulate media format standards mean that the coding and decoding standards of video and audio will be mastered once they are won.

However, Microsoft has not won the final victory. Nowadays, the mainstream format of audio is still MP3 / AAC / DTS, and the video is h.264/h.265.

However, Microsoft's participation in the multimedia standard making war, its derivative technology and competition process, all have a positive impact on the promotion of technology and the improvement of standards, so we can see the importance of WMP.

Second, the industry was influenced by WMP and a god-level player was created

The full name of MPC is media player classic. You can see from the name that it has something to do with Windows media player.

Microsoft launched the WMP 7.0 in 2000, and some users were dissatisfied with the new version, so it wrote a software tribute to the classic WMP 6.4, the MPC.

MPC interface is similar to WMP 6.4, but it is open-source, free, and supports plug-in decoding. It has survived and maintained updating until now. It can support the most advanced coding, which can be said to be a necessary artifact for video enthusiasts.

Moreover, WMP has served as an anti-piracy task. WMP11 has added a legitimate verification mechanism that could be prompted by WMP if you use a pirated system

In addition, WMP was once an online music selling platform that Microsoft hoped to compete with Apple iTunes.

In win7, WMP evolved to WMC (Windows Media Center), integrating music, video, album and even game services. However, the pace of WMP / WMC has slowed down.

WMP/WMC carries Microsoft's ambitions to set standards and build content platforms, but it doesn't work well.

With the update, it's becoming bloated, and even with highlights such as excellent media library management, it won't attract more users.

Microsoft abandoned WMP in the Windows 10 era, using a lighter, more flexible

Although WMP is pre installed in Windows 10, its version has remained in the WMP released with win 7 for 12 years. WMP can be said to have been sent to the cold palace. Has it ever been spoiled by you?

Games for Windows Live

Now when people buy PC games, the first thing they look for is steam. But in the first decade of the 21st century, steam didn't sit on the throne of online game stores as firmly as he does now.

At that time, some giants, including Microsoft, saw business opportunities in the field of game distribution, and Microsoft's trick was games for windows.

We know that Microsoft is one of the big three game consoles, and Windows is also the most suitable PC system for games, so Microsoft has a unique advantage in game distribution.

Microsoft defined a series of specifications of games for windows in 2006, and many games are made according to this specification.

In 2007, Microsoft launched the Games for Windows Live platform, and the software will be installed in the PC as the game is installed, and the game must be launched via Games for Windows Live.

The game can share achievements with Xbox through games for Windows Live, better support Xbox handle, and even fight with Xbox players.

However, games for Windows Live suffered a bloodbath failure.

Games for Windows Live's actual experience is so bad that just registering for both Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live can stun people.

Games developed based on games for Windows Live may also have many limitations, such as the need to connect to a live server to be able to archive.

Once the Live server crashes, the game won't even play properly.

Games for Windows Live has brought a lot of troubles to the players, and the operation is not successful. Microsoft shut down the service on July 4, 2014.

Games for Windows Live has influenced a lot of games in the era of win7, and its influence continues to this day.

Many games still need to be logged in via Games for Windows Live

Recently, GTA4 was off the shelf in steam, because the game was developed based on games for Windows Live. Now, games for Windows Live is out of service, and GTA4 can't create a new genuine key to continue to sell.

In win10, Microsoft has already given up games for Windows Live, and the corresponding functions have been replaced by services such as windows store and Xbox game pass.

Have you ever been a Games for Windows Live player?

Internet Explorer

This is an unknown software. Internet Explorer, or IE for short, was once a synonym for web browser. Even today, there are still some institutional websites that need ie to play a role.

IE has been tied to Windows 95 since 1995.

With the bundling and installation, and more advanced features such as CSS support at that time, ie beat Netscape browser and dominated the browser market.

In the era of WinXP and IE 6.0, ie is invincible. It has the strongest function and the largest share. Everyone has to give priority to compatibility with it.

At this time, Netscape has no power to parry, ie has become the de facto standard of browser.

In the days that followed, Internet giant Google funded Firefox's challenge to IE, which didn't exactly shake up IE's dominance, but Google rolled up its sleeves and competed with Chrome and IE.

Chrome is more advanced and more powerful than IE, and even more so is the fact that the Chrmoium kernel has become a standard for mobile Internet by binding to Android WebView

Win7 is the pinnacle of Microsoft desktop system and the last Elegy of IE.

In the era of win10, Microsoft has broken down the mobile market. Under the historical trend of the explosion of mobile Internet, Microsoft is unable to reverse the erosion of chrome on the whole browser market.

Even if ie changes its name, improves its technology, and becomes an edge browser, it's hard to change its game.

Microsoft has decided to ditch its self-developed browser kernel and Edge will switch to the Chromium kernel.

This means that IE will become history completely, and chrome is about to be unified. You who have used ie, I'm afraid you can't imagine that IE has a day to say goodbye to you.

Later words

The software mentioned above basically belongs to Microsoft's strategic products.

In addition, along with win7 fade out of the field of vision, there are drawing, writing board and other classic Microsoft software.

Under the baptism of time, no matter how beautiful the old things are, they will eventually fade. Maybe one day, win10 will become the dust of history just like win7 and many classic Microsoft software.