In the Win11 era, there is no place for software anymore. Let’s talk about the software that has fallen into disuse.

      Microsoft has released the latest generation of Windows 11. While marveling at the huge changes in the system interface, we also have to sigh at the great impact of the tide of the times.

　　Windows has followed the trend, introduced a more advanced WinUI, and worked hard to improve system functions and try to change the application ecosystem. In the new era of the Internet, even a big ship like Windows has to turn around, not to mention the various software it carries.

　　Looking back, many software that were once popular have gradually faded out of the stage of history with the previous wave, and these classic products are less and less mentioned. In the Win11 era, which software has ushered in the fate of decline and is no longer useful? Let's talk about this topic today.

　　antivirus software

　　As long as you have been using computers for a few years, you will have heard of those once well-known names, such as "Rising", "Kingsoft", "Jiangmin", etc. At the beginning of the 21st century, the rise of the free antivirus software trend attracted countless Internet companies to join the fight. In addition to the leading "360", "KeNiu", "Baidu", "Beike" and other heroes have made moves one after another, which is dazzling. And those who are more "knowledgeable" have even tossed around a number of more "professional" products from abroad, "Avira", "AVG", "avast", "Bitvand", "Kaspersky"... have become frequent visitors on security BBS.

　　However, in recent years, the craze for antivirus software seems to have subsided. Not only has the antivirus software market not created any new waves, but it seems to be declining day by day. Whether from the domestic Baidu Index or the foreign Google Trends, the popularity of antivirus software has been declining since 2012.

▲ Globally, the popularity of antivirus is also shown in the data of Google Trends

　　Today, almost no one has announced that they want to make a splash in the antivirus software market, and even a large number of users no longer install any antivirus software on their own. Why did antivirus software go from being popular to being unpopular? Perhaps the reason is not the antivirus software itself, but the fact that the security environment of personal systems has undergone tremendous changes over the years.

　　First of all, antivirus software has encountered its strongest competitor - Microsoft. Isn't the free antivirus software led by 360 attractive enough? But the MSE/Defender pre-installed in the system is simply a foul-level solicitation behavior. At the same time, Microsoft MSE/Defender's business capabilities are also very outstanding. In professional antivirus software evaluations such as AVTEST, it has been ranked at the forefront for many years. Compared with some domestic products that don't even dare to participate in the test, I don't know how much higher it is.

▲ Microsoft's own security center Defender

▲ In the latest AV-TEST test, Microsoft achieved full marks

　　In the Win11 era, Defender has already become a pre-installed system. And Microsoft is planning to make Defender a cross-platform product to further enhance its strength. Antivirus software is a high-tech product. Who can understand the Windows system code better than Microsoft? It is very difficult for other antivirus software to compete with Microsoft.

　　Secondly, the security of the operating system itself has been greatly improved. In the Windows 9X and even XP era, code could easily modify the operating system kernel, and after Vista, due to the architecture of user layer and kernel isolation, it is much more difficult for malicious code to wreak havoc. In Win11, virtualization isolation kernel is enabled by default, and TPM chip is used for hardware-level encryption. The role of antivirus software is no longer as important as before.

　　Furthermore, the mobile Internet has not brought a new market for antivirus software. Both iOS and Android have strict installation package management mechanisms. In principle, they do not need to use any antivirus software. Apple even prohibits products that claim to be antivirus software from being listed on the App Store. iOS has eliminated the opportunity for most unknown codes to run from a mechanism perspective. Code that can run with the help of vulnerabilities (such as jailbreaking) is definitely not blocked by antivirus software. The role that antivirus software can play on mobile platforms is nothing more than identifying whether an app is a counterfeit phishing app. This function is built into many Android systems. It is not profitable in emerging markets, so it is no wonder that the antivirus software business is becoming increasingly difficult.

▲ Apps in iOS cannot perform virus scanning. Apple has banned apps that claim to have antivirus functions from being listed on the App Store.

　　There is no doubt that antivirus software has fallen. It may still be useful in some usage environments, such as identifying phishing websites and using old systems, but in new usage environments represented by Win11, its use is no longer as good as before. The decline of antivirus software may be a bad thing for security vendors, but objectively it also shows that the user environment has become more and more secure over the years, and we should be happy about it.

　　P2P Download Tools

　　If you are an experienced user, you will miss the days when you used P2P download tools to surf the Internet. In the era when BT software and eMule software were king, all kinds of resources seemed to be within reach. You could open a forum or search for keywords, and the torrents would come one after another. You could call your friends to seed the videos together, and the download would be in a matter of seconds.

▲ Many friends have used P2P downloaders represented by BitComet, but now the user base has shrunk significantly.

　　However, nowadays, dedicated P2P download tools have lost their former glory. You may still download BT or eD2k links, but you usually use only comprehensive downloaders such as Xunlei - even the popularity of these downloaders has declined significantly.

　　Although P2P download technology itself still occupies an extremely important ecological niche in the Internet, for example, Win11 system updates also use P2P technology to transmit data, the decline of P2P download tools is an indisputable fact.

　　Manually configure Tracker to add peer nodes, set up DLP to prevent bloodsucking, break through the intranet to connect to HighID... These unique skills have been lost among the general public; BitComet, μtorrent, eMule, etc., have become the playthings of a small circle.

　　The slogan of the P2P community, "Everyone for me, I for everyone", is so consistent with the spirit of Internet sharing, but why has it gradually been buried in the dust of history? Perhaps this is closely related to the development trend of the Internet.

▲ How to find eMule server? How to get HighID? I'm afraid no one has bothered with this anymore.

　　First, there is a certain threshold for using P2P download tools. Compared with tools that are easy to use, such as Xunlei and Netdisk, specialized P2P tools are more difficult to use. People need to have some basic knowledge of P2P transmission and manually configure it based on the actual network environment to achieve a relatively ideal performance. Many people cannot accept the fact that they have to study and take classes before downloading resources.

▲ A popular eMule Mode Xtreme configuration, which is simply incomprehensible to newcomers

　　Secondly, the popularity of P2P download tools will itself pose a challenge to copyright protection. In the context of tightening copyright, it is normal for P2P downloads to be suppressed. BTChina, VeryCD, Jiying... With the collapse of P2P resource sites one after another, the P2P download ecosystem has gradually shrunk, which in turn has affected the speed of P2P downloads. At the same time, operators in some regions have completed accurate detection of P2P traffic through feature codes, limiting the speed of P2P downloads, making P2P download tools increasingly useless. Some regions even disguise Tracker or eMule servers to conduct fishing enforcement against P2P pirated downloads, which makes the use environment of P2P download tools increasingly worse.

　　Furthermore, the commercialization of P2P download tools is difficult. As the saying goes, there is no profit without early action, but in most cases, P2P download tools are not profitable. The P2P transmission protocol is public, and the resources are not provided by P2P downloaders. It is difficult for software manufacturers to make profits by using download tools through selling resources or software.

　　Finally, the spirit of P2P sharing is, to some extent, against human nature. It is easy to achieve "everyone for me", but it is difficult to implement "I for everyone". Most P2P downloaders run away after downloading resources, and there is no such thing as seeding. This is why a large number of users have transferred from dedicated P2P download tools to Thunder and Netdisk. Thunder sucks blood? Netdisk is harmonious? As long as the speed is fast, who cares!

▲ Official customer service confirmed that offline download tools such as Xunlei will "suck blood" (not send back to the public P2P network), but the download is very fast and very popular

　　P2P download tools flourished in the era of the wild growth of the Internet. Now the Internet has been divided up by the princes, and the order of maintaining resource interests has become more and more important. The living space of P2P download tools is far less than before. In the Win11 era, P2P download technology still has its place, but the scene of resources flying all over the sky is gone forever.

　　Self-developed kernel browser

　　I wonder if you still pay attention to what kind of browser you use? At least in the past, this was a question worth discussing. Many senior netizens are also senior browser players, but in recent years, there are fewer and fewer products worth playing with in this regard - more and more browsers have changed from self-developed kernels to Chromium vests. Switching to a different browser is basically equivalent to switching to a different-looking Chrome.