Windows 11 users have unearthed a blast from the past: the old Phone Dialer program, first introduced in 1995 with Windows 95. Despite being completely obsolete on modern PCs, Microsoft still includes it in the operating system.
Phone Dialer remains present in almost every copy of Windows 11. A quick search through the system's built-in search tool brings it up.
The app launches, but it's unusable. Windows reports that the necessary hardware for making calls is missing. That's because the tool was designed for the era of modems and landline phones.
Its interface is extremely simple, reminiscent of mid-90s applications. It features a numeric keypad for dialing and a few call control buttons. Essentially, it's one of the oldest Windows components that has never been fully removed.
Interestingly, Microsoft has never formally announced the end of support for Phone Dialer. The company's website contains no information about its discontinuation, so the utility officially remains part of Windows three decades after its release.
Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to update modern versions of Windows. In May, the company released a major security patch that fixed over 100 vulnerabilities, including 17 critical flaws.