After 28 years, Microsoft has decided to end support for WordPad and permanently remove the text editor from Windows. This decision was expected, given that the program has not been updated for a long time and may be replaced by other Microsoft programs.

WordPad is a simple application that lets you create and edit rich-text documents, as well as add images and links. The program was automatically installed on Windows systems since 1995, when Windows 95 was introduced, thus giving users a built-in operating system text editor by default.

The company now recommends using Microsoft Word for rich text documents such as .doc and .rtf, and Windows Notepad for plain text documents such as .txt. “WordPad is no longer updated and will be removed in a future version of Windows said Microsoft.

While WordPad is still installed by default on all Windows systems, users have been able to uninstall it via the Add-ons control panel since Windows 10 Insider Build 19551 was released in February 2020.

Five years ago, Microsoft announced its intention to end support for the classic Microsoft Paint program. However, after intense expressions of love for the application from users, the company decided not to remove the application completely, but to make it available through the Microsoft Store. Maybe if WordPad gets a lot of fans, Microsoft will bring it to the app store as well.

The end of support for WordPad marks the end of an era and underlines Microsoft’s commitment to modernizing and optimizing its products. While some classic programs are a thing of the past, they are replaced by new and more powerful tools, offering users more modern and advanced capabilities. Source