Technology @lemmy.world shoulderoforion @fedia.io 17 hr. ago

Microsoft retires WordPad after 28 years — app no longer available as of Windows 11 24H2

www.tomshardware.com Microsoft retires WordPad after 28 years — app no longer available as of Windows 11 24H2

Windows will no longer have an integrated basic rich-text-based word app.

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Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time... A long time.
They should open-source it, as they did with Calculator.
- Libre office writer is a thing
  
  Another thing. But there's a lot of markdown and other lightweight markup editors.
  
  Yeah, sure, a really nice thing.
Still on the last windows os am ever gonna use windows 10
- If you don’t plan to upgrade even after security updates end, what’s keeping you there now?
  
  Am prob gonna use linux fully and secondary os macos (not 100% sure erm) I also meant like windows oses
I wonder if anyone thought about looking up WordPal in the Microsoft Store and think about maybe that could be what it evolved into.
- Problem is, it's not installed by default
here's a little known fact about WordPad: It was Microsoft's first word processing program. Originally introduced as an add-on to MS-DOS in 1981, WordPad later became a part of Windows in the 1990s after the release of Windows 95. It was designed to be simpler and more user-friendly than its more advanced counterpart, Microsoft Word.
- WordPad didn't exist until Windows 95. You might be thinking of Microsoft Write, which predated it.
  
  In Windows 95, wordpad was still write.exe, is it possible they just renamed it?
Word pad the goat of somehow interpreting files as not UTF8
Wordpad, as I recall, only existed because back in the Windows 95 days nobody had Office and couldn’t open Word documents.
- WordPad in Windows 95 was a demonstration of how to use the rich-text editing component built into Windows. Its C++ source code came bundled with MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes - programming library for making Windows apps using C++) as a sample.
  
  The fact that it was a useful tool for end users was essentially just a side effect.
- They should preinstall libre office as a replacement.
- people still don't, right? I cant imagine it's very common outside of company computers
  
  Anyone who works for or studies at any organization has it.
I hope it's still included on future Windows server versions. It's quite useful to open documentation or instructions included with some software.
- I suppose you could install Word. If you want just Word, you can jump through a few hoops to make the Office Deployment Tool install only Word.
  
  I don't think that is a reasonable solution for your use case, but I suspect making people use (and buy) the actual Office Suite is the motivation.
  
  Installing Word, on a server, running as administrator, forecefully linked to some MS account for activation... Is that really a reasonable solution in a Microsoft world? Smh.
  
  If documentation comes as Word document there is no documentation and a huge red flag for the software.
  
  Notepad ++ is one of the first things I install on any windows system
As long as you have notepad, you're good.
- Notepad++
- What if I want rich text?
  
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightweight_markup_language
  
  https://www.markdownguide.org/
  
  https://typst.app/
  
  https://asciidoctor.org/
  
  https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/restructuredtext/basics.html
  
  https://orgmode.org/
  
  Any good missing?
  
  Well and then there are interactive or side-by-side editors for most of them.
  
  Markdown?
  
  Too bad, only the poorest text for you.
  
  Have your butler do it for you
  
  You should probably reconsider.
WordPad 3d
- WordPad AI
  
  Thanks for making me throw up in my mouth
  
  CopilotPad 365
What, they couldn't add AI to it?
- You wouldn’t add AI to a hand bag?! You wouldn’t add AI to a car?! You wouldn’t add AI to a baby?! You wouldn’t shoot a police man?! … and then steal his helmet?! … and then add AI to it?!
  
  I do not like to add AI.
  
  I would not like it here or there.
  
  I would not like it anywhere.
  
  I would not add it in a handbag.
  
  I would not, could not, in a car.
  
  Not to a baby, not to a helmet.
  
  Not in my house, Not on a mouse.
  
  I do not like to add AI.
  
  I do not now, nor ever will I.
  
  Do you hear me Microsoft?
  
  Take your AI and fuck off.
  
  I'd give it to his grieving widow, then add ai to her.
Wordpad always seemed like an annoying and unnecessary half-step between notepad and word to me.
- its pretty neat if you dont have access to word, which is likely why they want to get rid of it
  
  Doubtful. There are a myriad of free and FOSS options that are available right now to people of even limited technological skill. WordPad isn't damaging their bottom line, but since it's certainly not adding to it, there's no point in maintaining it.
- Microsoft's business model has often gotten in the way of anything they do making sense.
  
  Is there anything left to microsoft that makes sense at this point? Maybe the physical doors to the microsoft offices still function.. after you watch an ad?
- It was created for people to open Word docs at home before everyone had Office.
- I liked having the minimal formatting options in WordPad without the bloat of Word.
  
  Wordpad is also able to open large text files without having a stroke. RIP
- Word is now so bloated that I fear using it. It's nice to have Wordpad.
  
  T
  
  Ah. Are you trying to write about Theodore Roosevelt? Bing can help!
  
  The
  
  Here are 10,000 links to Theodore Roosevelt
  
  The fox....
- Can't say I ever needed it in the 28 years I've been using Windows. I'm sure there are plenty who did, though.
  
  I used it all the time to save text temporarily in. Note worked too, but i like the line break that WordPad had. It made reading and formatting easier.
- Rtf is far more lightweight than docx. It's closer to markdown.
- It was very niche, but it’s great for viewing docs or other light work on a system you don’t want to install a whole office suite onto.
  
  You can still do that but it’s through word webview. Some people won’t like that option.
- As others have said, fast opening quick notes with basic formatting.
  
  For example, if I get an unexpected call I need to write down more than a call back number, Wordpad was my go to.
  
  Well, at least when back when I used Windows regularly.
Microsoft: We can't spy on your usage when you use wordpad, use O365 instead! (guessing since MS recommends using O365 Word in its place).

TBH, I haven't used wordpad since Windows 98. Not saying others don't use it, but Notepad++ and a myriad of other options are better anyway.
- If they just wanted telemetry they'd just "enhance it" they way they did with the monstrosity that is new Paint or AI assisted notepad.
  
  And probably as a security update as well.
  
  AI assisted Notepad is a thing?
- Does Notepad++ allow rich text?
  
  On a default install on NP++ you can only save as rtf, but there are addable plugins that give some rtf functionality. So as a direct answer, no, it doesn't, but it can.
- TBH, I haven't used wordpad since Windows 98
  
  which is why they're getting rid of it
  
  it would probably be pretty easy to just patch telemetry into it, except nobody uses it because why would you
idc what people say mswrite was always > wordpad > word
Sad to see such a great program go…
Oh get fucked Microsoft. Now I have to use notepad when I put the tape measure on the spacebar so teams doesn’t change my status to idle.
- Just select yourself to chat with in Teams (top option in contacts) and put a battery on the delete key like a professional..
  
  I like the cut of your jib. I’ll put a word in for you with the Bobs.
  
  I'm a frequent host and participant of a meeting for one.
And so the bloodline of windows write is extinguished

This is kinda sad that if you want to do even basic word processing with Microsoft software, your only option now is an ongoing subscription to do so.
- ...your only option now is an ongoing subscription to do so.
  
  You can also still buy the Office package without subscription. The latest release is from 2024 and 2021 before that. But of course its expensive for basic stuff.
  
  Oh I didn't actually realise that, I thought they'd just gone full Adobe with office 365
I've used windows since the 90s. Not once have I intentionally used WordPad.

It did open by default for some file types for a long time (.doc), usually mangling the content cause it couldn't actually handle them properly. I think it was also the default for .txt files at some point, causing many curse words when editing plain text files, that invisibly weren't so plain any more after... Programs expecting a configuration fine really don't like that sort of thing.

So: I'm very ok with this. Just install LibreOffice or something if you needa Word-like experience. Install notepad++ for anything "plain".
And they're making notepad pretty unusable also
- I've had no real issuses with the new notepad.
  
  I just hope that they don't continue adding too much stuff to it and it becomes the new wordpad and we don't have a basic box to put text anymore.
  
  One of my biggest problems with the new notepad is you've lost using it as a forgettable scratch space. Anything you put in the new Notepad now gets written to your drive, even if you don't save the file.
  
  You can't type or copy/paste anything sensitive into notepad anymore as a temporary space even if you don't save the file.
More brilliant decisions from Satya Nadella. 🙄
- It is an obvious maneuver, to be fair to Nadella. Not only will this push more over to subscription based word processing, but it also closes one of the easier avenues useds have to avoid aggregated data farming. Their next move should be to turn Notepad into a complementary tiered program:
  Tier 1) Use at no charge, but your data pays for it instead.
  Tier 2) Notepad becomes an extra pay to unlock feature of 365.
Sad but expected. Most people are using either office or one of the free alternatives by now.
i was using it as a screen whenever i was leaving my computer unattended, when i used windows.
No longer available and no longer integrated are not equivocal.

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