Microsoft has ceased updates for WordPad and intends to eliminate the word-processing application from an upcoming iteration of Windows.
Instead, the technology behemoth will advocate for the use of Microsoft Word, its paid word processing software renowned for its extensive array of features compared to the basic WordPad application that has been a part of Windows since the Windows 95 era.
Here is what Microsoft said about it on Friday:
WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt.
This news of WordPad’s discontinuation emerged merely a day after Microsoft’s announcement of enhancements to Notepad, incorporating features such as autosave and the automatic restoration of tabs. Back in 2018, Microsoft revived its Windows Notepad application, marking its first update in several years, and subsequently introduced tab functionality in the Windows 11 iteration.
WordPad, on the other hand, hasn’t received equivalent levels of focus. While the word processor underwent an update featuring the Ribbon UI with Windows 7, there were only minor tweaks following a slight redesign for Windows 8.
Microsoft has now made the decision to completely remove WordPad in an upcoming iteration of Windows, a change that is anticipated to be implemented in the anticipated Windows 12 version scheduled for 2024. This new release is projected to incorporate numerous AI-driven capabilities.
