Microsoft quietly added WordPad to its "Deprecated features for Windows client" list last September—a short message stated that the popular bundled-in word processing application will: "no longer be 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." The aforementioned "future" version of their mainstream operating system appears to be the recently issued Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26040 (through Canary Channel). Microsoft is pushing an AI feature enriched user experience—last week's Insider blog reveals that Voice Clarity is escaping its Surface family confines; the application no longer relies on NPU hardware.

According to Preview 26040's accompanying notes: "Starting with this build, the WordPad and People apps will no longer be installed after doing a clean install of the OS. In a future flight, WordPad will be removed in an upgrade. WordPad will not be reinstallable. WordPad is a deprecated Windows feature." Many journalists have pointed out that protest efforts could save WordPad from its deprecated fate—enough fuss was generated over Microsoft's proposed axing of MS Paint, to warrant a reversal and eventual AI-enrichment. A segment of the Windows userbase will welcome the upcoming dismissal of Cortana (already effective in the latest W11 preview)—their older personal productivity assistant is being pushed aside in favor of Windows Copilot.

Microsoft has quietly added WordPad to their list of "Deprecated features for Windows client," as of September 1—this classic word processor application has been part of their operating systems stretching back in time to Windows 95—when it debuted as Microsoft Write's successor. The announcement stated: "WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows.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." Updates for the bundled rich-text editing program ceased following UI tweaks introduced around the Windows 8 era.

Microsoft presents two alternative paths for the near future—naturally, one involves a paid 365 subscription—you can opt for Word. An online version is available at no cost, but it involves registration (with MS) and only functions as a web app. Notepad is the next best free-to-use native word processor—it has been modernized with new features, albeit via Windows 11. HotHardware has hyped it up: "One major update that users have been asking for was recently added to Notepad, that being the ability to open multiple tabs within the same session. Future updates include an autosave feature and the ability to restore previously open tabs as well as unsaved content and edits across those open tabs." Microsoft will be adding a snipping tool at some point, with the introduction of a: "combined capture bar, making it easier to switch between capturing screenshots and screen recordings without having to open the app."