Recently, Microsoft released the latest Windows 11 canary build for developers, and the latest version of Windows 11 has a very significant change, that is, the removal of the WordPad program from it.
Moreover, all the latest official versions of Windows 11 that Microsoft releases in the future will do the same, which means that future Windows operating systems will no longer integrate WordPad.
On September 1, 2023, Microsoft announced this decision in advance (see Figure 2), and on January 26, 2024, Microsoft's official website reaffirmed this decision. Of course, Microsoft's decision to deprecate is not limited to the WordPad program, and the announcement is not limited to the WordPad program, there are many features that have been deprecated.
At present, Microsoft has officially characterized the WordPad program as a "deprecated feature", which means that Microsoft will no longer develop the WordPad program in the future, including maintenance and upgrades, etc., and has completely abandoned the WordPad program, and the WordPad program is about to officially come to an end.
Starting from this latest version of Windows, users will no longer be integrated with the WordPad program when they install the Windows operating system in the future. If a user later upgrades from an older version to a new version of Windows, the WordPad program will also be automatically deleted during the upgrade process, with Microsoft emphasizing that "WordPad is an obsolete Windows feature." ”
For years, WordPad has been a free word processor built into the Windows operating system, and this humble but very useful text editing software has been integrated in Windows 95 for 29 years now.
So, why exactly is Microsoft removing WordPad from the Windows operating system now? The main reason is that this software conflicts with its own word. Prior to this, Microsoft had been actively upgrading and improving the WordPad program, adding a variety of new features, and also supporting the opening of "doc" is becoming more and more powerful in word document format.
If you don't remove the WordPad program from Windows and continue to use the previous ideas and playing methods, Microsoft will face such an embarrassing situation: the functions of WordPad and Word are getting stronger and closer, and there will be a situation of left-handed fighting, which will seriously impact the Word market, which is certainly not happy to be seen by Microsoft.
As for the WordPad program, I would like to add and remind you that you should not confuse the "WordPad" program with the "Notepad" program, which are two different applications (see Figures 3 and 4) that are currently integrated into Windows. Microsoft is about to remove the WordPad program from Windows, but the Notepad program will remain and users can continue to use it normally, although it is much weaker.
Judging from the current indications, Microsoft's determination to completely remove the WordPad program from Windows in the future is very strong, but it is still possible to put this app in the Microsoft App Store as an optional feature in the future. If users really need to, they can install it manually, but it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will do so in the future.
Microsoft's move means that if users want to carry out more complex word processing work in the future, they must use professional word processing software, such as Microsoft's own Office, as well as the domestic word processing software Kingsoft WPS.
Although Kingsoft WPS is free, only some of the basic functions are free, and many advanced functions are also required to be used by paid subscriptions.
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