ISLAMABAD: Microsoft, the tech giant known for its ever-evolving software offerings, has taken a significant step by discontinuing WordPad, the familiar text editor that has been a staple of Windows operating systems since the introduction of Windows 95.
WordPad, which has served as a basic text editor for countless Windows users over the years, will no longer receive updates, and Microsoft has confirmed its eventual removal from future versions of Windows. A support note issued by Microsoft states, “WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows.”
The decision to retire WordPad has raised questions among users and industry observers, as Microsoft did not provide specific reasons for the software’s removal in the support note.
Microsoft Encourages Users to Consider Alternatives
The support note encourages users to consider alternatives within the Microsoft ecosystem, suggesting that Microsoft Word is suitable for handling rich text documents like .doc and .rtf files, while Windows Notepad remains a reliable choice for plain text documents such as .txt files.
This announcement coincides with Microsoft’s recent update to Microsoft Notepad, which introduced features like autosave and the automatic restoration of tabs. While Microsoft continues to evolve its software suite, the retirement of WordPad marks the end of an era for a program that has been present in the Windows environment for nearly three decades.
WordPad made its debut with Windows 95 and received its last update in conjunction with Windows 8. Its absence in future Windows releases will undoubtedly mark a notable change for longtime Windows users who have relied on its simplicity and functionality for basic text editing tasks.
