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Microsoft Confirms It's Not Killing Off Paint After Outpouring of Support (cnbc.com)
Microsoft said late Monday that it will not be killing off its Paint app in the next update of Windows 10. It will be made available via the Windows Store for free and will not be completely removed. CNBC reports: The U.S. technology company recently released a list which labeled Paint "deprecated," meaning it was considering removing the app when the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update gets released later this year. Fans on social media decried the potential death of Paint, which has been in existence for 32 years. But Microsoft released a blog post shortly after to clarify that Paint would not be completely removed, but instead made available via the Windows Store for free. "Today, we've seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint. If there's anything we learned, it's that after 32 years, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It's been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app," Megan Saunders, a general manager at Microsoft, wrote in a blog post on Monday. "Amidst today's commentary around MS Paint we wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, clear up some confusion and share some good news: MS Paint is here to stay, it will just have a new home soon, in the Windows Store where it will be available for free."
MS Paint has the advantage of opening insanely fast compared with more recent tools, thanks to it being programmed for computers of another era.
If you just want a temporary place where to paste an image from clipboard, Paint is a much better target than Paint.net, whose startup time is slow as molasses.
Agree. There many environments where one cannot install apps from the Windows Store even if it is free. I use Windows Paint quite regularly for work.
Free stuff is given at the pleasure of the giver.
Microsoft wants to get you in the habit of asking. Online. Preferably logged in. Definitely viewing ads. Grateful for free stuff. Willing to spend a quid or two for new 'cutting edge' features. Looking around, considering 'buying' some more in its virtual mall.
I've heard it said that 1.5 Billion people use Windows. Even if 0.1% of these spend 30 seconds per year downloading paint (versus using a copy on disk), that's 6 man years lost. Maybe someone would waste their 30 seconds. Maybe others would spend it on a medical problem and save lives.
I don't get it - an OS is supposed to be at the beck and call of its owner. Microsoft should be making agents to obey our every intent. Even anticipate our needs and pre-empt the resources to fulfill them with no delay. This behavior forces me to conclude the OS is at Microsoft's beck and call now; that we're merely micro-serfs.
I love Paint.NET, but I do not have it installed at every computer at work. Paint is invaluable to me when I am asking someone at a remote Point of Sale to take a screenshot and e-mail it to me.
Even our own warehouses have computers running WinXP. We send them replacements from corporate, but the manager takes the old PC, and sticks it on a rack near at the back of the warehouse... and claims that 'it saves the company thousands' when I ask for it back. It's a privately owned company, and I am not gong to bother the owner (who is the only one that can can overrule the warehouse managers) because of a box that my department will end up paying to e-waste. And yes, it will save the warehouse staff some time, and I or my people will end up supporting it.
Some of the Mon&Pop stores who buy from us also end up talking to me for tech support that is only remotely connected to their using our catalogue or replenishment sites. And some of them are running 2000 and ME.
So yes, I personally use the lightest of Paint, Paint.NET, or gimp that does what I need, but it is nice to know that all Windows boxes have Paint. And unfortunately, it being available for free on the Windows Store or wherever does little to help. If I have to make them download something, the battle may already be lost.
No good deed goes unpunished...