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."

Comments

They miss the point.

[Anonymous Coward]

Availability isn't the concern. We want it ubiquitous. Meaning that if someone has windows you know they have paint.

That's no app

[I'm New Around Here]

It's not an app, it's a program. Apps suck. MS-Paint lives forever.

Re:That's no app

[TheRaven64]

Even though app seems like it's short for application it is rather short for "Mobile Application".

Bullshit. People have been shortening application to app for decades. NeXTSTEP, OPENSTEP, and Mac OS X all used .app as the file extension for applications, used NSApp as the global variable that holds a pointer to the current application object, and used App in their marketing terminology since the '80s. iOS apps were called apps because that's the same term that Apple has used on the desktop since it was a company called NeXT, trying to redefine the term to only mean mobile apps is nonsense.

They still don't get it

[istartedi]

People who prefer the Windows ecosystem that traces its roots to DOS don't want to interact with a "store" to get things done. Paint has been part of the default install longer than "app stores" have even been a thing. It's like vi on Linux.

Re:They still don't get it

[Barny]

To use the Windows Store at all (even for free things), you need to log in with your Microsoft account. Once that is done, you have now matched your install of windows directly to YOU. Congrats, now you get ads and you get a screwed up log in system.

Basically, they are fishing for ways to encourage people to sync up with their store for ads and more, paint is just the latest bait to do this.

Re:They still don't get it

[iampiti]

They want everyone to forget that there was a world where you didn't need a Microsoft login and an app store to do things on Windows.
If you don't use those how are they going to gather data on you and earn money through their cut on the apps?.
I don't like iPhones but I don't mind their existance. They only thing I hold against them is that made acceptable the walled garden model to the masses. Now Microsoft is trying the same thing with Windows. Disgusting.

Re:They still don't get it

[Subm]

> It's like vi on Linux

I also use vi for quick image editing on GNU/Linux.

Re:Who isn't using paint.net?

[xonen]

The real point of paint is not 'painting', but a basic tool to do file conversions, save a screenshot or acquire an image from a scanner, and maybe some basic text annotations or other stuff.
They (MS) underestimate it's usefulness. Moving it to the store is almost the same as abandoning.
99% chance i couldn't care less, now or ever, but for people that work on varying locations or have to administer other people's computers, or (play) helpdesk etc, might be upset. And rightfully.
It's about the same effect as removing notepad would be. Notepad is a horrible application that even in 2017 still cannot handle line breaks correctly, but it does have it's uses and is part of the standard windows toolkit.
Last not least - not everyone is permanently connected to the internet. Imho, windows is throwing in it's own windows with moves like this, and narrowing instead of broadening it's user base.

Re:Who isn't using paint.net?

[Tuidjy]

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.