Alas, poor WordPad, we knew it well, but did anyone use it, and will anyone miss it? WordPad, the stalwart middle-ground text editing app that has been a Windows staple for 28 years, has been deprecated by Microsoft.
In a bulletin about deprecated features, published Friday, Microsoft says that WordPad will no longer receive updates and will be unavailable in future versions of Windows.
WordPad has been an optional Windows feature for some time. It became an option, rather than a standard feature, in February 2022. Therefore, its deprecation isn't a great surprise now, in 2023.
Many older readers will have poked text around in WordPad since it has been around since the Windows 95 days. Microsoft initially envisaged WordPad as a primary free word processor for Windows users.
The lighter-weight Notepad was the bundled tool of choice for plain text and configuration file editing. For short documents with styled text, multiple fonts, picture inserts, and a sprinkling of other basic features, WordPad could handle it. However, Microsoft limited the WordPad app's crafting of .doc and .rtf files just enough to inspire users to upgrade to its paid-for Office Word software.
In its WordPad deprecation notice, Microsoft clarifies that there isn't room for a middle-ground app like WordPad anymore. "We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt," states the official notice dated September 1.
There are many Notepad and Word alternatives from third-party software creators, so you shouldn't feel limited by Microsoft's advice. However, most apps target either plain text or fully-featured word processing, and the middle ground covered by WordPad is comparatively neglected.
When Microsoft announced it would deprecate Windows Paint with an OS update in mid-2017, it quickly became aware of a groundswell of popular support for the app. That lead to a change of heart by Microsoft, and it decided to give the bitmap app a lifeline by adding it to the Microsoft Store and even modernizing it. Somehow, we can't the public getting behind WordPad in the same way.
