There might be hope for the simple Windows graphics editor yet.
It seems Microsoft Paint has been granted a reprieve of sorts from its planned removal from future Windows OS builds in favor of replacing it with another app, Paint 3D.
According to MSPoweruser, a recent tweet by Aggiornamenti Lumia noted (with comparison screenshots) that within the Insider preview of Microsoft’s latest Windows 10 build (19H1), the product alert that once announced the Paint program’s future Microsoft Store exile was no longer present in the 19H1 version of Paint. Prior to the 19H1 preview, and over the past two years, the product alert had been featured within Paint. The alert continues to appear for users not running the Insider preview build.
It is surprising that the recent limited release of the 19H1 preview build even carries Microsoft Paint at all. Especially since Windows 10 users have known about its planned removal for two years now. The fact that the Paint program is still included in 19H1 and no longer shows the product alert could indicate that Microsoft may have changed its mind about tossing out the beloved graphics editor and replacing it with the not-so-well-received Paint 3D.
While Microsoft Paint was never the flashiest image editor around, it’s certainly one of the easiest ones to learn and use. And though the 34-year-old program can often be the butt of jokes involving stick figures and other poorly drawn images because of how basic its tools are, the simplicity of those tools is also exactly why it’s still the go-to program for so many of our mundane image editing needs, like pasting and editing screenshots.
Paint 3D does offer a number of bells and whistles that Microsoft Paint does not, including the ability to create 2D and 3D shapes, as well as the ability export your 3D models for use in Windows Mixed Reality Viewer or to have them printed by a 3D printer. However, while Paint 3D might be more fun to use and experiment with because of those features, Microsoft Paint is loved because of its effectiveness as a quick and dirty, utilitarian image editor. In addition, not every Windows 10 user needs (or wants) access to 3D modeling tools.
Hopefully, the removal of the product alert is a sign that Microsoft realizes that there can be room for both programs within its operating system.
