By: Alfredo Carpineti/IFL Science UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson is believed to have said that a week is a long time in politics. Well, it appears that 24 hours is a long time on the Internet, as Microsoft Paint went from being axed to being saved in less than a day.
News broke yesterday that the drawing program, a staple of the Windows system since 1985, was moved to the list of features that will be deprecated in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. This means that the software was no longer in active development and might even be removed altogether in the future.
But the outpour online for this software was so strong that Microsoft clarified the changes in a blog post. MS Paint is being removed from the operating system, but will still be available for people to download.
“Today, we’ve seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint,” wrote Megan Saunders, general manager of 3D for Everyone Initiative, in the post. “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. 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.”
The move means that MS Paint won’t be installed in future versions of the Windows OS by default and people will have to actively download it. The post also mentions the release of Paint 3D, which Microsoft hopes will become an easy-to-use app for many creative needs.
“So, thanks for all the MS Paint love, keep the feedback coming via the Paint 3D app, and keep creating!” Saunders concluded.
Paint might not be the most advanced image-editing software app (it only supported BMP and PCX format until 1998), but it’s easy enough for the quick cut-and-paste jobs one might have in day-to-day life. So, MS Paint we hope you’re yet to have your finest hours.
