For years, Notepad has been synonymous with simplicity, serving as a no-frills text editor for countless users. However, Microsoft is redefining its role with a series of updates that introduce features previously reserved for more complex applications like WordPad.
New Features Enhance Notepad’s Functionality
On Friday, Microsoft announced the integration of “lightweight formatting” capabilities into Notepad. This update includes support for markdown input and file formats, as well as the ability to utilize bold and italic fonts, and even insert hyperlinks. These enhancements are conveniently accessible through a newly designed toolbar that showcases these formatting options.
Interestingly, Microsoft has not indicated that these features are in a testing phase or available only in preview mode, suggesting that users can expect to see these updates on their Windows PCs in the near future.
Two significant developments appear to be influencing this shift. In late 2023, Microsoft officially retired WordPad, the once-popular rich text editor that provided a simpler alternative to Microsoft Word. While there are methods to restore WordPad by accessing older versions of Windows, the discontinuation has left a gap for users seeking basic text editing capabilities.
Traditionally, Notepad has filled the role of a lightweight text editor, favored by coders and casual writers alike, although more advanced alternatives like vim have long been available. The recent enhancements to Notepad seem to be a strategic move by Microsoft to cater to these users while effectively positioning Notepad as a viable replacement for WordPad.
In tandem with these updates, Microsoft is also introducing the Edit app to Windows. This open-source application was designed primarily as a command-line interface (CLI), with Microsoft acknowledging the complexities associated with using vim when announcing its launch. By enriching Notepad with new features—potentially even incorporating Copilot—and adding the Edit option, Microsoft is offering a diverse array of lightweight text-editing and CLI interfaces. This approach aims to enhance user experience without unnecessarily complicating the operating system.