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Microsoft Paint avoids brush with death

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When I heard news yesterday that Microsoft were considering erasing Microsoft Paint from Windows 10 it triggered a dense moment of nostalgia in me that I honestly wasn’t expecting. I’m no artist. Given a blank piece of paper and a pencil at a young age and chances are you’d have been left with an indiscriminate mess, but Paint was something different. I could do Paint. From an early age there was something oddly compelling an intuitive about it that meant I was quite happy wasting hours building vague worlds of shape and colour. At one point I even began shunning my Playstation for it.

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Whilst I haven’t touched it in years, I am obviously not the only one to harbour a latent fondness for the programme, as when the news broke yesterday that the next update of Windows 10 wouldn’t feature Microsoft Paint, which has been a part of the Windows OS since it launched in 1985, there was an outpouring of grief from all corners of the social media universe. Twitter and Facebook alike erupted in forlorn eulogies and aptly wonky, paint-drawn dedications to the doomed application.

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The grief was obviously heard and respected, however, as Microsoft have announced this morning that Paint will indeed be surviving the Autumn Creators Update, though it will now exist not as a default programme, but as a free download from the Windows Store, whilst its successor, Paint 3D, will feature as a default part of the Windows 10 package in its stead. Paint 3D features 3D image making tools as well as some basic 2D image editing. But it is not an update to original Paint and doesn’t feel anything like it.

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Paint 3D

First released with the very first version of Windows 1.0, Paint in its various guises would be one of the first graphics editors used by many and became a core part of Windows. Starting life as a 1-bit monochrome licensed version of ZSoft’s PC Paintbrush, it wasn’t until Windows 98 that Paint could save in JPEG and it’s from that point onwards that it truly found its footing. Paint was never one of the most capable apps, but if you wanted to scribble something out using your mouse or make a quick cut and paste job, Paint was always there, even on work computers. The current version is, honestly, pretty feature poor compared to even the most basic free alternatives, but it’s earned its place in our hearts and (albeit probably temporary) pardon from the gallows.

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Of their decision to let Paint avoid its brush with death, Microsoft said: “If there’s anything we learned, it’s that after 32 year, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It’s been amazing to see so much love for our trust old app.” Too true guys. More than can be said for other casualties of the update, such as Outlook Express, which we’ve all probably been forced to use at one point or another, and which nobody with sense will mourn the passing of. Well, except maybe my Dad.

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Bill Gates holding a picture of Bill Gates x infinity by Pat Hines. Drawn in Microsoft Paint

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK. Now if you’ll excuse him, he’s got some MS Painting to do!

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