As GIMP cries in the corner.

Paint is not designed to be GIMP/Photoshop alternative. It is just a simple drawing program. Although it is great that they have finally added these long-awaited features, as I may finally move from paint.net, which is also great but it has one huge drawback - it is not a single window, which is a hassle.

been using photopea for years, highly recommended for quick projects!

The single most historically aware yet still funny to the unaware joke that the Simpsons ever put out.

I've used Vista "exclusive" programs on XP back in those days so I'm kinda curious how exclusive it really is if I could get the installer/files for it.

Windows 11 is pretty awesome though

It sure isn't enough to get me to bother installing 11.

I get why they do it though - any change to win10 needs testing and so on and might not be welcomed by the user base. You can always download a free (as in freedom) image editor, some are even on the Microsoft Store. Be glad they did not backport all the bad sides of win11...

Why would they port new features back to a legacy OS, there is no reason…

Take a look at PhotoPea then. Needs nothing more than a browser. Runs fine in Edge and can be installed as PWA. That should work fine even on a locked down machine.

In case your browser isn't completely locked down: there's also image editors that run as web apps like photopea.

I recommend Krita, it's free and open source, and very good at making digital art of any kind.

Try Paint.net. Layers, transparency, filters and even plugins. It's free to download from their website. Install from Windows Store does have cost as a way to donate.

It'd probably bore you to do things the easy way anyway. Accept happiness.

Are you able to use WSL under Windows? Combined with something that can display X11 graphics (such as MobaXterm) you could pretty much use whatever Linux-based software from within the windows environment, including stuff like GIMP which does transparency and layers etc just fine

Have you tried using descriptive layer names like layer 1, later 2, later 3?

Or just use only one layer.

At least with layers support you can now extract the individual parts of the image.

What used to drive me nuts is when they send me over everything in one image and I couldn't separate the various components out.

I've literally never met anybody that used Wordpad, whereas I know a lot of tech normies that'll use MS Paint for quick memes and things

I've been using Notepad++ for a good while now and it's proven to be a great alternative to MS WordPad.

They created WordPad because of antitrust issues and never changed it. Try opening a Word document created by a recent version, it's pretty useless today.

Notepad rules though, it even got UTF8 support recently-ish! /s

I think they're just pushing people to use OneNote (which is free).

What did you think of the changes between Paint XP and modern versions? I used to adore Paint XP, but brush smoothing (though toggleable) and a clunky interface really spoiled the newer versions for me, and I don't enjoy using them as much. I think I just became so used to the primitive way of drawing well in the old versions that it sort of became it's own art form. Now they there are more advanced tools and so many required extra clicks, it feels like baggage. In the words of Karl Havoc, "THERE'S TOO MUCH FUCKIN' SHIT ON ME!"

Who told you that? MS Paint is basically a critical windows utility.

They discontinued Paint 3D

They did. I guess the community outcry was so loud even Microsoft had to heed it and reverse course.

I thought so too. I remember looking for alternatives for when it would be removed completely.

No. Wordpad is the one being discontinued. Paint is one of several programs that can now be uninstalled from Windows by end users without any special tricks.

I read that WordPad also was being discontinued, in the same article stating the same about MS Paint iirc

Yeah, I'm using paint.net for most of my editing (photopea for rest) but I would never have made the switch from just paint if it wasn't for layers and transparency. Those are a big deal.

I will continue to use Paint.Net, as it's been a solid software for the 15 years I've needed it.

https://www.photopea.com/

Actual Photoshop in your browser

Yes jspaint.app is perfect! Highly recommended

I use Paint almost daily.

Especially when I can’t be arsed opening Steam/Aseprite. Paint is a pixel art work horse.

What kind of person is an MS Paint power user.

Some older folks that aren't as tech savvy have made some impressive pieces with it if memory serves. There's also those that use it unironically for its constraints to produce pieces with a classic MS Paint style produced from those limitations. In a way this update kind of flies in the face of that a little, maybe, but eh.

Transparency and layers is hardly a power user feature. Any common person wanting to make a meme worth half a chuckle will need both of those features. MS paint always starts up super fast compared to PS or GIMP so I'm looking forward to these features for fast meme creation.

I'd consider myself a paint power user. My job (QA) gives us a NUC and wants us to edit screenshots and videos on said NUC. It's not going to be a fun time with Photoshop, online tools are expressly forbidden, and alternative software needs manual approval by GIS.

The Big Lez Show graphics are drawn entirely in MS Paint. Every. Frame.

Washington State Department Of Transit's twitter feed is pretty awesome because of it

https://twitter.com/...

and

https://twitter.com/...

check it out

Wait. Fuck, do kids even use windows computers anymore or is the closest a chromebook?

Your instinct is accurate. The younger generation doesn't use Windows computers. They're happy with just their phones, Chromebooks, and Steam Decks. They even play games on their phones, despite the fact that mobile devices don't include any gaming-friendly input methods out of the box. They straight-up use the touchscreen to game on and are absolutely okay with it.

(Also IB4 someone replies to me with "I'm a teenager/20-something and I use a computer". Obviously I'm not referring to you, my dude. Just the average person your age. Also this is satire)

iPads now 💀

I found this guide: https://beebom.com/... haven't verified it or anything though. It's a bit old but it should still be possible in any case.

Wasn't it something like Paint3D?

I think they floated something like that, but there was push back.

All those Wordpad developers need something to do after all.

Don't hate on Bitmap files.

Ballmer: my water is yours.

Thanks Steve Ballmer.