Microsoft has announced its departure from WordPad. If you install the Insider Preview Build 26020 of Windows 11, the word processing program is missing. The automatic removal of the software that is no longer further developed should take place with a later update. Microsoft announced its departure in the fall and recommended its own alternatives. How exactly the farewell would take place was not yet explained at the time. This will only be made more precise with the changes now presented.
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Alternatives from Microsoft and the competition
WordPad has been around since 1995 and has been part of all Windows versions since Windows 95. It was replaced by Microsoft Write at the time. The word processing program offers significantly more functions than simple text editors such as Notepad, but at the same time does not come close to the range of functions of Microsoft Word. But WordPad was always completely sufficient for simple word processing. Microsoft now refers to these alternatives as a replacement, although Word usually cannot be used without additional costs. LibreOffice, OpenOffice or Google Docs are available as free alternatives.
With Preview Build 26020 of Windows 11, Microsoft is also introducing expanded support for voice control – even on multiple displays – as well as shortcuts for it. The developers also promise new natural voices for the audio output, including one in German.
In addition to WordPad, the people app that has already been sorted out is also finally disappearing, but it has long since had a successor in the form of “Contacts”. The preview version also signals the farewell to the “step recording” application. This and other information is available in an entry on the Windows Insider Blog.
(mho)