Notepad will now tell you all the ways Microsoft has enshittified it

Microsoft is meddling with Notepad again, this time adding a "What's New" screen so users know the latest indignities heaped on the once-humble text editor.

The "What's New" first-run experience will appear during startup to guide users through the app's latest features. According to Microsoft, "this dialog provides a quick overview of what's possible in Notepad and serves as a helpful starting point for both new and returning users." It can be closed and reopened by clicking a megaphone icon in the top-right of the toolbar.

As for "What's New" in version 11.2512.10.0, there are some more formatting options and the inevitable AI updates. Markdown support in the editor arrived last June, and Microsoft added tables in November 2025. This time around, the company has shoehorned in more markdown features, including strikethrough formatting and nested lists.

Support for AI streaming features is also expanded in the latest Notepad release. Microsoft wrote: "Whether generated locally or in the cloud, results for Write, Rewrite, and Summarize will start to appear quicker without the need to wait for the full response, providing a preview sooner that you can interact with."

Assuming, of course, you've signed in with a Microsoft account.

The Register asked Microsoft if it could share the user feedback that had demanded these enhancements to its text editor. A spokesperson told us that they would reply if there was anything to share. They did not.

The company has also continued to add tweaks to its former simple bitmap editor, Paint. One, "Coloring book," is an AI feature that turns the user's text into a coloring book page (we can't imagine it being used to produce a picture of "a user faced with relentless AI slop" for a crayon-wielding toddler to improve). The other is a tolerance slider for the fill tool.

The Coloring book option applies only to Copilot+ PCs and requires a user to sign in with a Microsoft account.

Both Notepad and Paint have evolved far beyond their simple origins, but in doing so, have become intermediate tools that leave behind users who just want to edit text or flip a few pixels without add-ons getting in the way.

Still, as users reflect glumly on the latest set of bugs afflicting Windows following an update, it's good to know that Microsoft has found time to add more AI features to Notepad. ®