Windows to phase out 30-year-old software

His fate was already sealed. All that was missing was its end date. She is now known : this will be in the fall of 2024. The 24H2 update, planned for this period, will then completely remove WordPad from Windows 11. In doing so, the American company will irrevocably close a chapter opened almost thirty years ago.

It was in fact with Windows 95 that this word processing software – which is similar to Microsoft Word, for example – made its debut. Much more basic than many other solutions on the market, WordPad nevertheless had at least the advantage of being free. It was sufficient for writings that were neither too long nor required too much formatting.

Which text editor to choose after WordPad?

Microsoft's decision only concerns Windows 11 with the 24H2 update. If you are using an older generation, like Windows 10, nothing will change. Ditto if you postpone the update to 24 hours while being on Windows 11. For those who take the plunge, Microsoft lists two alternatives:

• the notepad, which is excessively basic, with no possibility of particular layout or structuring;
• Microsoft Word, which is a paid solution, but which takes and extends all the features and capabilities of WordPad.

A third path should be considered: that of rival suites, like OpenOffice or LibreOffice. These are a viable option, although there may be some difficulties at the margins, such as handling Rich Text Format (RTF). With the removal of WordPad, Windows 11 “will no longer have an integrated RTF reader by default,” notes Microsoft.

The discontinuation, after almost three decades of activity, of WordPad is not entirely a surprise. The software did not receive the same attention as other Microsoft products – in particular Word, its direct competitor -, apart from very marginal adjustments to the interface, design or security.