Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories?
No, thank you Accept
X
Apple Vision Pro Hands-OnBest Meal Delivery ServicesCNET CouponsNew Apple Watch PerksBest Solar CompaniesAI and Your Job SearchBest Satellite Internet ProvidersMortgage Rates

Microsoft Paint gets a second life -- in the Windows Store

The program that's been around as long as Windows itself will be discontinued from future versions of Windows.

katie-collins_1.jpg
katie-collins_1.jpg
Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
See full bio
Katie Collins
logo-paint-windows-10

Remember this?

Microsoft

The demise of once-beloved computer programs is always a source of misery for lovers of retro tech.

The latest victim is the much-cherished Microsoft Paint, the canvas upon which many artistic visions have been realized over the years. The feature will be discontinued with a Windows 10 Fall Creators update, replaced by Paint 3D, but it will still be available in the Windows Store for free.

Paint has been around as long as Windows itself, debuting on Windows 1.0 in 1985. In the way-back-when of dial-up internet speeds, it was as integral to passing the time on Microsoft machines as Minesweeper and Solitaire.

It's unlikely the program will be much missed in the age of the Apple Pencil and Google's Tilt Brush, which allows you to paint worlds around you in VR, but no doubt it will be remembered fondly.

Now if only Microsoft could wean people off the aging Windows 7 and the ancient Windows XP.

First published July 24 at 6:11 a.m. PT.
Update at 11:25 p.m. PT: Added that Microsoft Paint will be available on the Windows Store.