After much hue and cry about MS Paint being deprecated on Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, the company has clarified that the app is merely being moved to the Windows Store, where it will be available for free.
The only difference on the upcoming version of Windows 10 is that MS Paint will no longer be the default application for the purpose. That responsibility is being passed on to Paint 3D, while MS Paint will still be downloadable from Windows Store.
Presumably, Microsoft will be creating a UWP version of MS Paint before they put it in the store. That will make it compatible with all Windows 10 devices, including smartphones running Windows 10 Mobile.
What Microsoft has done is to port all of MS Paint’s best features, such as line and curve tools, photo editing, etc. to Paint 3D, and then given the app a booster shot of the third dimension – depth. There’s no doubt that Paint 3D is far superior to MS Paint, but there will be lots of familiar elements carried over from the 32-year-old app.
Paint 3D is more in line with Microsoft’s future direction towards mixed reality content. They’ve got the hardware in the form of HoloLens, Surface Studio and so on; they’ve got a growing body of apps that support these technologies like holographics and augmented reality; and now, they’ve got the software as well as a community of creative people (Remix.com) working and collaborating on several projects.
The future is 3D, and the future is mixed reality, and the phasing out of MS Paint as the default drawing app is a logical step in that progression towards the future. Thankfully, Microsoft has recognized the love and support that the Windows community has for MS Paint and has decided not to do away with it altogether.
Now, if they could only look at Windows 10 Mobile devices the same way. Hmm.
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