Microsoft has started trying tools that use AI to rewrite text in Notepad and make images in Paint, which were first released in the 1980s.
Today, these AI “experiences” are being rolled out to Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels who have updated to Paint 11.2410.28.0 and Notepad 11.2410.15.0.
Along with the Cocreator feature that was already released, the new Paint tools (generative fill and generative erase) let users change parts of their images and replace them with AI-generated content.
In September 2023, Microsoft began sending Cocreator to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels. Cocreator is driven by OpenAI’s DALL-E text-to-image model.
Dave Grochocki, product manager for Windows Inbox Apps, said, “With generative fill, you can make changes and additions with just a few words while keeping the art style of your project the same.”
“We are also introducing generative erase, a new AI-powered tool that helps you remove unwanted objects from the canvas, filling in the empty space left behind to make it look like the object was never there.”
This is part of a larger effort to add AI-powered features to the Paint image editor. The company also announced that Windows 11 Insider builds will include a new background remover tool that can help you cut out the subject of a picture from its background.
Notepad is a basic text editor from Microsoft that was first released in 1983. It now has an AI-powered feature called “Rewrite” (previously known as CoWriter) that uses generative AI to rewrite material automatically.
“You can rephrase sentences, adjust the tone, and modify the length of your content based on your preferences to refine your text,” Grochocki said. “Options to make your content longer or shorter and modifying the tone or format let you easily adjust your content for specific goals.”
People who use Windows 11 in the US, France, the UK, Canada, Italy, and Germany can try out Rewrite in trial form. They need to log in with a Microsoft account in order to use it.
After leaving Windows Notepad alone for years, the company finally started adding new features in 2018 to bring it up to date and make it more competitive with Notepad2 and Notepad++.
In December 2023, Microsoft added a word counter to the Windows 11 Notepad app. In July of that year, they also added spell check and autocorrect.
Other tools that have been added since then are wrap-around find and replace, better compatibility with Unix and Mac, tabs, text zoom, UTF-8 support, autosaving, and line number displays.