icrosoft is finally killing off its legendary Paint program after more than three decades. The software giant announced it will drop support for the popular drawing app in its upcoming Windows 10 update.
It marked Paint as "deprecated" in a list of apps and features that may be removed from the software, meaning the app is "not in active development and might be removed in future releases".
Microsoft Paint has been a staple of the Windows operating system for 32 years and has been installed with every version since 1985. The tool lets users easily copy and paste, crop and colour images, or simply doodle and create drawings.
As of last year, Paint was still used by 100 million people a month, according to Microsoft.
Oi @Microsoft! #paint pic.twitter.com/XSmeLn2V5n
— Mark Reel (@markreel) July 24, 2017
Microsoft is stopping making Microsoft Paint, goodbye to all our childhood years
— King Boo(b) (@NlNTENDHO) July 24, 2017
RIP Microsoft Paint. ?
— Jamie Gilbey (@Poddddddd) July 24, 2017
The death of Paint comes as part of Microsoft's Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, announced in May. The update will bring tools that make it easier to switch between tablets, laptop and phones and augmented reality video and photo editing tools in StoryMix.
The Fall Creators update is expected to be released in the Autumn, although Microsoft has not confirmed a release date.
Microsoft Paint has come a long way. With Paint 3D, it's easy to create in the third dimension. See how: https://t.co/hNhuYCF2iK #Windows10 pic.twitter.com/O6992ZtqoH
— Windows (@Windows) July 19, 2017
Microsoft is sidelining Paint following the release of its next generation Paint 3D in April. Paint 3D contains tools for 3D image making and, although it is inspired by the original, is not a direct update.
While Paint is not useful for complicated photo editing or design, its simplicity made it popular with early users of Windows and it has remained a feature of the operating system.
The updated Paint 3D is designed for use with Microsoft's Surface Pen, which lets users draw more natural and detailed pictures than were ordinarily possible in classic Paint.
Despite its simplicity, many users were still able to create detailed drawings and sketches using the simple tools in Paint.
