Not even Notepad is safe from Microsoft’s big AI push in Windows

Microsoft stated 2024 was going to be “the year of the AI PC,” and it seems to be like that’s ringing true already. Microsoft seems to be readying a brand new generative AI function for its Notepad software that’s constructed into Home windows. Whereas the software program large hasn’t formally introduced it, eagle-eyed Home windows watchers have discovered code in Microsoft’s newest check builds of Home windows 11 that point out a brand new “Cowriter” function may very well be on the way in which quickly.

It seems to be prefer it has the identical credit system that Microsoft makes use of in its Cocreator feature in Paint to let Home windows customers know what number of extra occasions they’ll use these AI-powered options. Microsoft hasn’t introduced pricing for these credit but, however one can assume the corporate will finally begin charging when you run out of them. Bing makes use of the same system, however when you run out of “each day boosts,” the picture creation by DALL-E merely slows down.

Different Home windows testers have even found references to a waitlist for the function and a hero picture that Microsoft might use to market its new Notepad Cowriter. The type of the picture is an identical to how Microsoft markets its Copilot options inside Workplace apps like Outlook, Phrase, and PowerPoint.

This might point out that Microsoft is near formally asserting the Cowriter function for beta testing, in the identical approach that it examined the Paint generative picture function for months earlier than it was rolled out to all Home windows 11 customers.

Now, I’m sufficiently old to recollect a time when Notepad was however a mere easy Home windows app that had barely been touched for greater than three many years. Microsoft has been significantly bettering Notepad on Home windows 11 lately, including a dark mode, tabs, character count, options like autosave and computerized restoration of tabs, and even a virtual fidget spinner.

I don’t suppose I’m alone in not wanting these type of AI options constructed immediately into Home windows apps as a way to upsell customers into shopping for AI credit. I’d reasonably see Microsoft proceed on its path of bettering Notepad in significant methods, particularly because it’s removing WordPad from Windows after almost 30 years. If Notepad goes to get one other new function, please let or not it’s an non-obligatory spellcheck as an alternative of a pc hallucinating into my textual content editor.