Paint is one of Microsoft’s historic applications: it was born with Windows, and over the years has been renewed with the dropper. But with Windows 11 the restyling will arrive
Who hasn’t lost themselves at least once in their life drawing shapeless objects on Microsoft Paint, especially when computers were in their infancy and the internet was still a hologram? We’ve all done it, even though it was clear that the mouse wasn’t the ideal tool for creating credible digital paintings.
Everyone imagines that Paint is a very old application, but many might ignore its actual age, which is the same age as Windows: 36 years ago, in fact, the first version of Microsoft’s operating system was released, with Paint preinstalled, a “program” that has certainly evolved over the years, but that in relation to the rest has remained almost unchanged. And it has remained. Despite the fact that in over thirty years of time Windows has evolved considerably, Paint has always accompanied the many versions of the Redmond system in a constant way until today, when no one would ever have doubted its presence on board the recent Windows 11 (here’s when it arrives and how much it costs).
The preview of the new Paint comes from Microsoft
And it is precisely on Windows 11 that Paint should be redesigned, revised. After all, Microsoft’s next operating system, which was made official about a month ago, has been given a major overhaul in terms of graphics, so the company decided to give the same treatment to a historic Windows app to make it more consistent with the new environment.
Developers who have been familiarizing themselves with the Windows 11 preview in recent weeks have found that Paint had remained unchanged from a graphic point of view. Those who were disappointed, however, underestimated that since this isn’t the final version of Windows 11, things could still change between now and release, and indeed they will.
To unveil in advance creating a bit of healthy expectation in those who can’t wait to get familiar with the new Windows has been Microsoft itself, that in the last hours has shared on Unsplash a picture of Windows 11 in which you can catch a glimpse of the new user interface that the company would have reserved to Paint.
Paint will have a more rational interface
An interface much more modern than the current one, that remains consistent with the spirit of Paint but updates it to our times. From the few evaluations that can be made through a display from an image, however, it seems that Microsoft has put its hand to the layout of Paint thinking about those who, as seen in the picture, will use the software with a pen and a touch-sensitive display.
In the program’s toolbar, under the File, Edit, etc. menus, the icons contain fewer explanations of how they work – after all, we’ve had years to memorize them – and so they benefit from a more rational use of the available space.
Whether and how Paint will look on Windows 11 we should know for sure soon anyway: Redmond’s operating system will pass relatively soon to the final RTM phase, i.e. the one preparatory to commercialization.