Microsoft phases out WordPad (and Cortana) after 28 years of duty

Will miss NotePad. Will not miss Cortana one bit. Now, Microsoft -- phase out the data collection and we're back to respect again.

Although it’s obvious to me why Microsoft is doing this, it’s bitter to hear. Wordpad was an essential default program because it enabled basic editing and saving of Word documents without all of the advanced paid features. Since .doc and later .docx became the de-facto word processing format standard, young students relied on this to finish their essays and other assignments from home. Pre-’97, the .RTF format was the mainstay of Microsoft Word. This format is associated with Windows 95 and Windows 3.0 and under. Today, all of this may be more of a moot point anyways since Wordpad didn’t have the ability to save the formatting present in the .docx format. This was something that frustrated me as a young student but I eventually found the solution.

Still though, my ramblings highlight the problem: there’s no default way to edit and save Word documents in a basic manner. Microsoft, the extortionists, instead require that you: (1) purchase Microsoft Office, (2) have internet access to validate the product, and (3) sign up for a data-gathering Microsoft account. All of this is problematic in and of itself, but to expect a middle to high school student to meet these requirements is absurd!

I hear you though, there are solutions. In fact, I’ll be listing them here for posterity. These children won’t have the foreknowledge to do this however. This is why default apps are so important. Proprietary paid operating systems should come with these basic functionalities. Instead, Windows 11 is removing these functions to sell their paid applications, collect your data, and serve you advertisements all for the price of $140/$200. Even after all that abuse, you still don't own the operating system or the apps: access not ownership is the new profit motive paradigm. Anyways, in the spirit of AlternativeTo.net, here are some options for juvenile student.

LibreOffice ✅ Open-source and free ⛔️ Requires administrative rights to install ⛔️ Not installed by default (sneakernet install may be an option)

LibreOffice Portable for use with the PortableApps.com launcher ✅ Open-source and free ✅ Doesn’t require administrative rights ⚠️ Not installed by default, but runs directly from USB or local drive ⛔️ Windows Only (Mac supported with an administrative helper app)

Google Docs ✅ No installation required ⚠️ Free, but proprietary ⛔️ Requires internet access ⛔️ Requires a data-collecting Google account

This is super disappointing news, Notepad is a nice simple program for making notes and scripts. I think Micro$oft misunderstands its own products, Notepad is great for making notes and making simple scripts and programs. On the other hand Office inserts invisible editing marks that make writing code impossible, but its designed for more formal writing.