Microsoft Introduces AI-Powered Paywall Features to Notepad and Paint

After 40 years of being free Microsoft has added a paywall to Notepad

TL;DR: Microsoft has introduced a paywall for Notepad, requiring a Microsoft 365 subscription to access new features like the AI-powered Rewrite tool. Notepad has been around for more than 40 years, and throughout that time, Microsoft made simple software free, but that time has now come to an end, or at least if you want full access to Notepad. The age of Notepad having a paywall has arrived, with the simple writing software now prompting users to sign into a Microsoft account to access new tools such as Rewrite, a new feature that uses artificial intelligence to rewrite highlighted text. Users attempting to use the new feature will be prompted with a Microsoft account sign-in page, and if the account doesn't have an active Microsoft 365 membership, the user will be required to sign up. This is the paywall. It should be noted that you can still use Notepad without a Microsoft account, and users can go as far as removing the Rewrite icon completely from Notepad. Despite the ability to still use the software without an account, Microsoft has received some criticism for implementing what is most definitely a paywall/advertisement for a built-in piece of Windows software. This criticism comes after Microsoft slowly started baking in advertisements for its other services within the Windows 11 operating system, such as ads for Game Pass within the Settings app, various ads within the Start Menu, and even File Explorer. As explained by Windows Central, Microsoft has adopted the "freemium" model for Notepad, which, for those who don't know, means the initial software is free to use but has specific features are locked behind paywalls.

Microsoft is paywalling these features in Notepad and Paint

There's some bad news for Windows users who want to use all of the built-in features of the operating system and its integrated apps. Going forward, Microsoft is restricting features in two iconic apps, which you'll need to unlock with a paid subscription. The two apps in question? Notepad and Paint. Both of these apps have been an integral part of Windows for years, with new features added even in the last few months. While Paint has mainly gotten new AI features like image generation, Notepad got its own spell checker for the first time and could also be getting its own AI features soon. Windows Insiders were previously able to use these app features free of charge. However, Microsoft is now making it necessary to have a Microsoft 365 subscription for full use of these apps. You'll see a new overlay that informs you of this before use. In our case, however, the respective features were simply grayed out. A Microsoft 365 subscription starts at $9.99/month if paid monthly or $99.99/year if paid annually. You can continue to use Notepad and Paint without a subscription, but you won't get these new features. It's surprising because Microsoft has never put anything in these apps behind a paywall before. In Notepad, you'll still be able to spell check in different languages. However, the following features will no longer be available if you don't have an active Microsoft 365 subscription: In Paint, it's mainly the Image Creator feature that will be paywalled. Image Creator is based on OpenAI's Dall-E and can generate AI images according to prompts. The recently added feature to automatically remove backgrounds from images can still be used, though.