Microsoft: 'MS Paint Is Not Going Away'

Yesterday the internet started to mourn the death of MS Paint, the drawing software that's been included in every version of Windows since 1985.

"Farewell," wrote The Washington Post. "As it dies, I die also," wrote The Guardian. And so on the headlines went.

The news came after an official post from Microsoft detailed which Windows apps will be "Removed" or "Deprecated" in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. "Removed" means apps will be removed from the product in the update (duh), while "Deprecated" apps simply means that those apps are no longer in active development.

Many people understandably interpreted this update to mean that Microsoft is getting ready to eventually remove and kill MS Paint entirely. If the company was to begin "sunsetting" the app, this would be a reasonable first step.

However, on Tuesday morning Microsoft told me in an email that this is not the case.

"MS Paint is not going away," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "In addition to the new 3D capabilities, many of the MS Paint features people know and love like photo editing and 2D creation are in Paint 3D - the new app for creativity, available for free with the Windows 10 Creators Update. In the future, we will offer MS Paint in the Windows Store also for free and continue to provide new updates and experiences to Paint 3D so people have the best creative tools all in one place."

You have to read between the lines a little bit, but what Microsoft is saying is what it already said in the original announcement: It is no longer updating MS Paint, but users will still be able to download and use it, at least until further notice.

Perhaps it's only because the company saw the outpouring of love for the internet's favorite shitty art-making software, but as you can see by the image above, Microsoft made it clear it likes MS Paint, like the rest of us. Yeah, some public relations person drew that.