With a new update, is Notepad going back to the Store?

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by Surur Davids 

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Like the Windows Calculator, Microsoft had planned to bring the Windows Notepad system app to the Microsoft Store, supposedly with the aim of updating it more regularly.

In early December however, Microsoft abandoned the plan without giving much reason, saying:

Today however Microsoft posted the first update for the Store app since August, as noticed by ALumia, taking it to version  10.1912.1.0.

The only new feature appears to be a hidden icon, which appears to be aimed for Windows 10X.

In possibly related news, with Windows 10 20H1 Build 19041 (RTM candidate), Microsoft has added Notepad to the Optional Features section, reports WindowsLatest.

This means it is now possible to uninstall Notepad completely, removing it from Windows Run, Command Prompt, and Windows Search results. Like other Optional features, it is, of course, possible to re-install it.

Microsoft has not clarified the reasons behind the move, but the push to Windows 10X, which can run Win32 apps, maybe behind the latest developments.

Surur Davids

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Surur Davids is the founder of WMPoweruser which later became MSPoweruser.com. He's a smartphone expert with over a decade of experience.

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