After completely screwing up Paint with a horrible Dark Mode-averse update, Microsoft is going after Notepad in Windows 11 too.
“Today we are beginning to roll out the redesigned Notepad for Windows 11 to all Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel,” Microsoft’s Dave Grochocki announced. “The redesigned Notepad for Windows 11 includes a number of changes we think the community will enjoy. You will notice a completely updated UI that aligns with the new visual design of Windows 11, including rounded corners, Mica, and more. We know how important Notepad is to so many of your daily workflows, so we designed this modern spin on the classic app to feel fresh, but familiar.”
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The new look is just fine, to be fair, and unlike with Paint, this refreshed version of Notepad supports Dark mode, an important if obvious feature. The new Notepad also features a redesigned Find and Replace experience, Grochocki notes, and it will support multi-level Undo, a top user feature request.
This first release has some known issues that will be fixed in future updates, including some Input Method Editor (IME) problems and weird SHIFT + click bugs. Performance with very large files might be lacking as well.