Andrew Cunningham
Microsoft continues to update and refine Windows 11 two months after its public release, and the Notepad app is the latest piece of the operating system to get some attention. The updated version of the Notepad app is rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel, where the company is also testing customizations to the taskbar and Start menu, a new-old button for setting the default web browser, an updated Media Player app, and other changes.
The main changes look much the same as in the leaked Notepad screenshots from early October: the new unified title bar and menu bar pick up Windows 11’s “mica” style, as well as support for dark mode, support for switching between dark and light. mode and modernized font controls.
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The search and replace menu takes up less space than before and does not have its own title bar.
Andrew Cunningham
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Dark mode support.
Andrew Cunningham
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The sparse settings screen can change the color mode or choose a font, and that’s about it. Notepad essentially remains a simple app.
Andrew Cunningham
Microsoft has added a few non-aesthetic features to Notepad, but so far the company is focusing on improving the program in the kind of simple text and code editing that Notepad is good for. Microsoft isn’t trying to make Notepad more advanced or rich-text editor. For starters, the program packs a multi-level Undo feature, while the current Notepad app can only undo and redo the very last thing you did. There is also a new find and replace dialog that takes up less space.
Microsoft says it’s working on improving performance when opening large files and issues with shift-clicks to select text, among a number of other minor issues. These will presumably be resolved before the new Notepad app rolls out to the more stable Windows distribution channels.