Microsoft began testing Notepad’s AI-based text rewriting and Paint image generation tools four decades after the two programs were released in the 1980s.

These AI “experiences” (as the company describes them) are rolling out today to Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels on Windows 11, which have been upgraded to Paint 11.2410.28.0 and Notepad 11.2410.15.0 .

The new Paint tools, generative fill and generative erase, complement the Previously announced Cocreator feature and allow users to edit their images and replace elements of their choice with AI-generated content.

Redmond started deploying Cocreatorpowered by OpenAI’s DALL-E text-image model, to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary channels in September 2023.

“With generative fill, you can make changes and additions in just a few words while maintaining your project’s existing artistic style.” said Dave Grochocki, product manager of the Windows Inbox Applications group.

“We’re also introducing Generative Erase, a new AI-powered tool that helps you remove unwanted objects from the canvas, filling in the empty space left behind to make it look like the object was never there .”

This is part of a broader initiative to include AI-powered features in the Paint image editor, with the company also announcing a new background remover tool in Windows 11 Insider builds that can help remove image backgrounds to get a cutout of the image subject.

Notepad, Microsoft’s basic text editing application launched in 1983, also benefits from an AI-powered feature called “Rewrite” (formerly known as Co-editor) which automatically rewrites content using generative AI.

“You can rephrase sentences, adjust tone, and change the length of your content based on your preferences to refine your copy,” Grochocki added. “Options to make your content longer or shorter and change the tone or format allow you to easily adjust your content for specific goals.”

Rewrite is available in preview for Windows 11 users in the United States, France, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, and Germany. To use it, they must sign in with a Microsoft account.

After years of no change, the company finally began adding new features to Windows Notepad in 2018 to modernize it and help it compete with more popular Notepad replacements like Notepad2 or Notepad++.

Microsoft added a built-in character counter to the Windows 11 Notepad application in December 2023 and a spell check and autocorrect function in July.

Other new features added since then include wraparound search and replace, improved Unix and Mac compatibility, tabs, zoom the text, UTF-8 supportautosave and line number are displayed.