Paint

Paint (or Paintbrush in Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x) is a simple bitmap graphics editor included with Microsoft Windows.

History
Paint was introduced in Windows 1.0 Alpha Release as, although it is absent from the currently available Alpha Release disk set for unknown reasons. At the time, it only supported monochrome graphics in a custom MSP format. In Windows 2.x, the MSP format was changed, and while the new version of Paint supported both formats, images in the new format had to be converted to the old one using the new  conversion tool if they were to be used in Windows 1.0 applications.

For Windows 3.0, Microsoft decided to license Z-Soft's PC Paintbrush product, which supported true color graphics as opposed to the existing Paint tool, as a base for its Paintbrush. This version introduced support for the BMP and PCX format. With the release of Windows NT 3.1, Paintbrush was also ported to Win32.

The application, now renamed to Paint received a major redesign with Windows 95 in order to fit in the aesthetic of the new user interface. It further received minor usability updates in later versions of Windows, such as the ability to select a third color by holding Ctrl and selecting a color being introduced in Windows 98.

Windows XP included an improved version of Paint using the then-new GDI+ interface, which allowed it to support a wider range of formats. It also added the option to acquire images from a digital camera or a scanner. Windows Vista later refined it with a new zoom slider, default palette and icon set.

Paint got a major overhaul in Windows 7, with a new Ribbon user interface being introduced. New, more realistic tools were added, as well as more preset shapes. A new zoom lever with finer zoom levels was introduced, as well as the ability to display rulers or a grid. The application itself has been relatively unchanged for several years since then, although it has received a new icon along with its move to the Store during Windows 10 post-20H1 builds.

Deprecation
Microsoft has vowed to remove Paint from Windows on several occasions. In Windows 10 Creators Update build 14971, Paint was hidden in the base Windows install in order to try to encourage users to use the new Paint 3D application. Paint shortcuts were removed from the Start menu, and logic to bootstrap the new app based on a registry value was added to. The classic Paint was still usable by downloading it from the Store, or by using  with certain workarounds.

This change was soon reverted in build 14997, however, a year later, starting with Windows 10 April 2018 Update build 17063, a Product Alert button was added to Paint, which displayed a message about the application being soon replaced by Paint 3D and informed users that it would still be available from the Store. The button and message box were present for two feature updates until getting removed in Windows 10 May 2019 Update build 18334, with Microsoft confirming that Paint would be included with Windows 10 "for now".

Starting with build 21354, Paint was migrated to the Store, which allows it to be updated independently from the rest of the operating system. The app itself remains a part of a clean Windows copy and a fully functional executable is included in the base install, although it checks for the presence of the Store version on start and merely launches it if it's present, similarly to Notepad or WordPad.

Windows 11
The company has announced a visual refresh for Paint as well as other built-in apps during the Windows 11 introduction event. The new version of the app was eventually released for users in the Dev Channel on 28 September.