- Notepad gets lightweight text formatting skills but only by testing
- These allow you to use bold and italics, headlines and lists
- Some people appreciate these formatting equipment while others see them as further bloating – although the functionality of this case can be turned off
The Notepad gets lightweight text formatting skills in testing, in yet another feature to expand the feature set in the app, which has proved predictably divisive.
Microsoft wrote a blog post describing the changes that have started to roll out to Windows 11 testers in the Canary and DEV channels via an update to the Notepad app (version 11.2504.50.0).
The formatting features are a light sprinkle of support for fat and italics, hyperlinks as well as headings (in a more prominent font) and basic moldings (using ball points and the like).
Microsoft explains that ‘Markdown’ formatting syntax is used, which means this keeps the implementation simple and streamlined. In addition, this formatting support can be turned off in the Notepad settings if you do not want to use it and do not want it hanging.
Analysis: light (formatting) and shade
This sounds like a straightforward enough potentially useful feature, so why is the divisive that I indicated at first? If you are reviewing a few Reddit threads on this addition to the Notepad while you see that there are some users who approve this plan, it will not be long before you encounter someone who is not happy with the introduction of text formatting here.
The reason some people have beef with what Microsoft is doing with Notepad, in terms of adding more and more features – which has been the case for a while now – is that it should be an easy, quick to load and responsive text. The fear is that unnecessary bloating will defeat the app and slow it down.
In this case, however, the added formatting options will be quite useful to some (especially the people who miss the WordPad, the other more announced text site, like Microsoft can some time left). And since they are implemented in Markdown, as noted, any performance effect should be minimal (or hopefully non-existent). In addition, it is possible to turn off the formatting, this is not a feature that should contribute to any concerns about bloating.
AI-powered extras on the other side may be another boiler fish, but it is clear enough that Microsoft is ready to continue traveling down the road to deliver fresh functionality to the notepad.
