With Windows 11, Microsoft not only provides a visual update operating system. It also updates almost all the applications of the first party to match new design languages. There is nothing more clear than the Dear Microsoft Paint application, which remains the same for almost a decade. The refresh version for Windows 11 was finally available for Windows inciders for testing, along with new improvements that were needed to the old features.
To be honest, Microsoft really only says there are new text tools available but don’t really get into detail. The resulting image does look cleaner, and hopefully makes it easier to combine text content in the graph. Over the years, Microsoft Paint has handled sub-par text which makes it too easy even for software fans to ignore their existence at all.
The Windows 11 Paint version almost gets a visual reshuffle, trading square color swatch for round. Icons have also been refreshed according to Microsoft’s new design language so they will not be seen out of place on the Windows engine 11. However, not all changes are warmly welcomed, with some complaining about the wasted vertical space because the menu and fast action button are now on their own line.
Microsoft Paint naturally gets a new design that matches the rest of Windows 11, such as round angle and mica material. The latter refers to the new capabilities of Windows 11 to analyze the current wallpaper and theme and apply the color that matches the remaining window of the application. It must apply to dark themes too, but people have not seen it.
Microsoft says that this is only the beginning, and more features come in updates. It includes a very important dark theme support and update for file dialog files and settings that eventually don’t look terrible. If there is, this new Microsoft paint will at least look at the house on Windows 11, finally pursuing Microsoft’s own standards.