The concern is that more features introduces more risk. See CVE-2026-20841 for a recent example. If the application remained a simple text editor, it is unlikely exploits like this would be possible.

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-20...

The ergonomics of the new version are slightly different. The default behavior of opening tabs with previously-open files is jarring to me. I just remove it (Powershell command line in another comment) and the original "Notepad.exe" takes over.

I've spent a long time building up my muscle memory. I don't want my tools changing out from under me. If they wanted to ship an "enhanced" notepad they should have called its something else.

Because we collectively used to make fun of users that were complaining whenever an icon moved 42 pixel to the right and now we're them.

But we think we're right and still we thought they were wrong.

If we were in a PHP forum, this would be my signature: I'm getting too old for this shit.

Today Markdown. Tomorrow WordArt (but with AI probably).

It's fashionable to hate on anything Windows. Especially in tech circles.