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Megan Saunders, general manager of the Windows Experiences group, announced in a July 24 post that Microsoft will release MS Paint in the Windows Store as a free app, recognizing the pleas of Paint fans who would not seek the end of its famous app.
"Today, we've seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint. If there's anything we learned, it’s that after 32 years, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It’s been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app," Saunders wrote.
PC World reports that Microsoft has labeled the Paint app as "deprecated" within the upcoming Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, meaning Microsoft will stop developing the app, and possibly remove it from the OS.
Saunders did not provide details on when Paint will be transitioned over to a Store app, and also refused to say if it will be either upgraded or preserved. However, Saunders mentioned that Paint3D, Microsoft's new 3D content creation app, will stay and receive future updates.
In 1985, the well-loved Paint app was established alongside Windows 1.0. Microsoft has updated Paint over subsequent versions to support various file formats from JPEG to TIFF. Despite the influx of more updated imaging tools, Paint remains to be "a quick-and-dirty photo editor and drawing tool."