Although Microsoft did not release a new Windows 11 preview system on Wednesday, it still pushed a number of built-in application updates to members of the Windows Insider Program, including Notepad and Paint, two commonly used tool applications. The new version of Notepad has enhanced Markdown typesetting capabilities, while Paint has added an AI-based “coloring book” function.
Notepad for Windows 11 has been updated to version 11.2512.10.0, adding two new Markdown formatting tools: strikethrough and nested lists, allowing users to achieve richer structures and annotations when editing text. At the same time, a new welcome experience interface has been added to the app to introduce users to the latest features in Notepad. Users can reopen this interface at any time by clicking the loudspeaker icon in the upper right corner of the toolbar. Microsoft has also improved the way Notepad displays text streaming when calling local or cloud AI to "compose, rewrite, or summarize" text, so that the generated results can be displayed instantly in a smoother way without having to wait for AI to return the entire paragraph at once.
The Paint application has been updated to version 11.2512.191.0. The core change is the new “Coloring Book” function. This feature is driven by AI and allows users to generate a variety of coloring page styles by entering text prompts, then select their favorite version to add to the canvas, or copy and save it for later use. It should be noted that the coloring book function is only available for Copilot+ PC and is similar to the AI function in Notepad. You must log in with a Microsoft account when using it.
In addition to AI capabilities, this drawing also adds a new fill tolerance slider to adjust the accuracy of coloring with the Fill tool. Users can adjust the slider to switch the fill effect between different styles of "clean, clear edges" and "more creative, stronger diffusion" to adapt to diverse drawing needs.
Currently, these new features for Notepad and Paint are gradually being rolled out to Canary and Dev channel users of the Windows 11 Insider Program. Microsoft has released more detailed instructions on the official Windows blog for interested users to learn more about this round of updates and subsequent plans.