If you grew up with a Windows PC, Microsoft Paint is likely burned into your memory. For decades, it has been the go-to tool for quick doodles, cropping family photos, and attempting to draw something that vaguely resembles a cat (and failing). It has long been considered the humble, simple survivor of the software world.
But hold onto your mouse pads, because Paint is stepping into the future in a way nobody saw coming.
Microsoft has officially rolled out a new AI feature that transforms the classic drawing tool into a coloring book generator. Yes, you read that right. While Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has recently been on the record emphasizing that AI needs to “prove its worth” to society, the company is clearly betting that helping us create coloring pages for our kids is a solid first step.
Unleashing Your Inner Artist (With a Little Help from AI)
The concept is surprisingly simple and, frankly, kind of fun. Currently rolling out to Windows Insiders, the new “Coloring Book” feature inside Paint allows you to generate images based on text prompts.
The process is straightforward. You type in a description—Microsoft’s example is “a cute fluffy cat on a donut”—and the AI kicks into gear. Instead of just one outcome, it provides a set of slightly different variations of your idea. You can browse these options, pick the one that sparks joy, and drop it right into your workspace.
Once the image is there, the world is your oyster. You can save it, copy it, or—pulling from the classic Paint utility—print it out. Imagine being able to generate a custom coloring page tailored exactly to your child’s current obsession (be it fluffy cats, specific dinosaurs, or obscure anime characters) in seconds. It’s the kind of tangible, practical application of AI that Nadella hinted at—tech that blends seamlessly into our daily家庭生活.
It’s worth noting that this specific feature is currently exclusive to Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft’s line of AI-powered computers. If you’re running a standard rig, you might have to wait a bit longer (or upgrade) to access the doodle magic.
A Smarter Canvas: The New Fill Tool
Beyond the AI generation, Paint is also getting a much-needed quality-of-life improvement for the traditionalists among us. We’ve all been there: you’re trying to fill a small, intricate area with color, you click the bucket, and suddenly the color bleeds over the entire canvas because that one pixel gap you missed.
Microsoft is addressing this with a new Fill tolerance slider. This adjustment allows you to control the precision of the Fill tool. You can set it to be strict, hitting only the exact closed area, or loose, allowing it to flow into nearby pixels. It’s a subtle update, but it makes the tool significantly less frustrating for anyone trying to create clean, digital art.
Notepad Gets a Worthy Upgrade
While Paint is catching the headlines with its creative flair, Notepad—the minimalist text editor——is receiving some serious muscle upgrades.
Notepad has always been the place for quick notes, jotting down phone numbers, or editing configuration files without the bloat of Microsoft Word. Now, Microsoft is integrating AI directly into the writing experience.
The update brings three key AI functionalities to Notepad:
- Write: Generate text based on a prompt.
- Rewrite: Fine-tune your existing sentences to change the tone or adjust the length.
- Summarize: Take complex notes and condense them into a quick summary.
Under the hood, this is powered by GPT, Microsoft’s generative AI model. If you’ve ever stared at a blank page trying to word a difficult email, or found yourself drowning in a sea of meeting notes that need condensing, this feature is designed to be your digital assistant.
To keep things snappy, Microsoft has optimized these features to load results faster than before. You can even interact with the text preview without waiting for the entire generation to finish, making the workflow feel more natural and less like you’re waiting on a buffering wheel.
As with the Paint features, these Notepad updates are initially available to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev channels. To use the cloud-based AI features, you will need to sign into your Microsoft account, ensuring your writing aids are synced and ready to go.
The Big Picture: AI for Everyone
It’s easy to be cynical about the AI boom. Every tech keynote promises a revolution, but sometimes it’s hard to see how it affects our day-to-day lives. Microsoft’s latest move feels different. By integrating these tools into the most basic, universally known programs on the planet—Paint and Notepad—they are democratizing AI.
They aren’t just asking scientists or coders to use AI; they are asking parents, students, and casual users to play with it. Whether you are generating a coloring page for a rainy afternoon or summarizing a dense work document before a meeting, Microsoft is betting that these small, helpful moments are what will ultimately prove AI’s worth.
So, if you’re a Windows Insider, fire up your PC. It’s time to see what your “cute fluffy cat on a donut” looks like.
