The Memo pad It is one of the historical utilities of Windows, but it has changed little or nothing despite the passing of the years. At least until now. The thing is Windows 11 is working for change its interface and provide it with tabsto make it easier to work on different annotations without having to open multiple program windows.
The novelty was known over the weekend, and in a rather peculiar way. It was a Microsoft employee himself who shared a screenshot on Twitter showing the renewed aesthetics of the software. “Windows 11 Notepad now has tabs!” read the tweet in question.
However, the post disappeared a few minutes later. That’s right. It is that the same interface of the program warned the workers of Redmond that they should not filter the functions in development. “Confidential – Do not discuss features or take screenshots,” read a red banner. Obviously, it was not very effective.
Beyond the removal of the tweet, the image did not take long to go viral in information portals. For now, it is unknown when the renewal of Notepad will be available in Windows 11, but it is speculated that it could reach the members of the Insider program in the first months of 2023.
The revamped application interface not only shows the tabs that allow you to open different TXT files in the same window. The traditional menu bar also appears with options such as File, Edit and View, added to the gear icon on the far right of the window.
Windows 11 Notepad adds tabs and follows the steps of File Explorer
With the inclusion of tabs in Notepad, Microsoft follows the line already seen in File Explorer. Let’s remember that Windows 11 incorporated the option to open different instances of the aforementioned tool using a single window. Something that is not only more aesthetic, but also more efficient when opening multiple folders.
The striking thing about the case is that, just like what happened with File Explorer, Redmond had already experimented with adding tabs to Notepad. It was at the beginning of 2018, in Windows 10. At that time, the American firm chose to test the addition of this feature in the vast majority of its integrated applications. However, the test in question lasted a long time and the functions never made it to the final version of the operating system.
The renewed graphical interface of Notepad seems to be part of the process faced by Microsoft to refine both the look and feel of Windows 11. At its launch, the operating system was criticized for its lack of consistency and the absence of key features in certain areas. However, over the course of the updates, the software has recovered many of the features lost compared to its predecessors, and has begun the process of revitalizing historical tools that were already in need of a facelift.
Let’s not forget that, in addition to the File Explorer, Windows 11 has brought important changes to the Task Manager. Said section, coincidentally divided into tabs since its inception, has changed its aesthetics for one more similar to that of the OS settings screen. Thus, its main sections now appear in a menu on the left margin of the window. And to this we must add Microsoft’s intention to gradually forget the historic Control Panel.