New Features in WordPad and Paint in Windows 7
WordPad and Paint are often overlooked accessories included in all versions of Windows since 95. They are still included in Windows 7 and now have a new look with some enhanced features. Here we will take a look at some of the new improvements.
Classic WordPad
WordPad has always come in very handy as a quick and easy to use text editor for documents. Rather than opening up a new Word session to make simple adjustments, WordPad can save a lot of time. In fact it is all some users need to create basic letters and and other simple documents.
WordPad 6.1 w/ Ribbon UI
The new WordPad in Windows 7 includes the nicely laid out Ribbon interface which has been a feature in Office 2007 and in the forthcoming 2010. If you are new to the Ribbon, it does take getting used to, but once you do, you’ll wonder how you did without it before.
To access commonly used commands easier, just Right-click the button and choose “Add to Quick Access Toolbar”.
What may be considered the coolest new feature, it includes the ability to read and write documents to Office Open XML format, which supports Open Office (.odt) and IBM Lotus Symphony suites.
Like in pervious versions you can insert a Paint drawing.
Paint
Of course we would be remiss if we didn’t show the new Ribbon UI included in the new version of Paint.
Easier to access options for editing projects.
![sshot-2009-09-24-[15-50-57]](http://www.howtogeek.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/sshot20090924155057.png "sshot-2009-09-24-[15-50-57]")
The main menu offers more choices for saving, printing images etc.
It looks like the Ribbon is around to stay and it’s nice to get uniformity between Windows applications. Paint and WordPad may seem like forgotten accessories, but the new look and improvements might warrant a second look.
How about you? We are curious how many of you still use WordPad or Paint and what you think about the new interface. Just leave us a comment and let us know.
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In Office 2007 I apreciate the new quick formats. And how the new color themes make all things look much nicer by default than before.
But after using it for about a year now (mostly Excel and PPT, some Word), I depply deny the ribbon interface to be faster.
Try to draw something in PPT. Formerly, you could drag the alignment pallet with you so you had short mouse traveling distances. You could insert the same (or different) shapes faster. Now it’s all back an forth between Insert->Shape, Format & Style ribbon tabs. It’s a total mess! I do not speak of how I found the old text-menü items blindfolded (I did not). The ribbon just in itself has hindering design elements:
* Can’t be dragged off the edge of the window
* The element you need next is almost certainly on a different tab
* You need to click on a grouping element and then choose your command very often, even on large displays
* With current screen resolutions, it takes away much screen space (most people don’t know you can hide the ribbon when showing some Excel sheet in a meeting on a 1024×768 projector)
Apart from the interface change, long standing Office issues have not been adressed. Try to type a structured document in Word using Style templates. The program keeps on to build it’s own “Quick formats” that clutter up the list. I hate it! For my personal PC I have quit to Open Office, which has an ugly, old style interface, but leaves most formatting issues to me.
Regards,
SuAlfons
Working in a company where Admin rights are locked down, Paint is the only option for graphics manipulation – this will be a big improvement, although I’ve become a dab hand and getting as much out of it as possible.
I agree with the previous poster about the ribbon menu. I downloaded the add-in (from this site?) for the old style Office menu and refer to it regularly when I cant find what I need on the ribbon menu.
I dont tend to use Wordpad. Its either Word for the fancy stuff or Notepad/Textpad for the basic stuff
I think Windows 7 looks allot like a combining Vista and Xp any one get this feeling?
After a year or so, I still hate the ribbon in MS-Word. It took me months to find some things I used regularly. And the style sheets just never quite work right. Excel is better; the ribbon layout makes more sense there, somehow. I am sorry that they cluttered up a good, simple product like WordPad with this unnecessary space-waster. The whole point of WordPad was to keep it simple.
I used to use Wordpad a lot, a bit less now that .rtf is not so common. I still use Paint almost daily, for capturing & editing screen shots (tracklists, error messages, whatever), cut & paste editing, CD covers and you name it. I look forward to improvements & bug fixes. I just hope they haven’t “fixed” the “Print 100% size” feature — the explorer right click Print utility drives me crazy with its photograph orientation, and no “exact size” choice. If I’ve created a CD cover 4.75″x9.5″, I want it printed exactly 4.75″x9.5″ ! In fact, printing pictures the right size is almost the important feature of Paint for me!
TP
Wordpad is so good in 7 all I need is a spell checker and its my word processor. Jarte works great as well and it has a spell checker.
WordPad did get a serious upgrade but Paint is still bad. I would highly recommend Paint.NET to anyone. It’s free and 10X better than Paint.
I love the ribbon interface but I just wish that since they use the Office 2010 button, they should use the backstage view.
Good to know about the features in Window 7. But the ribbon feature in MS Office 2007 is a total mess. I had to remove Office 2007 and install Office 2003 just because of this feature and various formatting issues.
Once I came to know about UbitMenu http://blogs.howtogeek.com/mys.....07-ribbon/ then I upgraded the Office 2007.
Good lord I hate the freaking Ribbon interface. Can’t find anything I need when I need it (that is.. NOW I NEED IT NOW) and (most heinous crime), look at how much more room it takes up at the top of the screen!
Great, we all have WIDER laptops/monitors, but we’re still rather limited top-to-bottom; how nice of M$ to remove just a bit more of the space available for me in which to work.
Bah. Bloody ribbon.
Gimme Abiword (in fullscreen) or NP++ anyday.
I still use paint! Not so much wordpad but definitely paint. I use it mainly to resize photos and edit my screenshots. I loved the ribbon when it came out on office 2007 and having it with these two programs now will make me want to use them more. I’m stoked with these new features!
I wish I would have kept Vista on my computer. WordPad on Windows 7 is terrible. WordPad is all I use (I’m retired) and Wdos 7’s WordPad doesn’t compare to Vista’s WordPad. It was so easy. I want to single space my documents — I change it to single space and low and behold, it’s goes back to one and a half spaces every time. The font size keeps changing too. How do I keep these things from changing back????
Also, I’ve looked and looked to find out how to set TABS — I guess I’m missing something. I HATE THIS.
Thank goodness I kept the old WordPad when I moved to Windows 7! For the simple text formatting I do (no pictures or other frills), who needs all those extra foofaraws, that bury the things I acually use? And why sacrifice useful screen space to that obscurantist ribbon?
How do I get my settings to stay after finishing my document. It changes back to the original settings. And why does my heading always come out double spaced when I already have the document set for single spacing? VERY FRUSTATING!!
I actually have the same question as Carole.
I use Wordpad 50-150times a day depending on how much content I am writing out. I absolutely NEED it to stay on Arial 10 font. But, it always goes back to that annoying Calibri font. And it also does the double spaced thing. So every single time I start a new document, which again, is 50-150 times a day, I have to fiddle around with this. Is there ANY WAY to make Arial 10 no double spaces the default?
If not, Microsoft needs to make one.