For those who thought Home windows’ humble, no-frills textual content editor would stay untouched by Microsoft’s unending quest to monetize issues, assume once more. The corporate dropped AI options for Notepad a number of months again, and now it’s prompting customers to pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription to make use of AI options like Rewrite.
For over 4 many years, Notepad has been a dependable, no-nonsense textual content editor you could possibly simply open if you wanted to jot one thing down with out the company upsell. However Microsoft couldn’t resist because it began throwing extra AI options into Home windows, it will definitely introduced them to Notepad, too.
At first, of us have been pleased. Notepad had turn out to be an much more viable utility, proper? Properly, then the prompts to join one in every of Microsoft 365’s AI plans began dropping, elevating some severe questions and confusion about simply how a lot you could possibly use Notepad without spending a dime, as you possibly can within the put up shared on X under.
So, let’s set issues straight. Sure, the core Notepad capabilities stay free, and sure, you possibly can nonetheless sort away with out disruption. However the second you enterprise into AI-powered territory? Higher escape the bank card.
It actually isn’t a shock to see this, both. Microsoft was at all times sort of clear that Rewrite would require one in every of its AI subscriptions. Nonetheless, the way in which the corporate has approached the whole scenario is a bit weird.
Some folks insist these prompts to purchase into Notepad’s AI options (and others like them) aren’t adverts, however let’s be actual: what else do you name a disruptive banner telling you to subscribe to one thing? Notepad now follows the identical playbook Microsoft has used to sneak adverts and AI into the Begin menu, File Explorer, and each different a part of its working system.
The excellent news is Notepad nonetheless works and not using a Microsoft account, so that you don’t have to fret about it until you need to use Rewrite. That’s locked behind “AI credit,” which is mainly Microsoft’s manner of claiming, “subscribe to Microsoft 365.” Which, to be truthful, Microsoft gave everybody 50 credit to strive Rewrite out when it first launched. However, even for those who didn’t use them, it appears like these credit have magically “expired” now.
The corporate sees Rewrite and different AI options as “bonus options” quite than as core capabilities of its apps, and that’s positively truthful. However the optics aren’t nice if the prompts in Notepad are inflicting this a lot confusion. Particularly when you think about that Microsoft simply hiked the value for Microsoft 365.
