At the end of 2021, the major updates for the integrated Windows Instructed Block-Block Editor has been so rare for so long that a sweet overhaul and a handful of new parameters have been considered a major update. New updates have become much more common since then, but as the rest of the windows, recent additions have been extremely weighted in the direction of a generative AI.
In November, Microsoft began to test an update that allowed users to rewrite or summarize the text in the notebook using a generative AI. Another preview update today goes further, allowing you to write text generated by AI from zero with basic instructions (functionality is called writing, to differentiate it from the previous rewriting).
As rewrite and summarize, writing requires that users be connected to a Microsoft account, because using it forces you to use your monthly attribution of Microsoft AI credits. According to this assistance page, users without Microsoft 365 subscription paid obtain 15 credits per month. Rather, personal and family subscriptions get 60 credits per month.
Microsoft notes that all AI features in the notepad can be disabled in the application settings, and obviously, they will not be available if you use a local account instead of a Microsoft account.
Microsoft also publishes preview updates for paint and snipping tool, two other Windows Rocky substratum applications that had not seen many major updates before the Windows 11 era. Painting features are also mainly linked to AI, including an “sticker generator” and a Smart Select tool propelled by IA “To help you isolate and modify individual elements of your image.” A new “Welcome Experience” screen which appears the first time you launch the application will guide you through the new features (once again, mainly linked to AI), which Microsoft has added to painting in the past two years.
