They f'd up 11 days since Microsoft f'd up
Decided 0.5 Vistas Walked back well documented Feb 18, 2025 their #27 worst decided on record

Notepad, free since 1985, grew a subscription

Notepad's AI Rewrite moved behind a paid AI credits paywall

↳ caused by AI credits paywall in Notepad and Paint (February 2025)

One of only 20 things they have ever fully walked back.

The market's verdict: -1.1% on MSFT in the week after.

Status: Walked back. Who could have seen this coming?

What actually happened

In February 2025, Microsoft moved Notepad's AI Rewrite feature, and Paint's generative fill, behind a paid Microsoft 365 or Copilot Pro subscription metered by monthly AI credits, sixty of them, one per rewrite. This is Notepad: the text editor that has shipped with Windows since 1985 and whose main virtue is being free and simple, now with a meter. By September 2025 the company had pivoted to on device AI with no subscription, an implicit concession that the rent model was not beloved. Paint survived its deprecation scare in 2017; Notepad got a landlord.

This one is well documented.

They did it more than once

Before that: Microsoft tried to retire Paint; the internet RSVP'd for the funeral (Jul 2017)

Paint survived the scare. Notepad got a subscription.

Links

↳ caused by AI credits paywall in Notepad and Paint (February 2025)

Timeline

  • Feb 18, 2025 Announced Microsoft announced it.
  • Sep 17, 2025 Walked back On-device AI generation, no subscription, arrived September 2025.