Recently, Microsoft released this year's first Windows 11 Insider preview update to Windows Insider users in the Canary channel.
The version number is Windows 11 Build 26020. The update in the Canary channel introduces many highlight features, including Voice Access extended language, multi-display support, voice access shortcut keys, etc.
It can be seen that the three updates mentioned above can essentially be regarded as one update, all related to Voice Access.
Voice Access is a new feature brought by Windows 11 Preview Build 22518. The Chinese name can be called voice access. It can be used to open and switch applications, browse web pages, edit text and read, etc., without requiring manual operation by the user.
However, in the old version, Voice Access only supported English. Now Microsoft has added support for French, German and Spanish to Voice Access. Unfortunately, it still does not support Chinese. Chinese people still need to use this feature. hold on.
If your spoken English is good enough, you can also try using Voice Access. To use it, go to Settings - Accessibility - Voice, turn on the voice service, and then download the corresponding voice model.
If you open an application, you need to say "Open xxx", such as "Open Word", "Open Edge".
Click on an element and say "Click xxx", such as "Click Start", "Click Cancel".
In addition to the updates mentioned above, improvements also include pausing and resuming the print queue, a new power-saving mode taskbar icon on the desktop, and more.
Among them, the biggest change, and probably the most attention-grabbing one, is the removal of the WordPad function. When the user performs a new installation of the system, the WordPad will no longer be installed.
Also removed along with WordPad was the People’s App. However, even if the system no longer installs it by default, People’s Network can be customized and installed in the app store, while WordPad has completely disappeared and no longer exists and can be reinstalled. Installed channel.
Microsoft stated that this update will not only appear in Build 26020, but will also perform this operation in subsequent production versions.
It's unclear when Microsoft will remove WordPad from the official version of Windows 11, but it may be for the long-rumored Windows Hudson Valley update.
In fact, Microsoft has made it clear in its official documents from September last year:
❝WordPad will no longer be updated and will be removed in subsequent versions of Windows. We recommend users to use Word to process rich text documents in .doc or .rtf format, or use Notepad to process .txt documents.
❞
Today's steps are just as planned. For most people, WordPad, one of the Windows components, will certainly not be unfamiliar.
WordPad, which first appeared in Windows 95, is more than 28 years old. It has the original form of Word. The saved file format is .rtf by default, which can be regarded as the prototype of Word.
WordPad under Windows XP
As a rich text editor, WordPad can edit fonts, paragraph formats, insert pictures, dates, times, objects, and simply process Word documents.
However, in recent years, with the continuous emergence of third-party desktop editor software and the development of more newer and trendier functions, people seem to have forgotten the existence of WordPad, and the frequency of use is becoming less and less.
In Win10 Build 19551 released in February 2020, users can also check additional features to continue using them, and now it is a step further.
So it seems reasonable for Microsoft to remove this feature. Do you remember how long it has been since you opened WordPad?