Microsoft WordPad to be deprecated from Windows

In a new feature note, Microsoft announced that WordPad is being deprecated and would be removed from future releases of Windows.

WordPad 10 running on Windows 11

WordPad, initially released in 1995, is a basic word processor that has been included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 onwards. It was the replacement of Microsoft Write, which was the de facto word processor in Windows versions prior to Windows 95.

The application was built in C++ and used MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes). An early archived version of the source code is available here in GitHub.

Microsoft's note, which is available here, stated, "WordPad is no longer being updated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. We recommend Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt."

Microsoft retires Internet Explorer browser after 26 years

Microsoft stopped supporting the Internet Explorer today, after 26 years of being in production. Jordon Novet writes here on how the transition will happen to Edge - Microsoft's Chromium-based web browser.

Richard Jacobsen at Associated Press wrote, "The 27-year-old application now joins BlackBerry phones, dial-up modems and Palm Pilots in the dustbin of tech history."

Microsoft retires Internet Explorer after 27 years

Internet Explorer debuted on Windows desktop computers in 1995 and by 2004, had cornered 95% of the market.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61810403

Microsoft to retire Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022

In a post on its official blog, Microsoft said that the Internet Explorer 11 desktop application will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022, for certain versions of Windows 10. 

This change will pave way for Microsoft Edge to provide a path to the web's future.

Can Google and Linux Topple Microsoft?

The Federal Aviation Administration's CIO, David Bowen, is considering replacing Microsoft Windows and Office with Linux and Google Apps Premium for cost and compatibility reasons. Google Apps offers collaborative tools, but not all functionalities of Microsoft Office. Concerns exist over data security with third-party servers. Microsoft argues that costs are not solely dependent on software and addresses compatibility issues. The FAA has not made a final decision yet. Here is an article from Route-Fifty.

Google Surpasses Microsoft as the World's Most Valuable Brands

Google has surpassed Microsoft as the world's top-ranked brand, with General Electric, Coca-Cola, and others following. Factors like corporate responsibility and expansion into emerging markets contributed to brand recognition. China Mobile topped the list for non-U.S. brands. The rankings were based on financial data and interviews with a million consumers. Google's rise highlights its word-of-mouth promotion approach, while Microsoft slid despite a massive marketing campaign for Windows Vista. Apple and Starbucks saw significant improvements, while Intel, Home Depot, and Dell declined in the brand rankings. A Reuters article is available here.