Old dog, new trick: Microsoft is testing a tabbed UI for Notepad.exe in Windows 11

Expand/Notepad, now with tabs. Microsoft

Notepad is one of the oldest Windows apps, and until the release of Windows 11, it was one of the least changed. It remains a simple text editor, but it learned some new tricks in Windows 11, supporting dark mode, a customizable font, and a multi-level undo feature. (One developer also managed to port Doom to Notepad recently, technically calling it a "platform game".)

Another new Notepad feature is apparently being tested within Microsoft: A screenshot of an anonymous Microsoft employee shows a new tabbed user interface for the app, a feature that Microsoft also recently added to the venerable Windows Explorer. The screenshot was deleted shortly after it was posted (hilariously, a giant "confidential" banner appears at the top of it), but it has been retained by outlets like Windows Central who tagged it. captured before it was deleted.

Microsoft may or may not release this tabbed notebook - these types of features often end up in public builds of Windows, but even stuff available in Windows Insider builds of the OS doesn't end up still in the version that deploys on all PCs.

Windows 11 and its apps are being updated at the "when we feel like it" rate these days, with both major updates once a year and periodic feature removals throughout the year. 'year. So if Microsoft deems this version of Tabbed Notebook ready to release, we won't have to wait for the big 2023 update to get it.