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Posted by andreynering 20 hours ago

Windows 11 Notepad to support Markdown(blogs.windows.com)
299 points | 447 commentspage 10
baal80spam 20 hours ago|
Uh oh... https://www.laws-of-software.com/laws/zawinski/
7bit 20 hours ago||
Can Microsoft please stop? If I need Copilot and Markdown Support I use VS Code or any other software that supports it.

I recently used Windows Sandbox and was surprised that it does not have notepad. And why? Because it's a Store App now and that's unsupported inside the Windows Sandbox.

Notepad is supposed to be dumb, not Microsoft!

embedding-shape 20 hours ago|
> Can Microsoft please stop? If I need Copilot and Markdown Support I use VS Code or any other software that supports it.

I can't even get visual studio code to stop showing that right-hand sidebar every time it opens up, regardless of what settings I use. It seems to work for a while, and then it appears again like magic.

I'm not sure how many more times they have to hit you straight in the face before you realize you're a victim here and need to get away from the abuser as much as you can, not try to "salvage" the situation.

Avicebron 19 hours ago|||
have you tried adding this to your settings json? workbench.secondarySideBar.defaultVisibility": "hidden",
tracker1 16 hours ago||
It's still annoying to have it by default even if you do make use of it.
7bit 7 hours ago|||
There's a setting in barcode that disabled AI entirely and the sidebar with it. Works flawless for me since it landed.
1970-01-01 16 hours ago||
Thanks, I hate it. How do I disable it? Oh, I can't. Thanks, I hate it more.
EvanAnderson 16 hours ago|
From an elevated Powershell prompt:

Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online | Where-Object { $_.PackageName -like 'Microsoft.WindowsNotepad*' } | Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -Online

AbraKdabra 17 hours ago||
Yeah no.
Fervicus 20 hours ago||
Stopped using notepad when they added co-pilot. Stop shoving AI down our throats.
p_ing 20 hours ago|
Just disable Copilot?
miroljub 20 hours ago|||
Please show us the magic Windows settings that would disable Copilot everywhere.
bool3max 20 hours ago|||
At a certain point I used some "windows 11 debloat script" and I haven't encountered a bit of Copilot or any other AI nonsense anywhere in Windows since.
avazhi 19 hours ago||
Even with all the debloat scripts you can’t get rid of it in places like Edge. And if your solution is to tell me to use a different browser then… exactly lol.
p_ing 14 hours ago||||
Are we so uncurious that we can’t even look in notepad settings?

I’d expect better from an HN user.

jmclnx 19 hours ago|||
simple, replace Windows with Linux or a BSD :)
Crosseye_Jack 18 hours ago||
Sure, Its the first thing I plan on doing once Autodesk port Fusion to it.
munk-a 20 hours ago||||
At this point I'll just switch vendors.

I don't have the bandwidth to babysit all the different ways MSFT tries to break tools to bother using them.

bigyabai 20 hours ago||
Yep, same as the "just disable notifications asking you to Try the New Safari!" contingency.

Defaults should not be offensive. If you try to kill me with papercuts, I will stop using your software and never look back.

dietr1ch 20 hours ago||||
Just disable recall, copilot, ai, intrusive cookies, ads.

It's not fine just because you sneak a button to (temporarily) get rid of it. Just make features worth enabling instead.

beart 20 hours ago||||
In my experience, most of these features are just turned back on after a Windows update.
Thanemate 19 hours ago||||
What happened to "just enable X if you need it"? Why are we always okay with every new thing being enabled by default?

Is it because the average person isn't as tech savvy as most (if not all) HN readers to know any better, and those companies want the headcount of usage to look high to please stakeholders?

Enshittification at its finest stink.

p_ing 14 hours ago||
Where have you been for the past umpteenth years of computing where even in the Linux kernel stuff is enabled by default, let alone userland applications.
L0Wigh 51 minutes ago||
Comparing Linux kernel options enabled by default for compatibility and a plague that is only useful when a user asks for it... That's wild
jajuuka 20 hours ago|||
Here's an even crazier idea, don't click the Copilot button. WHOA.
inetknght 16 hours ago||
Easiest way to do that is to not have the Copilot button at all.

Easiest way to do that is to use Linux instead.

jajuuka 16 hours ago||
Of course. Story about Windows 11 someone has to chime in "just use Linux".

I welcome it, because hopefully that will be less people having a meltdown over an icon on a menu bar.

tom_ 14 hours ago||
It's not just an icon in the notification area though!

There's a keyboard shortcut for it. I never figured out quite what it was, but every now and again Copilot would open itself while I was using Visual Studio or Emacs on my Windows 11 desktop PC. I assume I'm either hitting the shortcut, or a ghost key on my keyboard is stepping in and hitting it for me. (I could never reproduce this by pressing Windows+C.)

Copilot does stuff in the background. What stuff? I don't know. But, occasionally, on my desktop PC, I'd get a message box popping up saying that Copilot was unable to open this or that file. (Though, yes, perhaps it is just opening that file for no reason. Hard to say.)

(Both of these went away when I removed all the Copilot apps from the list of startup stuff.)

Copilot can be persuaded to get itself into a state where it expects you to log in. I had this happen on my old Windows 10 laptop somehow, when I logged in as my (local only) work user, something that existed to let me sign in to my old employer's Teams setup, their VPN, and use Remote Desktop to my work PC. And each time I logged in to my laptop, Copilot would pop up a login dialog. Though I can't deny that this was a handy reminder to remind me to quit it.

jajuuka 12 hours ago||
A keyboard shortcut? Damn, that's horrific. Terrible terrible stuff.

So instead of troubleshooting you went straight to "oh my god this is the end of days!" These seem like obvious user error or at worst bugs.

Not to mention you've pivoted from Copilot in Notepad to Copilot in general. Which are not the same thing. Copilot is a brand name and various instances of it are not connected at all.

tom_ 11 hours ago||
You should have started with your 3rd paragraph, because that clarifies my misunderstanding of your comment. I stand by my comment as well, though. We can both be right here.

Unfortunately, you started with the first 2 paragraphs, so clearly you're more interested in moaning at me. But this is the internet, so that's fine. I already expected it. In fact, I'm disappointed. You're going to have to try harder.

nik0xffff 1 hour ago||
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knowitnone3 14 hours ago||
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pipeline_peak 20 hours ago||
I don’t see why people are complaining. If you use notepad for txt files, nothing changes.
SamuelAdams 20 hours ago||
The concern is that more features introduces more risk. See CVE-2026-20841 for a recent example. If the application remained a simple text editor, it is unlikely exploits like this would be possible.

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-20...

john_strinlai 16 hours ago|||
true! more features is more risk.

but i dont think most people here are complaining because of security risk... otherwise they wouldnt be recommending things like notepad++, other obscure editors, or editors with way larger code bases.

jajuuka 19 hours ago|||
That's a false sense of security. We have a LONG list of vulnerabilities in open source software that were "simple" programs for decades. The house of cards approach to security is just not it.
sunaookami 17 hours ago||
More code = more vulnerabilites. It's a simple fact. Complexity kills.
EvanAnderson 16 hours ago|||
The ergonomics of the new version are slightly different. The default behavior of opening tabs with previously-open files is jarring to me. I just remove it (Powershell command line in another comment) and the original "Notepad.exe" takes over.

I've spent a long time building up my muscle memory. I don't want my tools changing out from under me. If they wanted to ship an "enhanced" notepad they should have called its something else.

whynotmaybe 20 hours ago|||
Because we collectively used to make fun of users that were complaining whenever an icon moved 42 pixel to the right and now we're them.

But we think we're right and still we thought they were wrong.

If we were in a PHP forum, this would be my signature: I'm getting too old for this shit.

encom 17 hours ago|||
Today Markdown. Tomorrow WordArt (but with AI probably).
jajuuka 19 hours ago||
It's fashionable to hate on anything Windows. Especially in tech circles.
pipeline_peak 19 hours ago||
Oh I’m well aware, I just think this reaction is ridiculous.

Just make your own damn notepad if it bothers you lol.

JohnFen 18 hours ago|||
> Just make your own damn notepad if it bothers you lol.

If you use many different machines throughout your workday, this means you have to carry a copy of your bespoke solution with you on a memory stick or something, and hope that the machine you want to use it on allows the use of memory sticks or unapproved software.

It's far better to use an application that you can count on already existing on the machines.

tracker1 17 hours ago||
TBF, a lot of people used to keep portable apps like this... then IT started locking down even being able to mount a USB storage device. I used to do this for my email and mail profile with a portable Thunderbird.

I even worked on an app in a relatively secure environment where the work around for an early SPA and IE6-8 company wide, was for the systems analysts using our app to use a portable firefox browser on the user desktop. IE6-8 in particular were really bad when you had an SPA as you had events tied to dom elements across the COM bridge that wouldn't release unless all dom and script references were freed up. jQuery actually did this, if you managed everything through it, but our app was an early version of extjs... so after 3-4 hours it would just run out of memory and die.

bigstrat2003 16 hours ago|||
We used to have a perfectly good application that came with the OS. Then Microsoft ruined it. Yes I can make my own Notepad, but I shouldn't have to. If Microsoft really wanted a built-in text editor that had features Notepad didn't, they should've made a second application rather than ruining the minimalist one.
d_tr 8 hours ago|||
I use Notepad from time to time for quick notes and I have noticed exactly zero friction added to this "workflow". Not sure what you are talking about.
pipeline_peak 14 hours ago|||
>Then Microsoft ruined it

How so? If all you do is load plaintext, you’ll never come across this feature. Even if you do, what’s the problem?

avazhi 20 hours ago|
TIL Windows still has Notepad.

Somebody should probably tell Microsoft we’ve all moved on to better things like Notepad++ (even when their update supply chain gets compromised).

recursive 16 hours ago||
You can use notepad on servers with no administrative permissions, and when you're blocked by policy from downloading executables. It seems crazy to suggest that an OS should not have any built-in capability to edit plain text files.
ecshafer 16 hours ago||
When the hack happened I actually thought "People still use Notepad++?" with so many editors available now, its weird to still use it. Notepad is the best TODO app and scratch pad on windows.