In October, Microsoft unveiled a roadmap for next-generation AI experiences within Windows 11. Today, two of those — in Paint and Notepad — begin rolling out to testers.
Microsoft’s October AI roadmap included tweaks to Paint, Notepad, and Search. Microsoft Recall was expected soon, too. Recall, of course, has been delayed again until December, as Microsoft works to ensure it’s secure and private.
For now, three new features are debuting in the Canary and Dev Channels within Windows 11: AI rewriting within Notepad, plus Generative Fill and Generative Erase within Microsoft Paint.
Generative Erase is already within the Photos app, and the addition to Paint looks very similar. In Paint, you can highlight a section of the image and Paint will “erase” it, intelligently filling in the background. I find this especially useful in Photos, in case I need to touch up and remove a bit of dust. (In general, however, I leave images untouched for authenticity’s sake.)
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Generative Fill, however, is more interesting. Paint already includes Creator, which produces a 1024×1024 image that can be added to a screen via a layer, one of the additions Microsoft made previously. Those additions, however, don’t naturally flow and combine with the existing content of a scene. Generative Fill allows you to first outline or designate a particular region of the image with the Selection Tool, then “fill” it with AI-generated art. Generative Fill’s magic is that it is designed to integrate the AI art into the scene, so that it looks more natural.
Microsoft is also making Cocreator faster, using the local NPU. Generative Fill will only be available to Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft said, but Generative Erase will be available for any PC running the Windows Insider code.
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You’ll see generative erase and fill features in other programs, such as Photoshop — but Paint is simpler, and most importantly, free.
As for Notepad, well, if you ever wanted some AI help creating a note, AI can help. It’s not designed to actually “write” for you, but simply to change the tone and length of a highlighted selection.
The new additions are part of Paint (version 11.2410.28.0) and Notepad (version 11.2410.15.0).
Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld
Mark has written for PCWorld for the last decade, with 30 years of experience covering technology. He has authored over 3,500 articles for PCWorld alone, covering PC microprocessors, peripherals, and Microsoft Windows, among other topics. Mark has written for publications including PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science and Electronic Buyers' News, where he shared a Jesse H. Neal Award for breaking news. He recently handed over a collection of several dozen Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs because his office simply has no more room.