Microsoft Corporation has initiated the rollout of an update for its Notepad text editor among Windows beta testers via the Canary and Dev channels, as announced on the official developers’ blog. The main changes involve the introduction of native support for tabular structures, as well as an update to its artificial intelligence (AI) based features. Tables Users can now create tables directly within their notes. A grid can be inserted into the editor either through the new “Table” icon in the formatting settings panel or by using Markdown markup syntax. The table itself can be further modified via the context menu, allowing users to change the number of rows and columns. This new feature helps better organize lists and small data fragments without needing to leave the standard editor. Windows11 Ability to create tables directly in notes AI-based Functionality The functionality of the AI features “Write,” “Rewrite,” and “Summarize” has also been improved through the implementation of streaming responses. This means that results will be displayed faster, without the need to wait for the generation to complete fully, providing a preview immediately. The Windows message states: “Streaming for the Rewrite feature is currently only available for content generated locally on Copilot+ devices. To use the Write, Rewrite, and Summarize features in Notepad, you need to be signed in with a Microsoft account.” Techpowerup noted that by implementing such improvements, Microsoft clearly intends to keep Notepad competitive, especially given the growing popularity of third-party note-taking tools like Notion. However, for serious work with large volumes of text, Word remains the primary choice over the minimalist built-in editor. Windows11 AI features “Write,” “Rewrite,” and “Summarize” improved with streaming results Previously, Notepad gained a spell-check option. The editor began visually highlighting incorrectly spelled words and suggesting corrections. To replace an incorrect word, users need to click on it and use the Shift + F10 key combination, after which Notepad will present the correct spelling options.
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