Back in 2017 Microsoft announced that it was going to maintain and update Microsoft Paint via the Microsoft Store (which was called the Windows Store back then). At the time it was facing a bad consumer reaction to the idea that MS Paint would be depreciated in favour of Paint 3D. Four years later the iconic software firm has just got around to making good on its promise.
The arrival of Microsoft Paint in the Microsoft Store was spotted yesterday by Aggiornamenti Lumia on Twitter but subsequently confirmed in a blog post regarding Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 21354 (scroll half way down page). At the time of writing the app isn't showing up in the Microsoft Store for me though.
The new Windows Insider blog mentions that both MSPaint and the Snipping Tool are now "updateable via the Microsoft Store outside major OS updates". They are both still offered as parts of Windows 10 but going forward they will now live outside the Windows Accessories folder to their own places in the Start menu. Notepad has made a similar transition.
You will see in the screenshot that MS Paint has a new modern icon at last. The previous icon harks back to the Windows Vista era. As for the Sniping Tool, it has been packaged together with Snip & Sketch, so updates for both can be supplied at the same time.
On the topic of moving things around in the Windows Start menu, Microsoft confirms that it is removing the Windows Accessories, Windows Administrative Tools, Windows PowerShell, and Windows System folders from Start. They will be accessible via the Windows Tools entry point instead.
