Microsoft has responded to an outpouring of online grief over the reported phasing out of its app Paint from future versions of Windows, saying the app will still be available - but on the Windows Store.

On Monday (July 24), reports said Microsoft Paint - the long-standing basic graphics editing app that is a staple for Windows users - would be killed off.

The program, first released in 1985 with the first version of Windows 1.0, was said to be slated for removal in the Windows 10 Fall Creators update, The Guardian reported on Monday.

Microsoft included Paint in a list of features that would be deprecated - or removed in future releases - on its website.

Netizens reacted with memes - made aptly with Paint - mourning the end of the program.

However, Microsoft later clarified in a blog post on its website saying: "The original art app isn't going anywhere - except to the Windows Store for free!"

Wrote Megan Saunders, general manager for the 3D for Everyone Initiative under Windows Experiences: "Today, we've seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint. If there's anything we learned, it's that after 32 years, MS Paint has a lot of fans. It's been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app."

She wrote: "MS Paint is here to stay, it will just have a new home soon, in the Windows Store where it will be available for free."

However, it appears that the app will not come pre-installed in Windows 10 Creators Update versions.

Instead, a new free Paint 3D app will come built-in with the update. </s> NEW YORK — Microsoft Paint isn’t dead yet, after all.

Following an outcry from fans on Monday, Microsoft said the app will soon land in the Windows Store for free.

“In the future, we will offer MS Paint in the Windows Store also for free, and continue to provide new updates and experiences to Paint 3D so people have the best creative tools all in one place,” a Microsoft spokesperson told CNN Tech late Monday night.

Paint was on Microsoft’s list of “deprecated” features for future software releases, which means it’s “not in active development” and could be removed soon.

The program was released in 1985 with the first version of Windows 1.0. It has been installed with every version of Windows since.

Microsoft said in a blog post it saw an “incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint” on Monday and that the program is “here to stay.”

As of last year, the app still had over 100 million monthly users.

While Paint will be available for download from the Windows Store, that’s not the same as being a core part of Windows. This could be problematic for employees using work computers, who may not have administrative privileges to install apps like Paint from the Windows Store.

Moving forward, Paint 3D will come installed on current and future versions of Windows. Microsoft unveiled the spinoff drawing app last October and says it has integrated many of MS Paint’s main functions into the program. </s> Microsoft Paint isn't dead yet, after all.

Following an outcry from fans on Monday, Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) said the app will soon land in the Windows Store for free.

"In the future, we will offer MS Paint in the Windows Store also for free, and continue to provide new updates and experiences to Paint 3D so people have the best creative tools all in one place," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNN Tech late Monday night.

Paint was on Microsoft's list of "deprecated" features for future software releases, which means it's "not in active development" and could be removed soon.

Related: Microsoft takes on Apple with new $999 Surface Laptop

The program was released in 1985 with the first version of Windows 1.0. It has been installed with every version of Windows since.

Microsoft said in a blog post it saw an "incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint" on Monday and that the program is "here to stay."

As of last year, the app still had over 100 million monthly users.

While Paint will be available for download from the Windows Store, that's not the same as being a core part of Windows. This could be problematic for employees using work computers, who may not have administrative privileges to install apps like Paint from the Windows Store.

Moving forward, Paint 3D will come installed on current and future versions of Windows. Microsoft unveiled the spinoff drawing app last October and says it has integrated many of MS Paint's main functions into the program. </s> After being around for 32 years and becoming one of the most recognized elements of the Windows operating system, Microsoft is planning to kill off graphics app Paint. The Redmond firm has threatened to depreciate the long-running program in the next Windows 10 update.

In a list of “Features that are removed or depreciated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update,” Paint is one of the items classed as “not in active development and might be removed in future releases."

Paint started out as a 1-bit monochrome licensed version of ZSoft’s PC Paintbrush in the first version of Windows 1.0 in 1985. Having been around for over three decades, and with the introduction of Paint 3D in April’s Windows 10 Creators Update, it seems as if the program will soon become nothing more than part of Windows' history.

While it was far from best graphics app and pales in comparison to professional programs, it’s still used by millions for a bit of quick and easy editing.

System Image Backup (SIB) solution is also being depreciated. Microsoft is pointing users to “full-disk backup solutions from other vendors” as an alternative.

Windows features that are definitely being removed include Outlook Express, Reader App and Reader list (both being integrated into Edge), and encryption utility Syskey, which Microsoft says is insecure - it recommends people use BitLocker instead.

No official word yet on when Paint might be removed from Windows. We still don’t know the exact date when the Fall Creators Update will arrive, either, though it’s expected to roll out sometime this October. </s> SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft put out word that it would not abandon Paint after reports of its pending demise triggered a deluge of lament from fans of the pioneering drawing application.

"We've seen an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia around MS Paint," Windows Experiences team general manager Megan Saunders said in a blog post late Monday (Jul 25).

"MS Paint has a lot of fans. It's been amazing to see so much love for our trusty old app."

While Paint will no longer be part of Windows operating system by default, it will be available free in the Windows Store and be updated by the US software powerhouse, according to Saunders.

The apparent shift in position came hours after Microsoft announced the end of days for Paint as it focuses on software for 3-D drawing.

Paint drawing and image processing software that made its debut in 1985 with the Windows operating system was among the applications listed as "removed or deprecated" in a Windows 10 Fall Creators Update set for release later this year.

For decades, Paint was among applications installed by default on Windows-powered personal computers and drew a strong following.

"In addition to the new 3D capabilities, many of the MS Paint features people know and love like photo editing, line, and curve tools, and 2D creation are in Paint 3D," Saunders said. </s> The crude rainbows and stick figures of early personal computing will soon be forgotten.

Microsoft has marked its Paint program, a popular piece of software in the 1990s, for retirement. The company has said the program is no longer in active development, and may be phased out in coming updates. It signals the end of an early web aesthetic for a generation that came of age during the first days of computing at home.

The bitmap program, which let users draw crude shapes and doodles from a palette of bright default colors, debuted in 1985 with Windows 1.0. Paint has led to imaginative works of pixel art, but most people who remember using the program will recall the hours spent trying to manipulate a mouse to draw a non-lumpy circle.

“Images produced in MS Paint are often immediately identifiable by this ‘shittiness’ – erratic mouse-drawn lines, uneven edges, blocky dumps of color,” writes media studies grad student Patrick Davidson. The rough, low-tech imprecision of Paint was indeed part of its appeal, and its aesthetic has inspired early internet memes like flash animation “end of the world” and contemporary graphic memes like rage comics.

In an email Microsoft writes that Paint functions like “2D creation” are a part of Windows’ new app Paint 3D, which rolled out earlier this year. Though Paint will not receive updates, it will remain in the Microsoft app store for free.

This post has been updated to include comment from Microsoft. </s> Microsoft has signaled the end of one of its most iconic and beloved applications.Drawing program and time-waster Paint has been deemed as "Deprecated" for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update , meaning the program is "not in active development and might be removed in future releases."Paint was introduced in 1985 as a part of Windows 1.0. Microsoft introduced Paint 3D earlier this year as an update to Paint, allowing users to create "2D masterpieces or 3D models that you can play with from all angles." </s> Windows 10 users could see Microsoft Paint scrapped in an upcoming update

Microsoft Paint was launched more than 32 years ago, and is a staple of the PC experience - but it could soon be scrapped from Windows 10 by Microsoft.

An official support post on the upcoming Creators Update revealed Microsoft Paint has been on a list of “deprecated” Windows features.

This means the long-running graphics app is “not in active development and might be removed in future releases.”

Microsoft Paint was introduced way back with the very first version of Windows - Windows 1.0 - in November 1985.

At the time it only supported 1-bit monochrome graphics and used a proprietary MSP format.

In Windows 3.0, it was superseded by Paintbrush which featured a redesigned user interface and colour support.

Windows 95 also shipped with an updated version of Paint, while the Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows Me versions let users save JPEG, GIF and PNGs.

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 all launched with Microsoft paint.

The last three versions (7,8 and 10) featured a ribbon in its user interface and also offered an ‘artistic’ brush tool for the first time. </s> Microsoft has announced plans to kill off its long-running Paint drawing tool after more than 30 years in use.

The basic drawing tool has been a part of the tech giant's Windows software since 1985, but has now been added to a list of programs Microsoft is no longer actively developing and could be removed in future updates.

In an announcement on the company's support website, Microsoft Paint has been added to a list of "deprecated" programs ahead of the roll out of the next major Windows update in the autumn, known as the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

"This list is intended to help customers consider these removals and deprecations for their own planning," Microsoft said of its planned removals.

"The list is subject to change and may not include every deprecated feature or functionality."

The 3D Builder app and the Outlook Express email client are also on the list of programs to be cut.

Microsoft Paint has appeared in every version of Microsoft Windows since Windows 1.0 launched in the mid-1980s and despite limited functionality remained a popular tool for quick image editing and creation processes.

In the tech giant's most recent upgrade, the Windows 10 Creators Update which was released in April, the firm introduced Paint 3D, a new upgraded image creation tool that enables users to build 3D images and designs for the first time.

It appeared alongside the traditional Paint software and is likely seen as a long-term replacement for the original program.
Amid a public backlash, Microsoft reneges on its decision to end its Paint program and states that it will be placed on its app store rather than bundled with future editions of Windows.