So I was setting up this new laptop, and after security updates I went on cleaning the trash through Powershell, and after removing all unwanted packages I was going to let a note on the desktop and there was no Notepad in the context menu... oops, I messed up I thought, I must have removed stuff I shouldn't, so just to be safe I did a factory reset and this time read very carefully every package before removing, and again no Notepad! And I notice there was no Paint nor Calculator either... so turn out new Win11 is shipped with Outlook, Maps, Solitaire Collection, People (whatever the hell that is), and even some IE, Zune and Skype legacy packages, but not with Notepad?! You actually have to download it from Microsoft Store... and now they all come with Copilot lol
Anyway, this sounds like a great opportunity to look for some FOSS alternatives!
What do you guys use and recommend?

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[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Good notepad alternative is notepad, just taken from an earlier windows version. Best version of it is the early one from Windows 11 though, the one that just added autosaving and tabs. It's the perfect balance of simolicity and usability for a temp note taking app imo.

That is, if you just need a program with a text field and nothing else. If you want something more useful in general though, then the obvious answer is Notepad++.

[–] stink@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 2 days ago

I'm an unorganized POS and my least favorite thing about win11 notepad is how it auto-opens all your unsaved notes after a reboot. I didn't save em for a reason!