Move over, Lazarus. There's a new resurrected entity in town! MS Paint, a.k.a. the rudimentary illustrating program some of us used for killing time (and drawing Stussy S's and penises) before AOL free trials were a thing, died yesterday (technically it was "deprecated," which means it wouldn't be developed further and would be removed from future products).
The internet collectively mourned, joked, and mourned some more:
All the noise was enough to get Microsoft to say, "JK! Our bad! you can keep it! Don't hurt us!"
Okay, I paraphrased a bit. Here's what a rep actually said:
"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. Amidst today’s commentary around MS Paint we wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight, clear up some confusion and share some good news: 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."
Phew! My feelings can be best expressed through this evergreen Lady Gaga tweet:
They say you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone (for a few hours). Now that we've been reminded of how deep our love and affection goes for this messy tech relic, I expect us all to forgo Photoshop next time we want to make ourselves look younger in a photo. Paint bucket tool or bust!
