Maybe there will be ads in a future release of WordPad. Microsoft is testing the waters with some Office 365 ads in some test versions of Windows.
There’s been a lot of hyperventilating coverage about WordPad ads as if it’s a done deal to appear in Windows soon. The idea of Microsoft putting ads inside their software is hardly new, most Office 365 customers have seen them already!
What we know
Rafael Rivera posted on Twitter some sample images of a test version of WordPad with ads for Office 365
Source: Rafael Rivera cropped
These are from an Insiders version of Windows and WordPad. No regular Windows 10 users are seeing them.
The ads might or not appear in a future public release of Windows. Microsoft often runs these kinds of ‘trial balloons’ in test versions of Windows, some of them make it to the public release but others do not.
WordPad alternative to Word
At least this coverage reminds people that WordPad exists! It’s no replacement for Microsoft Word but at least you can open a basic Word document (.docx), do basic changes and print or send. In an emergency that’s enough to get you going.
A better alternative to WordPad is Word Online, the browser based version of Word. However WordPad works offline.
Office 365 ads
Microsoft has been using ‘in house’ ads in Office already. The company has been pushing Outlook mobile (for Apple and Android devices) through unsubtle ads and prompts in Office for Windows and Mac.