If you've ever owned a Windows PC, there's a good chance you've had a play around with Paint before. I know I spent many hours as a kid just messing around with the software as the PC couldn't quite handle any games I wanted to play. As the software only continues to get better, Microsoft has seemingly shut down Paint 3D, which was once intended to replace the drawing software.
As spotted by Windows Latest, you can no longer get Paint 3D in the Microsoft Store. I have verified this for myself and can confirm that it seems to be entirely missing. If you happen to have downloaded the software prior to November 4, you will still be able to access it from your PC but it won't be receiving any more updates so the current version is its last.
As the name implies, Paint 3D has 3D tools for you to create your own 3D images, which is something not offered by Paint. Unfortunately, its 3D tools were never at the level of even the free software Blender, so many would opt for a much more intentional tool like the latter over the former. As well as this, some report much slower bootup times for the software, which means that if you simply want to crop an image or do some light edits, you are much better off with the standard Paint tool.
On the other hand, Paint has received a handful of major updates over the last few years, like the ability to use AI to remove backgrounds, alongside new brushes and tools for a greater variety of expressions. It also offers tools for AI image generation. Though I'm personally not a fan of generative AI, the addition of an AI image creator is an undeniable pull for many users, even though you have to pay for access in credits. It's all-round a much more dynamic and varied creation tool that has subtly become a genuine competitor to the likes of GIMP or Photoshop in more casual image manipulation.
It has also just gotten better with time when it comes to actually painting, thanks to compatibility with drawing tools. Where iPads have Procreate, Windows tablets have Paint, and it can do most of what you may want from it. It's always a bit of a shame to see a project come to an end, purely for nostalgia's sake, but this one was probably deserved.
Bye-bye Paint 3D, you probably won't be missed.
