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XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

chowderman.github.io

81–90 of 111 posts

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't mspaint in Windows 10 basically the same thing but with a ribbon instead of a toolbar? I don't much care for the ribbon but I'm used to it now. Hitting WinKey-R, mspaint, [Enter] is still my goto for simple picture editing, even just recording a screenshot despite the existence of the snipping tool... Other than the minor annoyance of getting used to the ribbon I felt as if I was still using the same old paint…

Two things I dislike about the new Paint are; 1. Can't select secondary colour with right click 2. Needs way more clicks to get a filled Rectangle

1. On latest Windows version I am on now it works as the classic paint. 2. On classic paint you set colors > rectangle > select filling (w/ outline or w/o). On new paint is set colors > rectangle > fill > select filling > outline > select outline. So 1 or 3 more if you want to remove the outline.

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#82
post #25

This version of MS Paint is like the peak example of covering 99% of basic use cases while being incredibly simple to use. Whenever I need to make an arbitrary image real quick I miss this version of Paint. Nothing else I can find in 2020 even comes close to its intuitive interface.

> I miss this version of Paint Well you are in luck: https://archive.org/details/MSPaintWinXP I use this all the time on my Windows 10 box. Just download, rename to "mspaintxp.exe" and put it in C:\Windows\System32. Optionally update Paint shortcut to point to that one so when you type "Paint" in start menu that's the new default.

It is possible to use the Debugger registry value to replace `mspaint.exe` with `mspaintxp.exe` seamlessly. (Or any software you want.)

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#83

As much as I enjoy this, I feel for it to really shine would be a desktop version, not locked into the browser. I think a Chromium/Electron app would be fine.

How will it differ? In both cases you'll be running a web browser. At least right now you don't have to install another one.

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it can be packed as an Electron app?

I wouldn’t be surprised if a stripped-to-the-bone installation of WinXP in a VM, running only Paint, is lighter on system resources than Electron running this.

A very basic XP install with a GUI can fit in 20-30 MB[1][2][3], using minlogon, but even with a "standard" Winlogon it should be below 50 MB, so it surely would take less disk space than the hypothetical 100 MB electron based version.

[1] http://reboot.pro/topic/3717-xpsp1-with-full-commandline-and...

[2]http://reboot.pro/topic/16765-minixp/

[3]http://mistyprojects.co.uk/documents/MiniXP/

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#85

This version of MS Paint is like the peak example of covering 99% of basic use cases while being incredibly simple to use. Whenever I need to make an arbitrary image real quick I miss this version of Paint. Nothing else I can find in 2020 even comes close to its intuitive interface.

I’m always perplexed by this. Maybe I lack the artistic talent? Paint could never cover any of my use cases. For that it was always too much about … well … painting … which is something I just don’t need on a day to day basis. The painting focus seems completely misguided to most of the typical use cases I can imagine.

My quintessential perfect tool is always the Preview App on macOS:

You can add simple shapes, arrows and text to any images. You can rotate, crop and resize images. You can reorder, rotate, split and merge PDF documents.

That’s all very well tailored to most common use cases. In terms of image editing I guess you can do all that with Paint but it seems clumsy to me. Not really fit for that purpose.

And if I don’t want to mark something up but create something new (which will typically heavily rely on text even if it’s more visual, like a birthday invitation) the text editing is too weak to get anywhere really useful, so for that I would rather use some kind of either text editor or layouting program.

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#86

This version of MS Paint is like the peak example of covering 99% of basic use cases while being incredibly simple to use. Whenever I need to make an arbitrary image real quick I miss this version of Paint. Nothing else I can find in 2020 even comes close to its intuitive interface.

photopea.com

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#87

This is the best replica of mspaint I have seen everything looks and behaves exactly the same , well done!

I wish it would save as bmp only, that png feature makes it orders of magnitudes less horrific than the orignal paint.

And I think it should only save to localStorage, so that saving a few images would fill up all the space like I quickly did on my few GBs hardrive.

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#88
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find Paint.NET excellent for both basic scenarios and advanced ones too (it supports layers, effects etc). Strongly recommended. https://getpaint.net It's free but it's also available in Microsoft Store as a paid product, which gets automatic updates as a small extra and mostly works as a donation towards the developer.

I love Paint .NET, but I wince every time I go to their website (which is not paint.net) to download it: the download button[1] gives me strong "clicking this will give you a shareware virus from 2005" vibe. It is also very sketchy that their website (getpaint.net) redirects to another site (dotpdn.com) for the actual download page. I power through these feelings and download it anyway, knowing what wonderful softwar…

I recommend everyone on HN using Windows to use Chocolatey and Chocolatey GUI to install their software. Chocolatey is a package manager / "app store" for FOSS and other free-to-install software on Windows.

Downloading random installers was always flawed, but it's not getting any better. Chocolatey is the best you can get as a Homebrew/Homebrew Cask equivalent on Windows, and even if it takes some getting used to is so much better than navigating the web for installers.

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#89
Started using MS Paint or whatever it was called then after years of drawing on Deluxe Paint on the Amiga. I wasn't very impressed, but now after seeing later alternatives it's actually not too bad. Didn't Hockney do lots of recent paintings on the most basic iPad drawing program?

Re: XP Paint – A Web-Based Version of Window XP's MS Paint

#90
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find Paint.NET excellent for both basic scenarios and advanced ones too (it supports layers, effects etc). Strongly recommended. https://getpaint.net It's free but it's also available in Microsoft Store as a paid product, which gets automatic updates as a small extra and mostly works as a donation towards the developer.

I love Paint .NET, but I wince every time I go to their website (which is not paint.net) to download it: the download button[1] gives me strong "clicking this will give you a shareware virus from 2005" vibe. It is also very sketchy that their website (getpaint.net) redirects to another site (dotpdn.com) for the actual download page. I power through these feelings and download it anyway, knowing what wonderful softwar…

You could try Pinta, which is open-source and based on Paint.NET: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinta_%28software%29
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