It’s hard to complain about Microsoft Paint. After all, it’s bundled with Windows for free and provides the basics for annotating a screenshot with boxes, arrows, and text. It’s OK, but compared to every other paint app on the planet, it feels outdated.
That’s about to change. Microsoft shared the news in a Windows Insiders blog post about some great new features available now for Windows Insider users in the Canary and Dev channels.
Microsoft Paint is finally getting layers and transparency. The two go hand-in-hand to let you build a final image in pieces. Microsoft’s example loads a drawing of a fairy-like creature flying over a town.
A single click removes the background, another new Paint feature. Adding the Windows background of a grassy hill and intensely blue sky to a layer below finishes the new image.
If you’re not a Windows Insider, you’ll have to wait a bit longer to test out the new features. Hopefully, this is a change Microsoft will advance quickly.
You don’t need to wait for Microsoft, of course. There are plenty of free paint and photo apps with much more you can use right now. We recommend six of the best free photo editing apps, some that run in a browser tab.
Microsoft has the ability to turn Paint into something special, however. I’m eager to see how dramatically the experience will change with the addition of layers and transparency.
With Microsoft’s recent AI focus, perhaps we’ll see image generation become a part of Paint, taking it to a whole new level. We expect to hear about further updates to Paint and other Windows apps at Microsoft’s event on September 21. Rumors suggest Microsoft will announce AI updates to apps, along with devices like the Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Laptop Go 3.
Google just dropped its latest AI model, Gemini 4 Carbon, designed to tackle complex coding jobs and cybersecurity threats. The company claims it can work through difficult engineering problems for days, finding hidden bugs and developing fixes across large codebases.
Gemini 4 Carbon also takes the top spot on Artificial Analysis' updated Intelligence Index, scoring 59 points, pushing out Claude Opus 5.5, OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra, and even its own predecessor Gemini 4 Argon.
Apple has just introduced a redesigned MacBook Pro with a few bells and whistles. The focus this time around is on a thinner and lighter build, and an upgrade to a touch-sensitive OLED screen without any ugly notch. And, in case you were wondering, there is definitely a price premium to pay for these niceties, which also include a glowing Apple logo at the back. What if you wanted to get the best that Apple has to offer? Well, the numbers are finally here.
For a mere $14,549, you can get yourself the fully kitted 16-inch MacBook Pro PROLED XDR with the beefiest laptop chip that Apple has to offer, and the best memory configuration in tow. For nearly $15,000, you treat yourself to the 16-inch version of the laptop with a nano-texture glass layer on the screen to reduce reflections and glare.
Apple has unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro. The company seems a bit confused about the naming, calling it the "MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display," which is tough to remember. If you look past that and review the full spec sheets, you might ask a genuine question: what are the differences between the touchscreen and non-touchscreen versions?
Given that Apple continues to sell both variants together, that's a genuine question. Luckily, you don't have to spend more time lining up the spec sheets side by side and hunting for differences hidden in the fine print. I took that bullet for you. Here's everything that's different between the PROLED XDR Display and the regular MacBook Pro.