MS paint now lets you use powerful AI features like Generative Fill and Erase—for free. Once upon a clock.exe, Microsoft Paint was just a sad copy of the iconic MacPaint that shipped with every Macintosh back in 1984. Released in 1985 as part of Windows 1.0, Paint (barely) evolved with its operating system, turning from clone to hated app to beloved source of endless memes, almost ending in the Recycling Bin along with Clippy.