I've used numerous note taking tools over the years. Most of them do more than I need, which I guess makes sense. A tool without bells and whistles apparently isn't going to captivate the public. Google Keep, as opposed to Evernote, or the true Swiss Army knife of note tools, OneNote, doesn't really have bells and whistles, though it does have voice activation. But to my mind none of these come close to the ease of use and simplicity of Notepad - the text editor that's come with Windows since ... I guess always. What does it do? It allows me to enter text and save. Which is precisely what I want it to do. Yes, I use a heavy-duty word processor all the time, but it, like dedicated note taking programs, does much more than I often need. Do I want to jot down a phone number? Save a snippet of thought? Copy a bit of text on a web page that I may later want to use? I keep Notepad open pretty much all the time, and it does pretty much just what I want it to.

Over the years at sessions with teachers or something similar I've been asked to recommend a new tool. At times like these I've been known to sing Notepad's praises and then have people ask me where they can get it, only to be told that it's always been on their computers. That doesn't always go over well. After all, they were expecting something with a bit more glitter and glitz.

And it turns out that I'm not the only person who thinks it's a great tool. About half a year ago Mary Jo Foley, reviewing Windows 10 for ZDNet, wrote:

I do wish I could customize the Start menu more, though. The list of apps listed as "Most Used" feels very random to me. (Example: How can Notepad not be in my most-used list? Me, the Queen of Notepad! C'mon guys!)