It was never the most powerful or versatile of tools, but what Microsoft Paint lacked in terms of features it made up for by its sheer ubiquity. 

So when Microsoft listed the much-loved app as being "not in active development" and noting it "might be removed from future releases" yesterday, the internet went into overdrive to mourn its demise. 

But Paint is here to stay, Microsoft has reassured users in a blog post. While it might no longer form part of Windows by default, it will be available to download for free from the Windows store. 

First released in 1985 as part of Windows 1.0, Microsoft Paint quickly became a Microsoft staple app, appearing as part of every itineration of Windows since then. 

Although it was never the most powerful of apps - users could only save files as jpegs from 1998 onwards and the programme never included things such as the ability to create layers - its simplicity for basic image tasks cemented it as an office favourite. 

The next update to Windows 10 is expected to be released this coming autumn.