For decades, Notepad has been the digital equivalent of a sticky note on my screen. Since multi-tab support and spell check came, I stopped saving otherwise ephemeral notes where I'd just jot down ...

There's a difference between the "Notepad app" and notepad.exe. The Notepad app has the AI and all the new stuff in it. But the old C : \windows\system32\notepad.exe still exists, and is unencumbered ...