Microsoft is pretty much giving up on 3D in Windows 10
With the release of Windows 10 Creators Update over 3 years ago, Microsoft was betting that 3D was the future. We're not talking Windows with a 3D interface or anything like that, but the company seemingly noted the increasing popularity of 3D printers and decided to jump on the bandwagon.
This saw the arrival of Paint3D in Windows 10 as well as a 3D viewer tool, but now Microsoft appears to have changed its mind about the third dimension. We recently wrote about the disappearance of the 3D Objects folder, and now Windows 10 users will no longer see other 3D-related components after a clean installation.
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Following the discovery that the 3D Objects folder was being relegated, it is perhaps little wonder that Microsoft is also stepping away from other 3D components of Windows 10. With the release of build 21332 of Windows 10, the company has announced that both 3D Viewer and Paint 3D are being demoted so they are optional components.
In release notes for this latest developer preview of the operating system, Microsoft says:
3D Viewer and Paint 3D will no longer be preinstalled on clean installs of the latest Insider Preview builds. Both apps will still be available in the Store and will stay on your device after an OS update. So, if you upgraded your PC like normal, you shouldn't see these apps changed in your app list.
While it would not be fair to say that Microsoft is completely abandoning 3D in Windows 10, these latest moves just go to show that it has not proved to be anywhere near as popular as many predicted it would be. Or perhaps this is Microsoft's admission that people who are interested in 3D are turning to better tools than those bundled with Windows 10.
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