I just upgraded to Windows XP Professional from Windows 98 (I didn't a complete wipe of the hdd and reinstalled everything). In Win 98 I replaced my notepad with metapad (just by changing metapad ...

side note: the "notepad" app that the desktop goose brings up on screen looks like notepad.EXE, but it's a seperate app called "not-epad.exe" as to avoid getting flagged as a virus.

Learn how to restore the classic old Notepad in Windows 11 by opening it from its main location, installing it via Optional features, etc.