One of the most iconic of Microsoft Corp.’s apps is Microsoft Paint, the much loved 2D digital sketcher that’s been around since the company introduced the world to Windows 1.0 in 1985. There have been various iterations of the app since then, but only now has the painting feature truly been transformed.

Paint 3D, revealed this week at Microsoft’s Windows 10 event, is a far cry from the app most of us have been struggling to use for 20 plus years. Besides being easier to use, Pain 3D will, according to Microsoft, empower “a new wave of creativity,” giving us the new metamorphosed app that can be used on a slew of new products designed for creatives.

What Microsoft means by empower is that it has attempted to make creating 3D designs something anyone can do. Designing in 3D has so far been the playground of the highly talented, but Microsoft tells us Paint 3-D can be used by anyone – much like the old Paint we came to know.

As you can see in the video above, users are given a library of 3D objects consisting of things such as shapes or household pets. Anything you can draw in 2D can be rendered into 3D. You can then manipulate the image, such as turning it 360 degrees.

You can also join the Remix3D community and share your homemade designs, and once you’ve completed your work of art, you can then view it on the desktop, or even live in your designs by seeing them on Microsoft’s HoloLens or one of its new VR headsets. Another thing about the community is that you can let other artists drag and drop their own images into your design, if you need the help.

In the end, you have to have some artistic skill to produce anything worth showing off, just as you did with the old version. There is also other 3D software that makes the new Paint look pretty rudimentary. What Microsoft has done, though, is bring 3D design to everyman, and seeing that Paint might just be the world’s most recognizable app, 3D has a long way to go – especially in the virtual world.

Photo credit: Microsoft