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 ...

What Notepad really needs is a ribbon! Especially a ribbon that uses ~20% of the window real estate, one that can't be collapsed or minimized, one that hides key features under little tiny triangle ...