If it doesn't handle layers I won't be interested...

Not Microsoft, but Paint.NET is there, so what.

Exactly, the average user doesn't really need a full-on image editing program, just something basic that performs basic functions with ease of use.  Besides, I don't think Microsoft upgraded Paint to be a Photoshop/Paintshop Pro competitor.  That would take more resources than Microsoft would likely want to commit to an app that's built-in to the OS.  Were it a completely separate program suite like 'Office' then perhaps so.

In any event, the upgrade to Paint is a welcome initiative.

Last time I relied on a MS graphics program was with Microsoft Picture It!. With WIndows XP i was left with my .mix files unreadable because Picture It! was abandoned / changed and didn't run under XP anymore. So "No, thanks !".

My sister used Picture it on XP  for digital 'scrapbooking' and still uses it on Win 10 with no issues to speak of, so it's still a functional suite, as far as I know.

Yeah, I also have a copy of it somewhere.... a two disc set, one with the program and the other with a library of digital art.  It came with a 2nd-hand PC I once bought some years back, along with Microsoft Works and a Student version of Office.  I haven't tried Picture it myself, well not in a long time, so I don't have any recent experience.  Last time I used it was on Vista, and it worked okay then.