This repo contains the Metapad Notepad-replacement binary and installation files for use when setting up a new Windows machine.
Open an elevated command prompt and run install.bat in the metapad folder. This will replace the various notepad.exe files on your machine with a renamed metapad.exe.
Optionally, in Windows 10 and below, run metapad.reg to replace the default textfile icon wtith the purple Metapad icon.
Windows 11 does not make this process easy.
As per this StackOverflow post, having first run install.bat in an elevated command prompt as described above, Notepad should be removed via Add or Remove Programs.
Additionally, a third-party tool, FileTypeMan, may be required to properly associate text files with Metapad.