As for the line spacing change, there’s no way to know whether that’s a bug or a deliberate change on Microsoft’s part.

http://www.holdkey.eu/wordpadfix.php

Windows-7 WordPad fix

The newly revamped WordPad has a very annoying trait,
there’s no “Preferences” menu per-se .
Every time you open an old document to edit, or create a new one,
ALL the settings go back to the built-in default settings .

Fortunately, the “Templates System” is still there in the New WordPad .

Here’s a way I found that changes the default Preferences .

1)
Create a new “Rich Text Document” in a blank space on your desktop .
Name the new rtf file : ” New Rich Text Document.rtf ” ,
(this is the normal, default name, so just don’t change the name )
Adjust all the preferences to your liking .
( Once I’m done, I like to hold down the Return key for a couple of seconds,
this will put 30 or 40 invisible blank lines into your new document,
when this is done, you can easily paste stuff into any position on the page )

This will be your new Starting Template for New rtf files .
It also will be the default settings used by WordPad to edit existing files .
So, if you open an existing file, that was made a while back,
regardless of the settings used when that file was made,
your new preferences will be automatically applied to any editing you do .

After your all done, close and save changes,
then, right click on the new rtf file, and go to “Properties” ,
now click on “Read Only” , then “Ok” .

2)
Now comes the tricky part, the guy who originally figured this out must
have had something different about his computer,
his had a folder named “C:\Windows\ShellNew\ ” ,
mine didn’t have that folder, so I had to create a new one,
Windows didn’t like the idea ,
So, just a heads-up, if you don’t already have this folder,
you will have to change some security settings,
this is usually a very confusing process,
even though I’ve done it million times it’s still a big pain in the rear .

I don’t know if this trick will work if you place the Template elsewhere .
Wouldn’t hurt to try, but it might not get a result .

“C:\Windows\ShellNew\” is where you need to Cut and Paste your
new “New Rich Text Document.rtf” file that you just made,
according to the guy that found this solution .

3)
Next,
Make a new “Text Document” ( a txt file ) .

Copy and Paste the following into your new txt file :

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.rtf\ShellNew]
“FileName”=”New Rich Text Document.rtf”

Close and save the file .
Rename it to rtf.txt

Most people have their file extensions hidden, this is the default setting .
To turn on file extensions, open “My Computer” or “Windows Explorer”,
go to “Tools”… “Folder Options”… “View”… ,
Un-Check “Hide Extensions for Known File Types” .
Now you will be able to see, and change,
file extensions everywhere on your computer,
but right now, you just need to change the extension on the
TXT file you just made to rtf.reg

After the new “Template” file,
( New Rich Text Document.rtf , with all preferences set the way you like them )
is successfully moved to C:\Windows\ShellNew\ ,
then execute rtf.reg (double click it) .

Done .

I agree, I HATE automatic, unchangeable preferences.
Once I set it, it should STAY that way until I change it .
What’s so hard about changing the registry ?
Do you actually have some reg data available ?
Providing a .Reg file for the squeamish is a easy, no-brainer solution .
I have over 100 reg tweaks, just to make Windows work as it should .
I’ll take a look to see if it’s easily decipherable .
Thanks for considering this option .