Microsoft OneNote
| Microsoft Office OneNote Icon | |
| Microsoft Office OneNote Screenshot Microsoft OneNote 2007 running in Windows Vista. | |
| Developer(s) | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 12.0.6211.1000 (2007 SP1)
/ December 11, 2007 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Type | Notetaking |
| License | Proprietary EULA |
| Website | Microsoft Office OneNote Homepage |
Microsoft OneNote, officially Microsoft Office OneNote, is a software package for free-form information gathering, and multi-user collaboration. OneNote is most commonly used on laptops or desktop PCs, but it is especially well suited for use on pen-enabled Tablet PCs, in environments where pen, audio or video notes are more appropriate than an intensive use of keyboards.
The interface metaphor underlying OneNote is that of an electronic version of the familiar tabbed three-ring binder which can be used directly for making notes, but also to gather "pages" printed or sent from other applications. Pages can be moved inside the binder, annotated at will by use of electronic ink, word-processing or drawing tools, and can contain embedded multimedia recordings and web links. As a container and repository of information gleaned from a variety of sources, a OneNote notebook is well suited for organizing information for a course or a research project. OneNote's file format (.one) was proprietary. However, in newer versions (certainly 2003 & 2007) it is XML based and Microsoft have published the schema. This and the published API has resulted in a small number of extensions being written.
One of OneNote's salient innovations is the integration of search features and indexing into a freeform graphics and audio repository. Images (eg. screen captures, embedded document scans or even photographs) can be searched for embedded text content. Electronic ink annotations can also be searched as text. Audio recordings can also be searched phonetically by giving a text key, and can be replayed concurrently with the notes taken during the recording.
Its multi-user capability allows offline editing and later synchronization and merging at the paragraph level. This makes it a useful tool for workgroups that collaborate on research whose members are not always online. Better still, OneNote is designed as a collaborative tool and allows more than one person to work on the same page at the same time - making it a shared whiteboard tool as well.
OneNote was originally marketed by Microsoft as a companion to Tablet PC's and it has excellent support for pen interfaces as noted above. However, many people have recognised its use as a general note-taking platform and it is widely used in education by both students and teachers.
Platform support
Microsoft OneNote 2003 requires Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4 or later, Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Vista.
Microsoft OneNote 2003 will run on any hardware that supports the required operating systems.
Microsoft OneNote 2007 will run only on Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or later versions of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft OneNote 2007 printer driver cannot be installed on 64-bit operating systems.
Many Microsoft Office applications support importing/exporting MIME HTML (.mht), including Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Therefore, only browsers that recognize this file format are a suitable platform for viewing Microsoft OneNote's exported MHT files. Microsoft OneNote 2007 also supports exporting notes in microsoft Word format or as PDF or XPS files using a free plug in from Microsoft. Microsoft OneNote Mobile for Smartphones (Microsoft Windows Mobile 2003, 2003 SE, 5, and higher) as well as Pocket PCs (Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 and higher) is included with Microsoft OneNote 2007; Microsoft OneNote Mobile is also built-in to the Microsoft Windows Mobile: Professional 6.1 operating system.
Version history
| First public announcement | November 17 2002 |
| OneNote 2003 | released October 21 2003 |
| OneNote 2003 SP1 | released July 27 2004 |
| OneNote 2003 SP2 | released Sept 27 2005 |
| OneNote 2003 SP3 | released Sept 17 2007 |
| OneNote 2007 | released January 30 2007 |
| OneNote 2007 SP1 | released December 11 2007 |
Note that all release dates are "retail availability". Release to Manufacturing is usually 2-3 months prior.
Similar Products
At present, OneNote is available for Windows only. However, there are a number of partially competing products for Windows and other environments, such as Mac and Linux. These products include Google Notebook, eNoteFile, PerfectNotes, EverNote, Treepad, Jot, Essential PIM, Infoselect, WinOrganizer, GoldenSection Notes, WinPim, Whizfolders, NoteLab, PersonalBrain, Personal Knowbase, AskSam, and Circus Ponies NoteBook.[citation needed]
It should be noted that none of these products particularly compete with the combination of features that OneNote provides. It would seem that EverNote and eNoteFile come closest. Though of those two only EverNote has a Windows Mobile version in addition to the desktop (it also has a web version).
See also
External links
- The Official Microsoft OneNote Website
- The Official Microsoft OneNote PowerToys
- Xiipy (Research Assistant) Addon for OneNote 2007
- OneNote and Education blog
- Microsoft Office Labs "Canvas" for OneNote Provides a graphic overview of a OneNote notebook that can easily zoomed in and out
- LinkedIn OneNote Users Group. You need to be a member of LinkedIn and a member of the group to access this but both are free
- Microsft public OneNote Newsgroup. You can also access this via Google Groups.
