What's new

Onenote V17 v Onenote 2013

Tommervyn

New Member
Hi, just got a new i7 SP4 through work with OneNote v17 preinstalled. Work also installed Office Pro 2013 with OneNote 2013. Which should I use and what's the main difference????? Not being a OneNote user I'm a bit clueless but no point in having an SP and not use it !!
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
The OneNote v17 that you are referring to is Office 2016 or the Mobile Version. Office 2016 is an evolutionary upgrade with more polish and usability over the earlier versions. If you are talking about the Mobile Version, I use both the desktop and mobile version depending on what I'm doing.

I tend to use the Mobile Version when I'm going to on battery for long periods of time.
 

DavidZ

Active Member
Just wondering...why do you like OneNote? What do you do with it?

I've looked at it a few times and I don't get it. If I want to make handwritten notes, I'll get a piece of paper. I'm not trying to be dismissive. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing.
 

dajogejr

Member
Paper notes can get lost.
With one note, your notes are available via the cloud to anywhere with a Net connection.
You can fill up notebook, you won't fill up One Note.
Digital notes are easily organizable, written notes, not so much.

Think of it this way..
You can send a letter via the post office, or you can send one via email.
One is archaic, the other is not.
 

DavidZ

Active Member
I still don't get it. If I want text in my computer, I'll type it. The pen just doesn't seem like the right tool for the job.
 

dajogejr

Member
You can hand write notes, or type.
You cannot do that on a pad of paper.
I'm not trying to convince, Just explaining uses.
If you don't get it, don't use it.
 

DavidZ

Active Member
Thanks for your explanation. I guess it's just a personal preference thing. Who knows, someday I might find it appealing.
 

ScottyS

Active Member
Thanks for your explanation. I guess it's just a personal preference thing. Who knows, someday I might find it appealing.
Saying OneNote is just for handwriting or typing isn't even scratching the surface (no pun intended). I thinks it's Microsoft's most "killer app".

Aside from having as many notebooks as you like, each with sections, subsections and pages, you can move pages and sections around within notebooks or between them simply by dragging and dropping.

Aside from handwriting (inking) and typing, you can write in the on screen keyboard's (OSK) handwriting input panel and have text converted to type (although the past Win8 OSK version worked better for this), oh and hand written text, even in a picture will be attempted to have OCR in the background so that later it might be searchable.

You can move content from any source (pdf, web page, document, etc.) by either copy/paste, Send-to-OneNote app or in the case of other Microsoft apps you can drag and drop content. You can insert pictures and in MUI version you can take pictures and if you set it to take a white board picture it will correct the angle of view to be straight, adjust the contrast to be black and white and then attempted to do OCR in the background so that later the content might be searchable.

And as they say on TV "but wait", that's not all. Notebooks are stored in OneDrive. I make shopping lists at home on the computer and at the store open my iPhone's OneNote app to access the list. If you set a notebook to be shared, someone else (like my wife) can open it and I can add things from home and they're updated on the other person's screen in real time. You can have a notebook shared by people in a classroom or conference room. They can be next to you or across the world and they can see what you write, draw or drop into the page and they can annotate it and everyone can see what anyone is writing in real time.

And I didn't even mention the ink-to-math feature.
There are other similar apps out there (like Evernote) but if you're using a Surface and OneDrive and the Send-to-OneNote app, I think OneNote is the best. I just wish they'd (MS) do a better job keeping features between the MUI and desktop version consistent; hoping future updates will be better.
 

hughlle

Super Moderator
Staff member
I still don't get it. If I want text in my computer, I'll type it. The pen just doesn't seem like the right tool for the job.

There is research suggesting that a written note will be remembered better than a typed mote. Personally i find written notes far more convenient than typed notes for classes or meetings.
 

Telstar1948

Active Member
There are some situations where handwritten notes are less of an issue, say, in a meeting or certain classes, than typing out your notes during those events.
 

jnjroach

Administrator
Staff member
Just wondering...why do you like OneNote? What do you do with it?

I've looked at it a few times and I don't get it. If I want to make handwritten notes, I'll get a piece of paper. I'm not trying to be dismissive. I'm trying to figure out what I'm missing.
It all depends on what you need to take notes for, I ink as ink in Windows is treated just like typed text and is searchable. So I take ink notes in all of my internal and client meetings with a Section for each project (I use the Outlook and Skype for Business integration). This way all meeting notes are attached to my project and to the appointment in Outlook. I also can create tasks in OneNote that show up in Outlook. With the Skype for Business integration I get an attendance record. I embed Word Docs and other files into the OneNote so I always have everything discussed in one note. Also I never run out of paper :)

Also, I hate typing in meetings I just find it rude. And I should mention Office Lens allows me to bring in Whiteboards and Paper directly into OneNote.
 
Top