Mindful Ink

OneNote.

Some of you may not even have heard of it. Some may just be familiar with it as I mention it from time to time. Some of you may think it’s something people with tablet computers use. Some of you may not want to use it just because it comes from Microsoft (which I can relate to.)

Well, I’ll tell you right now - if you’re a Windows user you’re missing out on a lot not using it. Yes, it has some nice tablet features but most of those are also nice standard features. Even when I had a tablet I never used those features, as the program is so robust on its own.

Now, it is, of course, a commercial application. And no, there’s nothing even close to it in the OpenSource/Freeware area. Or even, really, in the shareware zone. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t know of anything even close to this. On Macs, there is Curio (which is close, but still not nearly as robust). People often do like to suggest programs like EverNote (which is a nice program) but that’s largely because people think it’s something where you just “write notes.” And it’s more than that, really.

OneNote is like a swiss-army knife program, doing many random, strange things, and doing them all very well. Word processing? Check. Tables? Check. Embed files? Check. Scan text in images? Check. Search audio for words? Check. Drawing? Check. Calculator? Check. Amazing search abilities? Check. Outlook integration? Check. Tagging and organizing random bits of information? Check. Quickly add all sorts of new information even without it open? Check. Print to function? Check. Sync with mobile devices? Check. Send to Word? Check. Incorporate Powerpoint or Excel data? Check. Templates? Check. Recording audio and video? Check. Wiki/hyper-text support? Check. “Ink” support (you can “draw” anywhere there, highlight text, etc. This works if you have a tablet or not, it just uses the mouse if you don’t)? Check.

See what I’m getting at? And all these functions are rather intuitive and easy to use - the learning curve is there, but it’s not terribly strong and the basic functions “just work” very well. And one of the nicer features is that it actually comes with a notebook that takes you through how to do all of this. Unfortunately, due to me being stubborn about my post yesterday, I can’t go into agonizing detail here but you get the point - for a student this program is astonishingly useful.

For a class, for instance, I’d setup a notebook and have an intro page with my syllabus, important documents, contact information for the professor, and link to my calendar in Outlook. Then I’d setup a new page for each section we’d cover, typing in my notes, creating hyperlinks to other useful notes that were pertinent, to Wikipedia links or anything else. I’d also often record the lecture, and access if from that same page. Can you see how this would be handy?

And honestly, I used it for everything, not just school notes. Any project I was working on, blog ideas and articles I’d find, any trip or event I was planning.

Fortunately, you can try this out and see what you think. If you’re a Windows using student, or just about anything else for that matter, I cannot recommend it strongly enough.

OneNote Trial (Part of Office)

Get it as part of Office Ultimate for Students for $59.95
OneNote Home and Student (56.99)
OneNote Standard ($79.99)

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Productivity, Software, Windows