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I find the Office-style complexity of OneNote off-putting. Every note-taking app competes directly with the physical notebook in my pocket, which is a pretty st

I find the Office-style complexity of OneNote off-putting. Every note-taking app competes directly with the physical notebook in my pocket, which is a pretty straightforward product UX-wise, while OneNote doesn't even try to imitate a sense of simplicity.

Tomte 11y ago
I used to think exactly that! After getting used to the general structure (Books, Pages, sections), and ignoring most tools, it grew on me.
UK-AL 11y ago
Try the OneNote from the Windows App Store. Far more simple then the full office version. I prefer to use the App Store Version.
- mhurron 11y ago
  > Try the OneNote from the Windows App Store Which, like the OneNote version in Office on OS X, can only sync to a Microsoft account through OneDrive and can not even create local notebooks. That may be a show stopper.
  - code777777 11y ago
    ON can sync off of a regular old file share. I've been using it for years. A copy on our server and one on each of my computers (desktop, laptop, Mac) and they all happily sync up. Granted, the iPhone app works best with OneDrive. I'm not a fan of OneDrive and use DropBox instead for a smaller ON notebook that I share with my wife for things like handy pictures of our insurance cards, grocery lists, travel information, etc. Works great for us at work (documentation and pictures) and at home.
    - mhurron 11y ago
      Microsoft documents that on OS X OneNote can not. OneNote (Metro) on Windows 10 also can not. Now on OS X it will go into offline mode and save to an ever growing local temporary file, but you can't choose to create a local notebook. I had to use the full version of 2016 that I could get with Office 365 on my Surface to save to a local directory. https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-OneNote-2016-for-Mac-bf9bcd6a-b8ce-4d18-a11f-ed1f596df3ed https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Frequently-Asked-Qu... https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_files/windows-10-can-i-save-a-onenote-to-my-local/8d60f799-3d32-49cb-9459-15a87785ae36?auth=1 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wi... http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/new-free-onenote-for-os-x-is-a-preview-of-the-next-office-for-mac-apps/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/new-free-onenote-for-os...
AJ007 11y ago
iOS/OS X Notes is pretty good when you add the Apple Pencil. For some reason OneNote on the iPad Pro isn't as responsive with the Pencil. A good example of what could be a subtle change making a big difference is both creating new note & deleting an existing note happens instantly now, past versions there was some a brief lag. This is part of the reason why even a little bloat can really suck in anything you use multiple times a day.
- code777777 11y ago
  Agreed, for quick notes it's awesome especially with it's newer multimedia features. Opening ON on your phone and all that is kind of a pain. Since I also use Windows the problem I have is getting to those notes on my Windows 10 boxes. The only fast way I've found is to log into iCloud.com. Not perfect but good enough.

Tomte 11y ago

I used to think exactly that! After getting used to the general structure (Books, Pages, sections), and ignoring most tools, it grew on me.

UK-AL 11y ago

Try the OneNote from the Windows App Store. Far more simple then the full office version. I prefer to use the App Store Version.

mhurron 11y ago
> Try the OneNote from the Windows App Store Which, like the OneNote version in Office on OS X, can only sync to a Microsoft account through OneDrive and can not even create local notebooks. That may be a show stopper.
- code777777 11y ago
  ON can sync off of a regular old file share. I've been using it for years. A copy on our server and one on each of my computers (desktop, laptop, Mac) and they all happily sync up. Granted, the iPhone app works best with OneDrive. I'm not a fan of OneDrive and use DropBox instead for a smaller ON notebook that I share with my wife for things like handy pictures of our insurance cards, grocery lists, travel information, etc. Works great for us at work (documentation and pictures) and at home.
  - mhurron 11y ago
    Microsoft documents that on OS X OneNote can not. OneNote (Metro) on Windows 10 also can not. Now on OS X it will go into offline mode and save to an ever growing local temporary file, but you can't choose to create a local notebook. I had to use the full version of 2016 that I could get with Office 365 on my Surface to save to a local directory. https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-OneNote-2016-for-Mac-bf9bcd6a-b8ce-4d18-a11f-ed1f596df3ed https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Frequently-Asked-Qu... https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wintp-insider_files/windows-10-can-i-save-a-onenote-to-my-local/8d60f799-3d32-49cb-9459-15a87785ae36?auth=1 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/insider_wi... http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/new-free-onenote-for-os-x-is-a-preview-of-the-next-office-for-mac-apps/ http://arstechnica.com/apple/2014/03/new-free-onenote-for-os...

AJ007 11y ago

iOS/OS X Notes is pretty good when you add the Apple Pencil. For some reason OneNote on the iPad Pro isn't as responsive with the Pencil. A good example of what could be a subtle change making a big difference is both creating new note & deleting an existing note happens instantly now, past versions there was some a brief lag. This is part of the reason why even a little bloat can really suck in anything you use multiple times a day.

code777777 11y ago
Agreed, for quick notes it's awesome especially with it's newer multimedia features. Opening ON on your phone and all that is kind of a pain. Since I also use Windows the problem I have is getting to those notes on my Windows 10 boxes. The only fast way I've found is to log into iCloud.com. Not perfect but good enough.