I don't "get" OneNote...

H

Homer J. Simpson

I'm new to OneNote. I recently installed it "just because I had it",
through my MSDN Universal subscription.

I've been using Outlook for years to store my notes, code snippets, task
assignments, etc. It's not perfect, but the tree hierarchy is "good enough"
for my purposes.

I don't quite get what OneNote has to offer over Outlook. I *certainly*
prefer Outlook's method of storing everything into a single .PST file (less
hassle to backup), instead of saving each attachment as a separate file in
the file system. Outlook's also leaps and bounds over OneNote when it comes
to saving HTML content (again, not that Outlook is perfect...)

Maybe OneNote is great with TabletPCs, but I'm not a TabletPC user.

Can anyone point me to some resource that might win me over?
 
N

netw1z

Hi Homer!

I just installed this program the other day, and I get it in a big way. I am
now a big fan and telling everyone about it.
It's such a great way to take notes and work on projects, especially if you
have a freehanded organic approach to notes.
I find microsoft project way to technical for my kind of projects,
especially personal ones and arranging excel spreadsheets into a schedule or
to do list a pain.

I you like to draw your plans out on napkins, wether it's schematics, peices
of code, or ideas, One Note is probably for you. I can quickly convert a
list of items into ToDo lists that previous may have been a stream of
conscious. I can even add additional notations to the toDo entries such as
highlighting them or denoting them as important, which is better than a
generic 1-5 rating. The Notes Flag summary, coallates all this data
automatically from the current folder to a notebook wide to do list
automatically priortized.

I can now track multiple projects both business related and personal. I can
cobble together information from a wide range of sources and have them at
the ready when it's time to work on the project. (web links, photos,
screenshots, paragraphs, word documents, even audio and video!) All this
without heavy import routines. I can even draw freehand when I want sketch
something out, but unlike a napkin that gets lost or washed out, it's now
right inside my project.

I can move elements around on the page freely as well, and e-mail parts of
it out to people. You can lay the page out nicely too without knowing HTML
or obscure Word Formatting tricks. Just Drag and drop. I haven't tried to
collaborative stuff yet. I imagine its cool, and I am looking forward to
using it, although Its rare i am in a collaboration where the other side is
that technical.

It doesnt replace Outlook. It compliments it, especially for those of use
who find Outlook way to linear to work. Bye bye little notes that get lost
as they multiply, or weird categories for tasks lists. I am not using it
with a tablet PC either. Outlook is cool for e-mail and scheduling, but for
putting together a project, or keeping track of disparate ideas, is not it's
strengths.

I just thought I'd share, since i just happened upon the program by chance
and found the program I had been looking for for a long time. No more
notepad!

John
www.mediathreat.com
 

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