Is the trial version feature limited?

[Martin Folley]

I have just started to use OneNote 2007 trial, and like many of the features
but I am wondering if my trial version is fully installed.

I cannot find the 'format painter' button
I cannot find a styles palette
I cannot find the help file

The help file is the biggest issue, since I am sure many other features
would be obvious with this.

If I go to the help menu, and type in 'Subpage' the first thing that happens
is it is turned into lowercase (!) before showing me:

Searched for: "subpage"


No results were found matching "subpage".
Tips for better search results:
Try a different phrase
Check your spelling


Yet subpage is one of the items/features of the software. Are my help files
missing?

Normally I work offline, so this is the only help that I have.

When connected, I get some more information but I cannot conceieve of an
application that does not provide help files as part of that application!
Furthermore, in relation to the subpage issue, I cannot see how to make a
page into the subpage of another page... is this 'grouping'? The help is very
poorly written, with little additional information nor hyperlinks to other
areas.

Is this typical of OneNote, or is it the trial version?


BTW. The make or break issue for me at the moment is that I cannot find the
format painter button,or any mechanism to format text is an easy fashion
(e.g. styles) any help n that would be most welcome.

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

The trial is not feature limited. OneNote does not have a format painter
nor does it support styles.
There might be an issue with help where it doesn't recognize your
Internet connection correctly. Have you explicitly tried to set it to
offline or online?
Help is definitely included in the trial.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[Martin Folley]

Thankyou for the reply.

1. Is there no formatting other than the basic stuff that I was using 20
years ago? Why is this? Formatting and layout is a vital part of the
information. I was surprised that you do not seem to be able to link the text
boxes with connectors to enable mind mapping functions ... but no formatting!

2. I have tried help both online and offline. The online help is very poor.
It is slow, lacks detail, does not have the usual hyperlinks to related
topics. When compared to office 2000 help, it can only be described as
incomplete and cut-down (hence trial version?).
The offline help is appalling. To not even have the keywords from the
application's own menu system is incredible.
I am aware that sometimes office installations in the past have not
registered the help correctly, particularly Access and VBA help files ... so
I assumed thi to be the case.
As an MVP, have you actually tried the help offline? I would not expect that
experts would use it that often ... but those of us new to this application
have to start somewhere. Try looking for subpage. I have since discovered
that one part of the application talks about subpages, and another talks
about grouping, but that they do not refer to each other in the help!

The trial is not feature limited. OneNote does not have a format painter
nor does it support styles.
There might be an issue with help where it doesn't recognize your
Internet connection correctly. Have you explicitly tried to set it to
offline or online?
Help is definitely included in the trial.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

I have just started to use OneNote 2007 trial, and like many of the features
but I am wondering if my trial version is fully installed.

I cannot find the 'format painter' button
I cannot find a styles palette
I cannot find the help file

The help file is the biggest issue, since I am sure many other features
would be obvious with this.

If I go to the help menu, and type in 'Subpage' the first thing that happens
is it is turned into lowercase (!) before showing me:

Searched for: "subpage"


No results were found matching "subpage".
Tips for better search results:
Try a different phrase
Check your spelling


Yet subpage is one of the items/features of the software. Are my help files
missing?

Normally I work offline, so this is the only help that I have.

When connected, I get some more information but I cannot conceieve of an
application that does not provide help files as part of that application!
Furthermore, in relation to the subpage issue, I cannot see how to make a
page into the subpage of another page... is this 'grouping'? The help is very
poorly written, with little additional information nor hyperlinks to other
areas.

Is this typical of OneNote, or is it the trial version?


BTW. The make or break issue for me at the moment is that I cannot find the
format painter button,or any mechanism to format text is an easy fashion
(e.g. styles) any help n that would be most welcome.

 

[xTenn]

Formatting and layout is a vital part of the
information.

From a tablet (slate type) user perspective,I would tend to disagree.

At least as far as systematic changes are concerned - imagine what a
mess an auto-format wizard would make of one's carefully placed ink,
complete with inked annotations...

 

[Martin Folley]

Thanks for this contibution ... I am glad that it is not just my mistake ...
the basic WP features are indeed missing.

As a non-slate user, I could not comment about ink annotations ... however I
would make the observations that

a) only a small proportion of the MS office / onenote user base will be
slate users
b) Office is a well known example of bloatware, and as such I would expect
to see at least basic features, which may then be switched off, rather than
the features being absent from the start.
c) It reminds me of built in obsolesence (pre-planned reasons to upgrade),
similar to how Apple marketed the iPod
d) MS is rather slow at mentioning that this software is basically targetted
at slate users

I am glad that slate users are well catered for, but as for me, I have just
terminated the trial since without the information implied through formatting
the contents loose much of their meaning.

I would be interested if anybody knows when the next version is due to be
released. I did like much of what I saw (formatting and poor searching aside)
but it is not a mature enoough product to be worth investing time in at the
moment.

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

OneNote is absolutely not targeted at tablet users only. The vast
majority of OneNote users are non-tablet users. So why should MS be
mentioning that it is targeted at tablet users, when that's one of the
biggest misconceptions about OneNote.
Keep in mind that features don't appear by themselves. They have to be
added to the product which requires resources and time. So just because
Word has a feature doesn't make it any less work to add that feature to
OneNote.
The next version of Office is due in 2009, so that would also be when
the next release of OneNote comes out.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
http://pschmid.net
***
Office 2007 RTM Issues: http://pschmid.net/blog/2006/11/13/80
***
Customize Office 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/customize
RibbonCustomizer Add-In: http://pschmid.net/office2007/ribboncustomizer
OneNote 2007: http://pschmid.net/office2007/onenote
***
Subscribe to my Office 2007 blog: http://pschmid.net/blog/feed

 

[xTenn]

I am glad that slate users are well catered for, but as for me, I have just
terminated the trial since without the information implied through formatting
the contents loose much of their meaning.

I a curious as to what kind of formatting you need if it is integral to
the data set. Surely you do not allow a wizard (or format painter) to
impart this degree of information to you data collection, otherwise its
value as a strictly proprietary data depth is certainly limiting its
future portability and sharing...