....\My NoteBook\ - explains why OneNote is nothing but a place to scratch notes.

[EMRhelp.org]

.....\My NoteBook\ - this is the location where your OneNote files are
placed into. And it tells the whole story why OneNote disappoints -
all it is, is a place to jot notes. That's it. I wanted more (maybe
I'll get more in 2.0), but version 1 is just a note collector place.

Let's look at: My Documents folder (some have been added to illustrate
a point).

My Business files
My Professional Documents
My Data Sources
My eBooks
My EverNote Files
My Business PDF manuals
My Sales Forecasts
My Notebook
My PaperPort Documents
My Pictures
My Screenshots
My Faxes
My Instant Messages
My Virtual Machines
My Web Sites
My RSS
My Outlook Emails
My Schedule
My PPC files
My TO DO
My Long Range Planning
My Projects
My Shared Files
My Excel Files
My MS Access Files
My Word Files
My Whatever The User Wants

Frequent computer users need a way to integrate all this stuff
-----SEAMLESSLY.
It needs to be organisable, searchable, exportable.
It NEEDS to be customizable.

If MS wants to continue to rule the Tablet PC and the Desktop, OneNote
(a simple note taker)(lots of other products out there) needs to morph
into a program that allows Windows Users to "take control" of the My
Doucments Folder. Google can't own the desktop.

Maybe OneNote should "just" be a note taker. If so, Office/Windows/the
Tablet/Microsoft needs a My Organizer program, something to tie it all
together.

 

[John Waller]

And it tells the whole story why OneNote disappoints -

It might disappoint you (you've apparently never been happy with it) but it
works beautifully for me and others.

If MS wants to continue to rule the Tablet PC and the Desktop, OneNote
(a simple note taker)(lots of other products out there) needs to morph
into a program that allows Windows Users to "take control" of the My
Doucments Folder.

That's not what I want out of OneNote.

I want it to take searchable notes, not organise my "My Documents" folder.

As you probably know, Microsoft is already working on desktop search to
compete with Google (and others). I'm sure Vista will add a whole lot more
to this idea.

Why complain about OneNote not being able to do what it's not designed to
do?

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

....\My NoteBook\ - this is the location where your OneNote files are
placed into.

By default, yes.

And it tells the whole story why OneNote disappoints -
all it is, is a place to jot notes. That's it.

Perhaps that's all it is for you. For me it's a place to take and organize
notes, to collaborate wtih team members, to conduct and capture research and
ideas.

Frequent computer users need a way to integrate all this stuff
-----SEAMLESSLY.

OneNote was never intended to be the product that does that.

It needs to be organisable, searchable, exportable.
It NEEDS to be customizable.

Try MSN Desktop or Copernic Desktop perhaps.

If MS wants to continue to rule the Tablet PC and the Desktop, OneNote
(a simple note taker)(lots of other products out there) needs to morph
into a program that allows Windows Users to "take control" of the My
Doucments Folder. Google can't own the desktop.

Why not morph Excel or Project into that role?

Maybe OneNote should "just" be a note taker. If so, Office/Windows/the
Tablet/Microsoft needs a My Organizer program, something to tie it all
together.

See the aforementioned desktop products. Google is just one of them.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[RK Henry]

Frequent computer users need a way to integrate all this stuff
-----SEAMLESSLY.
It needs to be organisable, searchable, exportable.
It NEEDS to be customizable.

If MS wants to continue to rule the Tablet PC and the Desktop, OneNote
(a simple note taker)(lots of other products out there) needs to morph
into a program that allows Windows Users to "take control" of the My
Doucments Folder. Google can't own the desktop.

That sounds like a job for WinFS, when/if it becomes available.

Maybe OneNote should "just" be a note taker. If so, Office/Windows/the
Tablet/Microsoft needs a My Organizer program, something to tie it all
together.

Applications should do one thing, do it very well, and integrate with
other applications in user-definable ways to allow it to extend its
capabilities. Applications should NOT grow into monsters with a
plethora of features to try to make them into alpha-omega software
solutions. OneNote is pretty close to being right for its purpose,
with the possible addition to a few integration features that I hope
might be coming. It's for taking notes. I hope it's not going to grow
into an e-mail application, database, word processor, photo/movie
editor, calendar, checkbook manager, task manager and gaming platform,
all rolled into one monster application that takes a terrabyte-sized
hard drive to hold it all. It might be nice if it could link to other
applications that can do some of those things, but it doesn't need to
do those things all by itself.

RK Henry

 

[Prilosec]

I got the beta version of OneNote a couple years ago and dismissed it the
same as you are doing now. I did the same thing with Outlook nearly 10 years
ago. I am now a "power user" of Outlook. I decided, late in 1997 that
Outlook might be the only contact manager that would do what I wanted to do
(journal is a big item for me). After considerable effort, one book, great
help from slipstick.com, Ben Schorr's MVP help, etc., I am an Outlook
evangelist. I recently decided to get OneNote and go through a similar
process. So far, I can see the benefit.
Your typical Microsoft application is much more powerful and has many more
clever uses than you might think upon initial evaluation. They usually go
far beyond whatever documentation they give you, too. Compare the "word
processing" style of OneNote with Word (or anything else, including Notepad,
etc.). There is NOTHING that allows you to just type (or write), select and
drag, shuffle around, append, re-order, etc. like OneNote. When you're done,
you can make a couple clicks and move whatever you have to Word to make it
more complex if you want. I take minutes at a montly meeting and those guys
I am recording for don't stick to the "new business", "old business" routine
all the time. I could jump back and forth in Word (what I had used before
this) but this process is MUCH easier in OneNote. I have also not found any
program where you can bring in stuff from all over, like pictures, charts,
links, live links to files (like Excel--which update as you change them).
You can even make a OneNote section a "super journal" in Outlook by creating
a link to your OneNote section on the contact form. The link opens that
section in OneNote where you might have all kinds of stuff on a meeting or
customer project with that contact (or even several contacts--you can re-use
the link). Ben and others will, in time, find and probably publish more
stuff this program can do.
BTW---Microsoft (MSN) already HAS desktop search. I have used it for some
time, but decided I didn't really need it. It worked very well when I used
it (little thumbnails of the documents I was looking for something in popped
up in the results window).
Don't make the same mistake I made with both Outlook and OneNote and be too
quick on the trigger and dismiss it prematurely. It does A LOT more than you
think.

 

[Erik Sojka (MVP)]

I'd like to add that OneNote sucks as a coffee maker. It does not do
that good of a job at changing my oil. There are many better dessert
toppings and floor waxes available from more reputable companies.

 

[Kathy Jacobs]

I'll add to this - It doesn't do a very good job at seasoning my cast iron
Dutch Ovens. But it does a great job at letting me make notes on the recipes
that go in those Dutch Ovens. I think that is a good thing... But then I am
a believer in the right tool for the right job.

--
Kathryn Jacobs, Microsoft MVP PowerPoint and OneNote
Co-author of Unleash the Power of OneNote- Available now from Holy Macro!
Books
Get OneNote answers at http://www.onenoteanswers.com

I believe life is meant to be lived. But:
if we live without making a difference, it makes no difference that we lived

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Re: Ben>>> Uses OneNote - collaborate wtih team members

Q: can you explain, in as much detail as possible, how you collaborate
effectively with others using OneNote ?
_____________

"That sounds like a job for WinFS, when/if it becomes available"

WinFS could be interesting for the organization of documents. I'm not
sure I want Windows Vista though.
other applications in user-definable ways to allow it to extend its
capabilities."""<<<<<<

Well that would be my point, OneNote has no VBA, it has no scripting,
it's integration into the Windows Filesystem is non-existent, basically
no integration with Outlook or any other Office Applications.

 

[Ben M. Schorr - MVP]

Re: Ben>>> Uses OneNote - collaborate wtih team members

Q: can you explain, in as much detail as possible, how you collaborate
effectively with others using OneNote ?

Sure. We have a section for each client and pages within that section for
various projects, systems or pieces of software. At the top of each
client's section we have an "Open Items" page which lists, with To Do Flags,
tasks that need to be done (as well as, for a limited time, tasks that have
been completed). We use different color ToDo Flags to represent different
team members. We share these sections among our entire team so that
whenever somebody on the team does something at the client's site or
documents something that information is available to the entire team.

This is especially useful at new clients where we could have multiple team
members who are assessing the client's site, making notes on various systems
and machines. We can very quickly build a populated section (or folder if
the client is especially large) with information about the client that is
almost instantly available to all of us -- including team members who aren't
on-site.

If we run into a problem that we need assistance from a team member who is
not on-site it is easy for that other team member to open the client section
and quickly get up to speed on the system, the problem and what steps have
already been taken to try and remedy the problem. That saves a LOT of time
in the troubleshooting process.

On a regular basis (sometimes daily for the really active clients) we e-mail
the Open Items page to the client (not all of whom have OneNote) so that
they get an almost-real-time status report. Soon we'll be enabling
SharePoint extranet sites for clients so they can access the notes as well
as other documents and information about their account.

On specific projects we'll create a section (or folder for really large
projects) for that project and share it among all of the team members. Once
again it allows everybody to collect and share information; do research and
easily share the results among the entire team almost without thinking about
it.

Which is exactly what OneNote was designed to do.


--
Aloha,

-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, OneNote-MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
Microsoft OneNote FAQ: http://www.factplace.com/onenotefaq.htm

**I apologize but I am unable to respond to direct requests for assistance.
Please post questions and replies here in the newsgroup. Mahalo!

 

[Gary Mount]

A few replies to your post allude to the WinFS technology.
This should be available to WindowsXP users as well as Windows Vista users.
A SDK became available recently to MSDN subscribers and it works with
WindowsXP.
WinFS is far more than a Desktop Search like application. It will allow
applications to share information for example Contacts information will be
available to any WinFS aware application, and not just be locked up in
Outlook or some other proprietary application.

The way that OneNote lays out its data is a good way to allow the
information collected by OneNote to be available to other applications once
WinFS becomes available. Future applications from Microsoft are being
changed in a similar way so the information isn't locked up in proprietary
database or file formats.
Take a look at some of the new technologies on Microsoft's MSDN website,
specifically "Chanel 9" for more info.

WinFS will be the technology that "allows Windows Users to "take control" of
the My Documents Folder"
and all the rest of their folders on their computer as appropriate.

 

[confuchsia]

:

".....and it tells the whole story why OneNote disappoints -
all it is, is a place to jot notes. That's it. I wanted more
(maybe
I'll get more in 2.0), but version 1 is just a note collector
place."

actually.. in some ways, for me, you may have a valid point, though not for
the reasons that you give. there is one significant feature that i feel
onenote lacks, and, from what i have read will not be addressed in onenote 12
either. that is the ability to collapse sub-pages (particularly in the form
of a directory tree a la MyInfo).

whilst for many the onenote program is simply that - a program for taking
notes. for me i want to (or would like to), use it as my primary information
storage and retrieval tool. a database no less. i do considerable research on
the internet (i am a student) and the web page copying/editing facility is
the best i've come across. further, the ability to manipulate the data
anywhere on the onenote page is as good as it gets.

my problem is that the current page tab setup is cumbersome (i think) and
wastes space. the result is that a section can be optimized only in general
terms - in terms of managing large amounts of related information this
approach is simply untenable.

whilst i understand that this program is not promoted primarily as a
database, with the potential ability to run multiple notebooks in onenote 12,
isn't this exactly what it lends itself to?

 

[EMRhelp.org]

Hello Gary Mount,

Thanks for your interesting info - WinFS might get me to move from my
venerable Windows 2000.

I look forward to seeing WinFS in larger circulation - I've heard it
won't be ready for Vista - so I guess what -- Mid 2007 ?
the My Documents Folder" ---- sounds good, we'll see

 

[EMRhelp.org]

confuchsia, we are of like mind.

You want to "use OneNote as my primary information storage and
retrieval tool. a database no less."

I think you will be disappointed with OneNote for this application.
EverNote would be a better choice for you.
The MAJOR weakness of EverNote is you can't INK and type on the same
note, it's one or the other.
For a Tablet User, where ink is so handy, that is not great - otherwise
you are fine.
EverNote's categories are to die for and would suit your usage well.

A better plan for you might be to Use a Desktop search program for you
database needs - ie Google Desktop. It is shockingly peppy.

Asksam is fast and recently (version 6.0) caved into a partial tree
model for organizing notes. I've used asksam since version 3.0 DOS.
With careful planning, Asksam can be a superfast freeform database.

Zoot, is another app you should check out. Very interesting.
Another DocuXplorer

Others: MyBase, dtsearch, TreePad even too

I have been experimenting with using a program called DoQuments
www.doquments.com for such tasks. It is a database program that allows
you to setup customized databases. I need something to help me save
scanned documents as well.

Good luck.