Microsoft has created a mess with multiple Office products that mostly perform the same thing, but have different names. Case in point is OneNote. New Windows users are being greeted with two versions of OneNote pre-installed on their computer — OneNote and OneNote 2016. Users aren’t sure what’s happening with their favorite note-taking app. Which one should they use?
- OneNote Access your notes anywhere What good are notes, plans, and ideas if they’re trapped on a hard drive? Keep your notebooks available to you by signing in with your free Microsoft account when you first start OneNote on your PC. There’s even a free OneNote app for all of your preferred devices to stay in sync wherever you go.
- Jan 05, 2016 Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft OneNote 2016 64-Bit Edition. This update provides the latest fixes to Microsoft OneNote 2016 64-Bit Edition. Additionally, this update contains stability and performance improvements.
- Patch Description: Microsoft OneNote for Mac 2016 15.39.0 Update: Bulletin Id: MAC-047: Bulletin Title: Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac: Severity: Unrated: Location Path: MicrosoftOneNote1000Updater.pkg: Bulletin Summary: This security update resolves vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office that could allow remote code execution if a.
- Jul 16, 2012 Windows 10 version 15063.0 or higher, Windows 10 Mobile version 15063.0 or higher, Windows 8.1 Windows 10 version 15063.0 or higher, Windows 10 Mobile version 15063.0 or higher, Windows 8.1 To rate and review, sign in. This version is terrible compared to OneNote 2016.
While OneNote is not going away for sure, it points to the fact that Microsoft is making a lot of changes. Let’s see what they are and what they mean for us, the end-users.
What’s Happening
OneNote 2016 is the legacy version which comes pre-installed with Office 2016 suite of apps. Microsoft designed the Office 2016 for desktop. Meanwhile, Office 365 is a cloud version that works online. Microsoft released a new version of OneNote for desktop and calls it OneNote or OneNote for Windows 10.
Microsoft wants to phase out OneNote 2016 eventually, and port most its features to the newer universal version. To give users some time to make up their minds and make the shift, Microsoft will continue to fix bugs and provide security patches for OneNote 2016 until October 2020. All new features are now added into the new OneNote.
Oct 16, 2015 Describes the Microsoft OneNote 2016 for Mac 15.15.1 update. This update was released on October 16, 2015.
Office 2019 is on the horizon, and OneNote will continue to play an important role in Microsoft’s Office suite of apps. It will be the default app for both Office 2019 and Office 365. That relieves Microsoft from working on two separate products.
Let’s see how they differ.
1. Dark Mode
OneNote supports the dark mode, which means less strain on the eyes and improved battery life. It’s easy to read the text in the dark mode thanks to better contrast. If you are using dark mode on Windows 10, OneNote will automatically suggest you use it the first time you open it.
Open Settings and click on Options.
You can choose the Dark option here.
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Read More2. Layout
OneNote 2016 has sections on the top whereas OneNote shows them in the sidebar below the drop-down notebooks option.
You can close this sidebar while working allowing you to focus on the note in question.
OneNote 2016 also displays pages on the right. The sidebar move is a welcome change because now notebooks, sections, and pages are all in the same area instead of being fragmented all over the UI.
3. Recent Notes
It’s easy to get lost in a sea of notes even though OneNote does a fantastic job of organizing them neatly by notebooks and sections.
OneNote has a Recent Notes tab in the sidebar where you can quickly access recently edited notes that are arranged date-wise. A real time saver. OneNote 2016 never had it.
4. Templates
OneNote 2016 came with pretty cool templates. You could use pre-defined layouts for taking different kinds of notes.
Sadly, OneNote lacks this feature. Hopefully, they will port it before the OneNote 2016 is discontinued.
5. Page Color
OneNote 2016 allowed users to use colors in sections and notebooks to easily identify them. That would change the header and sidebar color but not page color.
OneNote will also allow you to change page color giving more control over how it looks.
Hmm, the font color also needs to be changed.
6. Sticky Notes
They are a real timesaver. OneNote mobile app for Android and iOS have a dedicated tab for Sticky Notes. Anything you copy there will instantly sync to your OneNote for Windows 10 app.
Microsoft Onenote 2016 Free Download
Now it’s quick and easy to share text and links between devices — much-needed feature for all Windows users.
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Read More7. Ink Math Assistant
OneNote 2016 and even previous versions of OneNote were able to solve math equations with ease. The only note-taking app capable of doing so and it’s one of my favorite features. I don’t have to use a calculator now.
OneNote takes things to the next level with Ink Math Assistant. It will not only solve the problem and provide an answer, but also show step by step calculation to help you understand how the answer was derived. Brilliant for math students. Oh, it also supports handwriting.
On the flip side, OneNote 2016 had a database of math equations that you could add from the menu with the click of a button. Handy when you need to refresh your memory. That option never made it to OneNote.
Again, OneNote comes with an Immersive Reader option which removes all distractions and opens the page in full screen mode. In there, you can click the audio button to read the math equation and answer out loud.
8. Record Video
OneNote 2016 allowed users to record and save audio as well as video. Not only that, it would intelligently attach notes to the time they were taken during the recording.
That means you can scan your notes based on timestamp while going through the video. Makes life so much easier for those who take notes during lectures or presentations. Sadly, that feature never made it to OneNote, but I am hopeful as it supports audio recording.
9. Print to OneNote
Find something useful on the web? Maybe on an app? There is a hidden setting in Windows 10 which will take a printout and save it to a page in OneNote instead of a physical printer.
Press Windows key+I to open Settings and search for 'printer' option. Select Add a printer or scanner.
Select OneNote here.
10. Local or Cloud
OneNote 2016 stores all OneNote notes on your computer's hard drive or SSD. That's useful if you are privacy-minded but dangerous should anything happen to your hard drive. OneNote stores all data in the cloud and provides a smarter backup solution. However, I am not too confident about the privacy part.
OneNote to Rule Them All
While some cool features haven’t yet made their way to OneNote from OneNote 2016, the update is still worth it. You can continue to use OneNote 2016, but all new features and updates will be pushed to OneNote. Not to mention bug fixes and security patches. For example, Microsoft recently added Cortana support to OneNote. You can now speak to take notes instead of typing them.
Next up: Want to be even more productive on OneNote? Here are 2 cool extensions for OneNote power users.
Read Next2 Useful OneNote Integration Extensions For Better ProductivityAlso See#onenote #productivity Did You Know
Microsoft Windows 1.0 was first released in November 1985.
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Microsoft OneNote 2016 has modernized the look of the tabs to match the rest of the Office 2016 suite of applications, and has added some new features that make this the go-to application for note taking.
Microsoft OneNote is the only Microsoft Office suite application you can download and use for free without a license to the suite or 365 subscription. The desktop application is available through the Windows Store, Mac App Store, and, of course, included in the bundled Office suite download.
PC users will see newer features and improvements before Mac users. For example, with OneNote for Mac you can now draw, sketch, and handwrite notes. This has been available on OneNote for Windows since the 2013 version that accompanied the release of the Surface, Surface RT, and Surface Pro.
Some of OneNote 2016’s new features are as follows:
- Office Lens -- Microsoft OneNote has now launched a sister application that is available on all smartphone platforms called Office Lens. This application allows you to take photos with your phone and send them directly to OneNote 2016. The application also converts images of block text or equations into, easy to read, computer-formatted pages. To utilize this extra feature locate and download Office Lens from your smartphones app store.
- Notes from the web with Microsoft Edge -- If you are using Windows 10 and the new browser Microsoft Edge, you now can draw right on the page and clip the note you’ve created with the click of a single button in the top right area of the tool/address bar.Keep in mind this feature is not available to Mac users unless Windows 10 is either virtualized or dual booted to the Mac computer.
- Send notes to yourself via email -- Microsoft has added [email protected] as a way to collect emails and send them to your OneNote notebook easily. Why? Some people keep very large email archives so that they can refer to the content as needed; depending on the number of projects you’re working on, having that information in one place might prove very convenient.
- To set up your email addresses to be used in OneNote, visit the email settings page and select the address from which you want to have OneNote accept incoming mail. If your email address is not shown as a selection, click the “Don’t see the e-mail address you want to add” link and follow the prompts.
- Sharing -- You now have the ability with Microsoft OneNote 2016 to share your notebooks and collaborate with others on the notebooks content. Click or tap on the person icon in the top right corner of the application and choose to either email, upload, or export your Notebook.
- Syncing -- OneNote 2016 now offers the ability to sync notebooks across multiple platforms and multiple application versions. Unlike with OneNote 2013, the 2016 version is compatible with notebooks from older versions of the product. For example, if you are using OneNote 2016 on a Windows 10 computer, OneNote Mobile on a smartphone, and OneNote 2008 on a Mac, all your notebooks will be the same on all devices.
- Smart Lookup --Microsoft has added Smart Lookup (aka Insights from Bing) to the OneNote 2016 interface. This means you can easily add more information to your Notebook in the form of photos, research, links, and web articles. To access Smart Lookup right-click the element on which you want to collect more data and drop-and-drag the data to your notebook.
- Tell Me — OneNote also includes the Tell Me function like with the other applications in the Office 2016 suite. Tell Me can help you utilize features of the OneNote application you have never used before as well as make other features quicker and easier to access and use.To use Tell Me click or tap on the search box or question mark in the top right corner and type your request. If you are specific, the application will perform the function for you. If you type a keyword it will display a drop-down list with options to choose from. For example, “Add New Notebook” will do just that, on the other hand “Notebook” will display a drop-down list that offers options like add, export, print and so on. Click or tap the appropriate option.