OneNote 12 Trial

Posted by Ray Cosner
Dec 18, 2006 at 10:46 PM

I don’t know that OneNote 2007 is the ultimate note taking tool, but I’ve been using it since early October (got it in the beta program) and I am using it exclusively now. It has been substantially improved in the different means for importing data, and for organizing data - now handles multiple notebooks, and a new concept “sections of sections” which can be nested one inside the other in creating a storage structure. Also, good coupling with Outlook 2003 for tasks defined in OneNote, for e-mail in Outlook, and meetings defined in Outlook.

I have tried a lot of them, the major one I have not used is Zoot. I have tried ADM, InfoSelect, Evernote, and Ultra Recall. Gave up on ADM when they got fixated on Skype (which I can’t use at work). Every time I upgraded InfoSelect, I felt afterward like I should have known better - minimal improvement for substantial license cost. I found Evernote confusing, guess I’m wired in favor of a more hierarchical method. Ariadne reminded me too much of InfoSelect with a more attractive interface (emotional reaction). Ultra Recall is what I was using prior to One Note - the improved integration with Outlook tipped the balance for me. Right now as I mentioned I’m using OneNote 2007 exclusively, and I have stopped checking out the web sites for other tools in this category.

You can download a full-featured trial version from the Microsoft Office site - my copy will expire on Feb 28, 2007. Big download, a little over 200 MB.

Ray Cosner
St. Louis, MO