Microsoft OneNote 2007 Review

Microsoft Office OneNote came with my computer, and at first I thought it was a stupid, unnecessary program. Especially because I already had Microsoft Word. I didn't need another word processing program.

And then I used it. The number one feature: AUTO SAVE! Never worry about a power outage, a crash, overwriting the wrong version of a document. OneNote works just like a regular notebook would - once it's written down, it's saved until you decide to tear the page out and throw it away. This makes it perfect for jotting notes when you only have 10-15 minutes to use your computer before sleeping/shutting down again.

Next great feature: notebooks! this lets you categorize your documents by subject, or whatever method you decide to use. I have a few - personal, work, writing tips, project management resources, a journal ... and you have the option to password protect each notebook. within each notebook are pages - which you name by giving them a headline. Everything you type is indexed, so if you accidentally put grandmas new address in the "writing tips" notebook, you can search for it and OneNote will tell you where to find it. Try doing that with a 3-subject notebook!

The more I use OneNote, the more I discover how powerful it is. It integrates extremely well with Tablet PCs - you can select the pen thicknesss and color, so if you're a visual notetaker, changing pens is simple. It has built in "Convert handwriting to text" and for the most part, it's about 85% accurate ... which means if you, like me, write best freehand, you dont have to do double work inputting it into the computer.

OneNote remembers where you were the last time you used it, and opens to that page of that particular notebook. You can "print" to OneNote just like you would a PDF - so you can effectively save online documents for offline viewing/reference. You can then make these "printouts" (or any image) the background of your notebook - so you can basically customize your notebook to look however you want it to look.

I am sure there are many more features I have yet to discover - OneNote 2007 is still new, so there aren't too many tips and tricks Web sites about it, and only a few books for sale. If you have the opportunity to use it, give it a try! If not ... check out EverNote, which seems to be extremely similar and much more affordable.