bit-tech Shopping: Microsoft Office OneNote 2003

• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: True multi-media capability, makes getting organized easy, allows for easier collaboration

Weaknesses: Not cheap, especially as I was not a student

Summary: I bought OneNote 2003 back in 2004 thinking that I'd give it to my nephew for his high school graduation. It was definitely not a cheap software as I got it for about $100 but I thought it'd be a good and useful gift. So, 6 months later, I was going to give it to him but only to find that he already got and had been using the free version of EverNote. Oh well, it was too late to return the package to the store. It then got buried along with some other too-late-to-return gifts. 8^)Recently I had to do some clean-ups and rediscovered this copy of OneNote 2003 I bought almost 3 years prior. I figured I'd give it a try and to my surprise, it is quite helpful for me to manage my daily journals as well as for tracking the meetings after meetings that I go to (where I'd take notes as well as do some audio recordings). The best part I like is that I can schedule Outlook calendar items directly from this tool and at the same time don't have to maintain a separate meeting summary document. Also, the sharing feature of the tool is easy to use and has allowed me to collaborate with others in preparing meeting presentations.I've been using it for about 3 months now and must say that I didn't regret buying this software. Due to its usefulness, I'm contemplating on upgrading it to the 2007 version. I'll see where EverNote is compared to OneNote 2007 and do some comparisons first.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 9 Months

Strengths: You aren't forced to use a single organization method. You are free to organize in any appropriate manner.

Weaknesses: Primitive search capabilities

Summary: I suppose the nearest competitors to this unique application would be infoselect or AskSam, but it's still different from them in approach. Like AskSam or Infoselect, this is a freeform database application. But it allows you to store not just text, but just about anything digital anywhere on the screen. Everything is stored in a heirarchy of tabs. You can create a project tab, then section tabs, sub section tabs, etc. You can link tabs and bits of info on a given tab to other data on other tabs even across projects. I used it to study for Teradata Certification tests. It's wonderful for academic note taking. There is no save or open commands, everything is stored in a single database and is saved instantaneously as you work. If you're used to saving different projects in diferent files or databases, its a little weird at first, but as I worked with it, the logic of this approach makes sense. In a free form note taking or brainstorming session, you don't always think to save, your mind is elsewhere. Also with all your projects in the same database. It is easier to make logical connections to data stored in other projects. It's biggest drawback at this point is the primitive search capabilities. It's the same sort of search you would find in a mid level word processor. It really needs Boolean search and the ability to pull up all tabs in a window that have data matching the search criteria. (ie be able to treat each tab like a discrete database record). It's kind of an odd product whose value is difficult to envision without actually using it. I hope Microsoft doesn't abandon this product. I'd love to see what version 2 or 3 will look like.