Hah, who knew? Seems we don’t have a dedicated OneNote thread. There are some specific Android topics related though. Well, I thought it would be convenient to have a dedicated thread, so here goes.
First question.
What happened to OneNote desktop.
I recently succumbed to Redmond pressure and got a Microsoft 365 subscription. Together with a clean install of Windows 10 on my ancient and decrepit Surface Pro 3 (with a new installation it actually runs really smooth) I have now lost my OneNote desktop installation. The M365 is essentially the W10 version of OneNote and going to Microsoft OneNote | The digital note-taking app for your devices just installs another WUP on top of the old one.
Is there some way of getting the desktop version back?
Some further developments that may (or may not) be of benefit to anyone else that find themselves in the above situation.
First, and a little scary, is that it seems that M365 installs new versions of itself (not replacing existing) because available storage went from 220 GB free space to 19 GB free space after a few attempts. I’ll need to find a way to clean that up.
Secondly, in my Microsoft account I had a license for Office 2016 (but the three licenses I had for Office 2013 [comes with a device in Japan] did not show up) so I reinstalled it. A rather confusing process. First I get the same Microsoft 365 installation window and messages as before. But, when the whole process was finished, lo and behold, I now have the OneNote desktop version available. One reason I needed it was to print PDF files over multiple pages inside a section of a notebook. Before that was given as an option when printing to OneNote from Adobe Reader (or other PDF software), but now you need to go into File—>Options—>Print to multiple pages and set that as a sort of default.
I feel like I need to quote sergeant Murtaugh from Lethal Weapon.
This statement in the article comments generally mirrors my thoughts:
"Perhaps a suggestion for rolling out “new” features would be to really have everything ready and then launch the “new” feature or prodcut. It generally seems to me that the execution for Microsoft products is lacking. I remember when the “new” Outlook.com was rolled out, an announcement was made and then approximately 8 months later I was able to use it. "
That, and of course, DON’T automatically convert to text and guess what I’m writing!
For those who love the left-sided layout on OneNote for the web, OneNote for Mac, and OneNote for iPad, you’ll be thrilled to hear that we’ve brought this experience to the OneNote on Windows app!
Android forever destined to remain the runt of the litter I see.
My heart goes out you all you Galaxy users bearing with it through the years. Someday, someday, MS might remember it has a note-taking app on Android too.
I still can’t get over the fact that they messed up the quick access toolbar for me, adding additional layers to flipping between different pen colors. Yeah, it’s only a slight slowdown in my flow each time, but when I’m trying to switch back and forth between multiple colors to emphasize different parts of my notes it adds up quickly.
Also, I absolutely hate the ‘Simplified Ribbon’ for pretty much the same reason. It buries too much important functionality for me under additional clicks.
I completely agree. The ribbon is a pretty decent but of UI, but if course these days they have to go and make it worse.
We’ve also come so close to a ‘perfect’ UI, but it’s all been good at different times. Wheels around the stylus when a button is clicked on it. Concepts has the best wheel, but it’s not linked to the stylus button. And these days even MPP pens only have one side button.
