Note Taking Applications

[Glenn Wolsey]

What do you use for your note taking application, and why? i am still trying to decide which one I should use. Help me out!

 

[mad jew]

I use Word because it's universal and it's what I'm used to.

If I want a change, I use Textedit.

 

[OldCorpse]

TextEdit - light on resources, fast to fire up / shut down, with just enough features and no more.

Definitely not word - it's the opposite of all the above.

 

[Project]

I use OmniOutliner and Mori. Textedit isnt up to the job of note taking imo when used specifically for that purpose. Get yourself a dedicated notetaker.

Other apps you should consider:

DEVONthink / DEVONnote
NoteTaker

Macs are definitely the platform of choice for outliners/notetakers.

 

[kwajo.com]

OmniOutliner for me is the best note taker, plus it was free with my powerbook

 

[blackstone]

I use Circus Ponies NoteBook. Similar to NoteTaker, but the interface is cleaner. Both programs have a common NeXT heritage, and are probably the best implementations of a notebook metaphor out there.

Word is okay for occasional use as a note-taking app, but it slows down more and more as the file grows. I used Word 2004's "notebook" feature for about a semester, but it just got too frustrating because it perceptibly delayed my text input after a while. Also, it tended to get strange glitches, and the Word notebook feature doesn't integrate well with other Word features (styles, etc.).

 

[Plymouthbreezer]

OmniOutline is great.

 

[YS2003]

I use my Fujitsu Table PC for note taking during the meeting at work and with my clients. I am in sales/marketing and I have been on the perpetual quest for efficiency and higher productivity, while reducing the paperwork I need to carry around with me.

The main "social" problem using the notebook/laptop computer for note taking is it will interfer with meeting etiquette. Notebooks will block your view and may give an impression you are hiding behind the screen.

For me, I had a sufficient budget to buy $3000 machine (with extended warranty, additional softeware, and accessories). But, not everyone is willing to spent that much money on a PC. I am very pleased with this machine. Even though I am not a big fan of MS Windows OS, I admit XP Tablet Edition is a nice OS which works well with Tablet PC. For now, I am using MS Journal for basic note taking duties.

I tried Apple Ink's hand recognition program with Wacom Tablet. But, I found its hand recognition is not good.

 

[gauchogolfer]

Another vote for OmniOutliner

I don't use it for notes as much as organization of my thoughts when laying out a project, but it works great for me. I've also used Word's feature, and it's OK since I'm not under much pressure to type quickly, but I prefer the interface with OmniOutliner more. It seems snappier

 

[e²Studios]

I've been using MS OneNote via VPC 6... its eh so so.. I am going to try out Omni later this week.

Ed

 

[PlaceofDis]

Word '04 Notebook
or Aquaminds - Notebook. great app.

 

[Bern]

OmniOutliner for me is the best note taker, plus it was free with my powerbook

Just out of interest, I never installed it with my Powerbook so I'm not too familiar with it, but does the version we get with our Powerbooks also allow us to update it with the incremental updates released from time to time?

 

[javiercr]

LaTex for equations
(for mac here)

 

[gauchogolfer]

Just out of interest, I never installed it with my Powerbook so I'm not too familiar with it, but does the version we get with our Powerbooks also allow us to update it with the incremental updates released from time to time?

OmniOutliner which comes with the Powerbook is a complete license for v2.0. According to omni, you can upgrade to either v3.0 or v3.0 Pro just as if you had bought the original. They no longer sell v2.0, so no v2.x updates will be forthcoming.

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnioutliner/upgrade/

This is what I get sent to when I run the updater from within OmniOutline.

 

[gauchogolfer]

LaTex for equations
(for mac here)

I use LaTeX as well for technical documents, and have found TeXShop to be a very nice GUI interface to the LaTeX background. I believe it is still free under the GPL.

http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/

I wrote my dissertation using this, and had no problems at all. The documentation is excellent.

Also, for typesetting equations in things like Pages and Keynote, I use Equation Service, which is generates pdf images of LaTeX code in an unobtrusive way.

http://www.esm.psu.edu/mac-tex/EquationService/

 

[kretzy]

I use the notebook layout in Word (Student and Teacher edition). It even allows you to record audio into the document.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

TextWrangler. I like my notes to be pure ascii...

 

[gekko513]

I use TextEdit without "Show Ruler". Nice and clean.

 

[stevietheb]

Another vote with OmniOutliner...I only have two complaints:

(1) Is there a way to resize the bullet at the beginning of each line? It's too big for my taste.

(2) My font of choice (Adobe Garamond Pro), displays slightly above the line, this can be fixed...but it's annoying.

I love everything else about it...

 

[stridey]

VoodooPad. Pretty much anything I type except final drafts of papers goes in there now.

 

[shrimpdesign]

I use Sidenote. It's small and lightweight, and easy to use. It just comes out the side of your screen, and stays out of the way. Hot key is nice.

 

[entatlrg]

old thread back again.... note taking software...

What do you use?

 

[petermcphee]

What do you use?

All through law school, I used MS One Note. When I got my macbook, I ran fusion just for one note. It's the business. It was perfect for my needs. YMMV.

 

[chrono1081]

I used to run one note all the time until I discovered Circus Ponies Notebook. At first I thought it was worse then One Note until I learned how to use it (watch the videos! There are keyboard shortcuts you need to know). Now I use nothing but notebook and hate going back to one note.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

DevonThink.