I know how posts and threads eventually get found with Google by others with the same problem, and since so much has changed in the last few days, I'm posting a new version of a post I made a few days ago....
After needing a note taking app that was easy to use and organize, I've bought (without hesitation) the full paid version and tried out nearly every major one out there.
Smart Draw
Notes/Pages
Evernote
OneNote
and a ton of other smaller, less known, and cheaper versions
I needed something that could be instantly (and easily) synced with my iPhone, iPad, and sure the iMac, but especially (and here is where the difficulty came in) my PC at work, which I use a majority of the time.
Smart Draw only lets you open and view your work in iStuff, in an app that is reader-only.
Notes/Pages (which would have been the best) would not let me open and write on the PC
Evernote was the best so far, opening in a browser, so worked on everything and mobile devices with an app
But OneNote worked the best for me, easy to use, organize, and with the iPhone and iPad apps released just weeks ago, (which was the reason I tried it and bought it) found it to be the best all around multi-device option.
But as of today (7-18-2013) Apple made iWork (including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote which I had happened to buy and use as well) also work in a browser on a PC. MAJOR WIN for Apple Fans. Now all the iWork is EXTREMELY SIMPLE, EASY, and ACCESSABLE (read AND write; it used to be only read on a PC, what you did on a Mac) on ALL devices, from mobile devices, iMac, AND PC DESKTOP COMPUTERS. If you can use a Chrome, Safari, or IE browser, you can open iCloud and use those iWork files right on your PC. THANK YOU APPLE!
I'm writing this after still glowing about the OneNote discovery a few days ago, but have been using the Pages on the PC for the last 2 hours. It's only in Beta, but for all those who have spent $$$ and time trying out so many note taking apps, iWork is the best so far, for me, and making it useable on a PC was a great move by Apple. I think today was the first day of the beta release, and it worked great so far (I'm about 2 hours into a project with it now).
So for note taking apps, my recommendation is in this order:
iWork's Pages
Apple's Notes app
OneNote by Microsoft (begrudgingly because it's Microsoft, but it's really great)
Evernote (last but still great- though not as easy to use as the earlier version)
SmartDraw (kind of specialized, diagram type organizing. Also expensive, and you can't alter it on Apple stuff.
I hope this helps someone else out.
After needing a note taking app that was easy to use and organize, I've bought (without hesitation) the full paid version and tried out nearly every major one out there.
Smart Draw
Notes/Pages
Evernote
OneNote
and a ton of other smaller, less known, and cheaper versions
I needed something that could be instantly (and easily) synced with my iPhone, iPad, and sure the iMac, but especially (and here is where the difficulty came in) my PC at work, which I use a majority of the time.
Smart Draw only lets you open and view your work in iStuff, in an app that is reader-only.
Notes/Pages (which would have been the best) would not let me open and write on the PC
Evernote was the best so far, opening in a browser, so worked on everything and mobile devices with an app
But OneNote worked the best for me, easy to use, organize, and with the iPhone and iPad apps released just weeks ago, (which was the reason I tried it and bought it) found it to be the best all around multi-device option.
But as of today (7-18-2013) Apple made iWork (including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote which I had happened to buy and use as well) also work in a browser on a PC. MAJOR WIN for Apple Fans. Now all the iWork is EXTREMELY SIMPLE, EASY, and ACCESSABLE (read AND write; it used to be only read on a PC, what you did on a Mac) on ALL devices, from mobile devices, iMac, AND PC DESKTOP COMPUTERS. If you can use a Chrome, Safari, or IE browser, you can open iCloud and use those iWork files right on your PC. THANK YOU APPLE!
I'm writing this after still glowing about the OneNote discovery a few days ago, but have been using the Pages on the PC for the last 2 hours. It's only in Beta, but for all those who have spent $$$ and time trying out so many note taking apps, iWork is the best so far, for me, and making it useable on a PC was a great move by Apple. I think today was the first day of the beta release, and it worked great so far (I'm about 2 hours into a project with it now).
So for note taking apps, my recommendation is in this order:
iWork's Pages
Apple's Notes app
OneNote by Microsoft (begrudgingly because it's Microsoft, but it's really great)
Evernote (last but still great- though not as easy to use as the earlier version)
SmartDraw (kind of specialized, diagram type organizing. Also expensive, and you can't alter it on Apple stuff.
I hope this helps someone else out.