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Microsoft is working on a version of OneNote for the Mac that will debut later this month, claims The Verge. This release will expand the note-taking software beyond its roots as a paid desktop app for Windows users and will complement the mobile apps that exist on iOS and Android.

According to The Verge's report, Microsoft will drop the price on the note-taking app and release it for free to both OS X and Windows owners. The latest version of OneNote also may include companion web-clipper extensions that plug into popular browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. These plug-ins will make it easy for people to grab snippets from web pages and immediately share them with the OneNote app.

Microsoft hopes the price drop along with new web-clipping feature will make OneNote attractive to customers who currently use competing note-taking apps such as Evernote.
We understand that Microsoft will release the OneNote for Mac app for free, and the company is also planning to make the Windows desktop version available at no extra cost. This marks a significant change in the way Microsoft manages OneNote, unbundling it fully from the cost of Office. We're told part of this free approach is targeted at competitors like Evernote, but Microsoft is also adding additional features to entice people away from the competition.
The launch of OneNote is part of a larger push by Microsoft into the Apple ecosystem. The company is rumored to be working on a new version of Office for the Mac that may debut later this year as well as Office for the iPad that allegedly is coming soon.


Article Link: Microsoft OneNote Going Free with Mac Launch Later This Month
 

HenryDJP

Suspended
Nov 25, 2012
5,084
843
United States
As I've already mentioned I'm great with Evernote. Works on my Macs, iPhone, iPad and works with Windows machines. Syncs everything together. Just a hunch based on history One Note on Mac won't be as good as One Note on Windows.....that's just one of the reasons I won't leave Evernote.
 

Nikiaf

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2013
119
288
This is great. I much prefer OneNote to Evernote, but since I have an Apple laptop that I use at school, OneNote was pretty much out of the question.
 

RyanFromQA

macrumors member
May 15, 2008
40
20
This is good news - I was reticent to drop money on something like Outline for both Mac and iPad, because Microsoft's iPad OneNote was free and very good. Now I don't have to. To be honest, though, I would have been willing to drop $20 or more on the Mac version of OneNote.
 

Razeus

macrumors 603
Jul 11, 2008
5,358
2,054
OneNote. The only MS product I use and care about.

Evernote is such a mess.
 

seamer

macrumors 6502
Jul 24, 2009
426
164
Will probably appeal to users who haven't used Evernote yet and become embedded in the hipsterality that comes with using something the mainstream haven't discovered yet. ;)

That being said, we're already investigating Evernote for Business. Dropping the price to "free" on a tool not on our radar doesn't really do much for us.
 

LagunaSol

macrumors 601
Apr 3, 2003
4,798
0
Evernote Forever. Until the weasels at Google buy them up. (You know it's coming - how can they resist the opportunity to suck all that juicy personal data into their servers?) :(
 

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,439
744
This is great. I much prefer OneNote to Evernote, but since I have an Apple laptop that I use at school, OneNote was pretty much out of the question.

I am with you. I like Evernote, and use it right now, but always felt the interface to be cluttered and confusing. Nothing beats just having folder looking tabs for sections / notes. Maybe that is just me.


This is good news - I was reticent to drop money on something like Outline for both Mac and iPad, because Microsoft's iPad OneNote was free and very good. Now I don't have to. To be honest, though, I would have been willing to drop $20 or more on the Mac version of OneNote.

Yeah me too. If one note is going to be good and well thought through, I'm thinking office will be awesome. As much as I love numbers, I still prefer excel. Numbers seems to be too focused on presentation, I just need a place to dump data, analyze, email and move on.
 

nefan65

macrumors 65816
Apr 15, 2009
1,354
15
Meh. I think that ship sailed for me. You'll probably need SkyDrive, or OneDrive, or whatever they call it now. I've been on Evernote forever and a day now, and it works fine. Unless I need to start sharing with other ON users, I don't have a need for it.

Glad they're coming around though. Hopefully they'll do the same with other apps [paid for is fine] like Project, etc.
 

hagar

macrumors 68020
Jan 19, 2008
2,124
5,418
I never used OneNote. Currently I'm on Evernote and it's a mess indeed. Far too cluttered interface, slow, too much friction.

I like simplenote a lot but obviously it can only take plain text.
 

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,439
744
I think you can take that to the bank.

I'm not trying to be an MS advocate, but I think this is turning around. Their Remote Desktop for mac recently released, gets more updates, more polished, supports remotefx and faster than it's now 4-year old same-version windows counterpart.

I get that everyone hates Microsoft because they were the big guys back then and didn't care. They are no longer the big guys, they are under new management that doesn't seem to spit when they talk. Their software quality is going up as they are trying to get back into the market. I think anything that is new and wasn't made when Balmer was in charge may be really good. The entire apple division as an example.
 

unplugme71

macrumors 68030
May 20, 2011
2,827
754
Earth
Yes!

It's going to be difficult for MSFT to stay competitive with cheaper/free software alternatives. At least Apple makes money off hardware and Google off search. Microsoft has to be careful where they choose to loose their profits.
 

LagunaSol

macrumors 601
Apr 3, 2003
4,798
0
I get that everyone hates Microsoft because they were the big guys back then and didn't care. They are no longer the big guys, they are under new management that doesn't seem to spit when they talk. Their software quality is going up as they are trying to get back into the market. I think anything that is new and wasn't made when Balmer was in charge may be really good. The entire apple division as an example.

Unfortunately, we've been hearing for years that the Mac unit inside Microsoft marches to the beat of their own drum, is not beholden to the Windows side of the house, blah blah blah. But time and time again it has proved to be a lot of hot air. Mac Office products are clearly designed to be inferior feature-wise (and compatibility-wise) to the Windows version. Yes, Lord Ballmer is gone, but I don't see that corporate strategy changing.

I like your optimism, but I'll believe it when I see it.
 

aloshka

macrumors 65816
Aug 30, 2009
1,439
744
Yes!

It's going to be difficult for MSFT to stay competitive with cheaper/free software alternatives. At least Apple makes money off hardware and Google off search. Microsoft has to be careful where they choose to loose their profits.

Google makes their profit from ads, not search. They mine users interactions with any of their services and hardware and are able to give advertisers analytical data that NSA can only dream of- or they use google data already. That's why google services are free; you are paying for them with your usage, data, emails, and privacy.

----------

Unfortunately, we've been hearing for years that the Mac unit inside Microsoft marches to the beat of their own drum, is not beholden to the Windows side of the house, blah blah blah. But time and time again it has proved to be a lot of hot air. Mac Office products are clearly designed to be inferior feature-wise (and compatibility-wise) to the Windows version. Yes, Lord Ballmer is gone, but I don't see that corporate strategy changing.

I like your optimism, but I'll believe it when I see it.

I get your point, maybe it's more hopeful than reality. But to be fair too, MS has no choice but support OSX now ; I can't think of any business that doesn't have at least a few macs, whether personal or business. MS can no longer hold people hostage because there are no alternatives. They have to do something now or die.
 

HenryDJP

Suspended
Nov 25, 2012
5,084
843
United States
I am with you. I like Evernote, and use it right now, but always felt the interface to be cluttered and confusing. Nothing beats just having folder looking tabs for sections / notes. Maybe that is just me.

No offense but it really doesn't sound like you've really used Evernote. Cluttered and Confusing are two words that hardly describe it. If anything One Note has a steep learning curve.

----------

I'm not trying to be an MS advocate, but I think this is turning around. Their Remote Desktop for mac recently released, gets more updates, more polished, supports remotefx and faster than it's now 4-year old same-version windows counterpart.

I get that everyone hates Microsoft because they were the big guys back then and didn't care. They are no longer the big guys, they are under new management that doesn't seem to spit when they talk. Their software quality is going up as they are trying to get back into the market. I think anything that is new and wasn't made when Balmer was in charge may be really good. The entire apple division as an example.

We'll have to cross that bridge when it gets here because MS's poor reputation with the Mac community isn't going to go away instantly just because the company is under new management and them not "necessarily" the Big Guys anymore.

I mean honestly, on the slowest, oldest, ram-constraint Windows PC, Office launches instantly. On an i7 Mac with 16GB ram it damn-near takes an SSD to launch MS Office fast. Uh I certainly don't think it has anything to do with the Mac being slow. :mad:
 

MyopicPaideia

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2011
2,155
980
Sweden
This may be the wrong place to bring this up, and if it is I am sorry, but what is the draw of these note apps? What makes them particularly productive? Or more productive than say the Apple Notes App?
 

unplugme71

macrumors 68030
May 20, 2011
2,827
754
Earth
Google makes their profit from ads, not search. They mine users interactions with any of their services and hardware and are able to give advertisers analytical data that NSA can only dream of- or they use google data already. That's why google services are free; you are paying for them with your usage, data, emails, and privacy.

----------



I get your point, maybe it's more hopeful than reality. But to be fair too, MS has no choice but support OSX now ; I can't think of any business that doesn't have at least a few macs, whether personal or business. MS can no longer hold people hostage because there are no alternatives. They have to do something now or die.


Obviously. But you get the idea.
 
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