Microsoft to release free version of OneNote for Mac later this month - report
In an effort to directly take on popular cross-platform note taking application Evernote, Microsoft will finally be bringing its OneNote service to the Mac later this month in the form of a free app, according to a new report.
For years, OneNote has been tied to Microsoft's Office suite and has been focused on the Windows platform. But according to The Verge, the Redmond, Wash., company is now focused on making it a free service for all users, whether they are on Windows or Mac.
The news comes just after it was also revealed that Microsoft is planning to release an update to Office for Mac this year. That expected launch would mark the first major update to the productivity suite in nearly four years.
Microsoft has offered an official OneNote app for iOS since early 2011, and an Android application has also been available. However, until now, OneNote has not seen its own dedicated application for Apple's OS X platform.
The upcoming cross-platform update to OneNote is expected to include support for web clipper plugins in popular browsers. This will allow users to quickly save content from the Web and sync it across devices with OneNote.
Microsoft's anticipated efforts are said to be a response to free competing services such as Evernote, which already has a strong presence on Apple's devices with free applications for both iOS and OS X. Evernote has offered its own web clipper browser plugins for sometime, including support for Apple's Safari, and most recently revamped that software last November.
For years, OneNote has been tied to Microsoft's Office suite and has been focused on the Windows platform. But according to The Verge, the Redmond, Wash., company is now focused on making it a free service for all users, whether they are on Windows or Mac.
The news comes just after it was also revealed that Microsoft is planning to release an update to Office for Mac this year. That expected launch would mark the first major update to the productivity suite in nearly four years.
Microsoft has offered an official OneNote app for iOS since early 2011, and an Android application has also been available. However, until now, OneNote has not seen its own dedicated application for Apple's OS X platform.
The upcoming cross-platform update to OneNote is expected to include support for web clipper plugins in popular browsers. This will allow users to quickly save content from the Web and sync it across devices with OneNote.
Microsoft's anticipated efforts are said to be a response to free competing services such as Evernote, which already has a strong presence on Apple's devices with free applications for both iOS and OS X. Evernote has offered its own web clipper browser plugins for sometime, including support for Apple's Safari, and most recently revamped that software last November.
Comments
Predatory policy. MS uses its deep pockets to kill competitors.
Thats great for all the people who don't use OneNote. I mean seriously, who actually uses this???
One Reason:to try to get people to move back to Windows by making all their software 'pretty good' on non MS OS systems, and GREAT on MS OSes and HW (the WinPhone/Surface/Windows triad... vs the iPhone/iPad/Mac)... hook them on the function... reel them back in with advanced capabilities only available on the whole MS stack (Azure, Office365, Windows, WinPhone), and regain some semblance of control over the retail SW industry.
Another: MS realizes the OS wars are over, and the new battle ground is to control the 'connected self' suite. Apple focuses on Content (ITMS), Amazon on buying, Google on, well, they have no focus, and MS... well their strength can and should be on personal productivity (The Office core). OneNote on the Mac pretty much assumes that an iPad/iPhone/Mac user ain't gonna switch... but they are quite capable of buying SW if it fits their life needs, and not be biased against any particular vendor.
The combo platter... deploy now... and decide later, as the marketplace has spoken about what the entry level computer is now... it's the phone, and MS has lost that battle for the moment.
Either way, people who have got Macs in their compute model look at OneNote and see a hole in coverage, and end up with Evernote or the similar ilk, that covers all the bases. That locks out MS in this market (17-25 year olds buying phones and laptops... choosing iOS/Mac), which is the growth market for SW sales.
Curious as to the timing. It really does appear that MS is targetting to 'Get back the Mac' for one reason or another:
One Reason:to try to get people to move back to Windows by making all their software 'pretty good' on non MS OS systems, and GREAT on MS OSes and HW (the WinPhone/Surface/Windows triad... vs the iPhone/iPad/Mac)... hook them on the function... reel them back in with advanced capabilities only available on the whole MS stack (Azure, Office365, Windows, WinPhone), and regain some semblance of control over the retail SW industry.
Another: MS realizes the OS wars are over, and the new battle ground is to control the 'connected self' suite. Apple focuses on Content (ITMS), Amazon on buying, Google on, well, they have no focus, and MS... well their strength can and should be on personal productivity (The Office core). OneNote on the Mac pretty much assumes that an iPad/iPhone/Mac user ain't gonna switch... but they are quite capable of buying SW if it fits their life needs, and not be biased against any particular vendor.
The combo platter... deploy now... and decide later, as the marketplace has spoken about what the entry level computer is now... it's the phone, and MS has lost that battle for the moment.
Either way, people who have got Macs in their compute model look at OneNote and see a hole in coverage, and end up with Evernote or the similar ilk, that covers all the bases. That locks out MS in this market (17-25 year olds buying phones and laptops... choosing iOS/Mac), which is the growth market for SW sales.
This is an excellent post. Well thought out. This is what I could see happening. I will be really glad if these rumors hold true. Like I said, it is my most used Office app at work. I use it on the iPad. I created a Fluid app to the web app. I even stated earlier this week, on a thread about the Office 2014 for Mac being released that my decision to buy Office was based on this app finally coming to Mac and being a part of it. I have, for all intents and purposes, moved to iWork prior to Office 2011 coming out, but bought it when I could get it for $9.95 through work.
This is the best news I've heard this second.
Office for the Mac still sucks, so thanks but no thanks.
Sucks compared to what? Pages is pretty good for basic needs, but it is not Word. Excell kicks Numbers butt. I prefer Apple's Mail over Outlook, but Outlook does have more features and is probably prefered by many. Keynote is better than PowerPoint, but Power Point is pretty capable.
Curious as to the timing. It really does appear that MS is targetting to 'Get back the Mac' for one reason or another:
One Reason:to try to get people to move back to Windows by making all their software 'pretty good' on non MS OS systems, and GREAT on MS OSes and HW (the WinPhone/Surface/Windows triad... vs the iPhone/iPad/Mac)... hook them on the function... reel them back in with advanced capabilities only available on the whole MS stack (Azure, Office365, Windows, WinPhone), and regain some semblance of control over the retail SW industry.
Another: MS realizes the OS wars are over, and the new battle ground is to control the 'connected self' suite. Apple focuses on Content (ITMS), Amazon on buying, Google on, well, they have no focus, and MS... well their strength can and should be on personal productivity (The Office core). OneNote on the Mac pretty much assumes that an iPad/iPhone/Mac user ain't gonna switch... but they are quite capable of buying SW if it fits their life needs, and not be biased against any particular vendor.
The combo platter... deploy now... and decide later, as the marketplace has spoken about what the entry level computer is now... it's the phone, and MS has lost that battle for the moment.
Either way, people who have got Macs in their compute model look at OneNote and see a hole in coverage, and end up with Evernote or the similar ilk, that covers all the bases. That locks out MS in this market (17-25 year olds buying phones and laptops... choosing iOS/Mac), which is the growth market for SW sales.
Good points, but I don't necessarily see it as Microsoft trying to get people back to Windows. People who left Windows to go to the Mac are most likely lost to Microsoft, but perhaps Microsoft can win a few folks back. Instead, I think Microsoft wants to tie people into its services (e.g. Onedrive, Bing), and perhaps makes some money off of software. It is also possible (if rumors are to be believed), Microsoft will offer a free version of Windows 8 with Bing integrated into the OS. As a Mac user, I am interested in that because I need to run a few Office programs via Parallels. A free version of a Windows upgrade will keep people using Windows.
This is great news for me - I do Windows software development, and I use OneNote as my personal notebook at the office. I think it's one of the few Microsoft releases that actually works and works well (as opposed to the slow bloatware that is Office and Visual Studio). I'm not so impressed with the iPhone version (it's not bad for emergency reading, but not completely compatible with the Windows version and not very snappy to use), and I use the web interface when at home on my Mac. So I hope a native Mac OS X version will be fully-compatible and better to use than the current web version.
Predatory policy. MS uses its deep pockets to kill competitors.
That's Google's modus operandi except that Microsoft used to be far better at it, Google just produces a string of failures.
New CEO, this one with a brain not cross threaded. Uncle Fester couldn't comprehend or handle complicated concepts.
The first stirring of a long dormant creature. Microsoft could live and grow off the crushed good ideas of its people that Uncle Fester couldn't see a way to monetize.
That's Google's modus operandi except that Microsoft used to be far better at it, Google just produces a string of failures.
At second thought (may be this will cross their mind too...) they can do better, and PAY customers (I am not interested)
Sucks compared to what? Pages is pretty good for basic needs, but it is not Word. Excell kicks Numbers butt. I prefer Apple's Mail over Outlook, but Outlook does have more features and is probably prefered by many. Keynote is better than PowerPoint, but Power Point is pretty capable.
Compared to Office Windows of course. The Mac version is still inferior to Windows Office. And although Microsoft touts that Office for the Mac is uniquely Mac, it is not. For example you cannot hover over an Office window and use the scroll-wheel on you mouse to scroll through the document without having to click on the window first, Microsoft's developers must've gone out of their way to implement this very PC behavior. Also, you cannot email an Office document while its open, you have to close it first and lose your undos, not very Mac like. Not to mention, that no matter how many times you update Mac:Office, a Word document still does not display as it does on its Windows counterpart, I sometimes find myself launching Parallels just to view a Word or Excel document built using generic fonts such as TNR and Arial.
To me it seems obvious that Microsoft intentionally keeps Mac:Office inferior and foreign from its Windows counterpart to discourage users from switching. And Mac:Outlook is utterly useless if you're in an Exchange environment.
I do agree with you that Pages and Numbers are in many ways inferior to Word and Excel, since they focus more on eye candy than functionality. Which is why this is a very frustrating topic for those who depend on Mac:Office.
I honestly think Microsoft can keep it ! Microsoft has been trying to take down Apple for years with their inferior product offerings for the Mac. No-one on here can truly claim to support Apple if they use Microsoft products. If it were up to Microsoft, there would be no Apple ! Don't be so fickle by using One Note, support other note-taking applications instead
Good points, but I don't necessarily see it as Microsoft trying to get people back to Windows. People who left Windows to go to the Mac are most likely lost to Microsoft, but perhaps Microsoft can win a few folks back. Instead, I think Microsoft wants to tie people into its services (e.g. Onedrive, Bing), and perhaps makes some money off of software.
you agree with my second point. The Software world is leaving charging for OSes, and moving to selling compelling solutions to people's problems.
until those people die.
What does free Windows do? Sell other people's hardware? Keep people updating their windows versions of Office? Again, not a growth market, especially if their children, who haven't developed a requirement for VBA macros embedded in their recipe card word documents to generate grocery lists, go out and buy ipads.
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One Reason:to try to get people to move back to Windows by making all their software 'pretty good' on non MS OS systems, and GREAT on MS OSes and HW
Good post in general, but as to the above, I've never found Office (or IE or any MS program) to be GREAT on anything.... ...WordPerfect was always far better than Word, for example and Presentations more flexible than PP - and neither holds a candle to Keynote.
Meanwhile, as another commenter noted, Pages is too cute and too isolated from the world with its proprietary format and "export to/create a mass of dupe files" metaphor, and Numbers too limited (and also the file thing).
As for OneNote, I really don't see them displacing the uptake that Evernote's getting among personal and small biz users, tho' I suppose they can impose it on the Enterprise.
I honestly think Microsoft can keep it ! Microsoft has been trying to take down Apple for years with their inferior product offerings for the Mac. No-one on here can truly claim to support Apple if they use Microsoft products. If it were up to Microsoft, there would be no Apple ! Don't be so fickle by using One Note, support other note-taking applications instead
Suck it up, dude. I'm down with Evernote myself, however, while not news to most here, it seems to bear repeating now and again that if not for MS's backing Apple in their dark days - even tho', yes, they did it transparently to avoid a possible anti-monopoly action by the government - there also likely wouldn't be any Apple.
I also think you're fighting the last war, as both MS and Apple are presently far more concerned with the machinations of the GOOGplex than each other.
And Softie has made a tidy profit on Office for Mac. Which, due to the need to share docs with many non Macheads in my world, leaves me stuck in Word. (And while not opposed in the least to open source projects - I use several, including returning to Firefox after just never falling for Safari or Chrome - Open Office is a clumsy kludge)
PS: I was in a beta test group for Office 11 - and the MS team seemed anything but hostile and actively sought out and reacted to our feedback for months leading up to the release (as imperfect as it is).
So may I ask how Redmond is today? - If Microsoft hadn't ripped off the GUI from Apple they certainly wouldn't have been in a position for Steve to call them into to "support" Apple. Microsoft doesn't have original ideas, this is why they are in so much trouble with the tablet and mobile markets today. They couldn't copy things fast enough because they underestimated the value proposition from both Google and Apple. If you want to support companies that innovate and change the world, whether it be better or worse you certainly don't support Microsoft. Because if you do support Microsoft you are supporting the stagnation of the 90s and that is not good. Just look at Windows mobile 6 or even todays windows 8. They were\are laughing at you dude, and changing you a bundle for it....
If you're not already using OneNote there's no reason to start. There are far too many better alternatives out there for Mac/iOS users. It does nothing special and the only reason I've used it is because I loath Word so much. I have nothing against Microsoft, I love Excel, Visio, and Visual Studio but I think Word is the spawn of the devil, whether on the Mac or on the PC. It's the most vile piece of software ever conceived. It's too bad that so many corporate citizens feel like they are held hostage by the DOC and DOCX format and continue to hand over real money to Microsoft for a product that is such a terrible waste of human intellect and productivity.
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So may I ask how Redmond is today? - If Microsoft hadn't ripped off the GUI from Apple they certainly wouldn't have been in a position for Steve to call them into to "support" Apple. Microsoft doesn't have original ideas, this is why they are in so much trouble with the tablet and mobile markets today. They couldn't copy things fast enough because they underestimated the value proposition from both Google and Apple. If you want to support companies that innovate and change the world, whether it be better or worse you certainly don't support Microsoft. Because if you do support Microsoft you are supporting the stagnation of the 90s and that is not good. Just look at Windows mobile 6 or even todays windows 8. They were\are laughing at you dude, and changing you a bundle for it....
Dying on the vine in consumer facing areas, clinging to the ubiquity of past data stored, habits and lack of mid-range competition (Apple owns the high end and Chrome's eating away at the low, Sony's roughing 'em up in consoles and Apple and Google have a US stranglehold on mobiles) - as you well know.
BTW, they actually first ripped off key GUI plumbing from the PARC people. Apple paid 'em, MS didn't - so let's at least get our villains' rap sheets correct. Though, absolutely, ever since they've ripped off plenty of cues and whole metaphors from Apple.
Until Windows 8. Which was an original interface - as much as anything that utilizes common elements of interface design can be these days at least. It was also 10 pounds of shit in a five pound bag by trying to be everything to everybody - old Win, new Win, Tab Win, Phone Win - even though they don't share key API's. And which was rolled out in as horrible and poorly-thought-out fashion as possible.
Imagine Apple releasing a new OS GUI that didn't support a single one of its bread and butter mainstays. For over two years and running. That there's a death wish way to introduce your bet the company future. And now people are poisoned against "Metro" - even while there's no true way to go back.
And now they're having to slash prices on their whole traditional consumer biz model - the OS's, the apps, and more.
They've also been chastened enough in the markets (and courts) to become slightly better and more mature corp citizens than in the days I would've shared all of the residual rage on these forums. And Nadella should actually be expected to play fairer than either Gates or Ballmer from what I know about him.
So in a way I'm actually feeling a bit of empathy for 'em in that "Lo how the mighty have fallen" schadenfreude kind of way. Cos' they're way upstream without a paddle in many of the areas that have supported them all these years. And I don't who they have to laugh at lately....