How prevalent is ON used?

[exciter]

I live in the Netherlands.
I dont see anybody else other than me using ON and this is surprising me.
I find it very useful and always think that people dont know what they are
missing by not using it.
I am in academics and I read all academic articles in ON.
That is I paste the article on ON pages and read them in ON because I can
higlight and add comments while I am reading.
And as I keep many articles, I can search for keywords which helps me to
pinpoint which articles has analysed an issue corresponding to that keyword.

Sometimes I think MS should make a video advertisment with me =)
I remember the ON2003 video ads... There were 4 and funny ones...

Anyway, I dont know why people dont use ON here.
If I see anybody using it, I will be very happy to tak about it...
But nobody seems to be interested, even after I have explained them in
excitement.
Anyway, what do you think?
Is ON more used in the US than in Europe?
Would the usage of ON differ with sector and industry?
With gender?
With age?

Why I am finding ON a nice program and not others?

 

[Mike Kaliski]

I live in the Netherlands.
I dont see anybody else other than me using ON and this is surprising me.
I find it very useful and always think that people dont know what they are
missing by not using it.
I am in academics and I read all academic articles in ON.
That is I paste the article on ON pages and read them in ON because I can
higlight and add comments while I am reading.
And as I keep many articles, I can search for keywords which helps me to
pinpoint which articles has analysed an issue corresponding to that
keyword.

Sometimes I think MS should make a video advertisment with me =)
I remember the ON2003 video ads... There were 4 and funny ones...

Anyway, I dont know why people dont use ON here.
If I see anybody using it, I will be very happy to tak about it...
But nobody seems to be interested, even after I have explained them in
excitement.
Anyway, what do you think?
Is ON more used in the US than in Europe?
Would the usage of ON differ with sector and industry?
With gender?
With age?

Why I am finding ON a nice program and not others?

I only found out about ON when I bought a new laptop with Office 2007
installed. It seems that Microsoft has not really been pushing this product.
In my opinion it is the most significant advance since tabbed worksheets in
Excel. I suspect that ON appeals more to individual users rather than
corporate users as corporations prefer to keep a tight control over what
data is published and how it is presented. ON allows you to do almost
anything.

Mike

 

[Hector C.]

ON is the only reason I do not migrate to Apple. My classmates with Macs
outnumber (by an ample margin) to us PC users. They main reason is tight
integration and PDF support (and hype in the academic community). For
example, equations are easily typed in LaTeX and then pasted in their
presentation software (as vector graphics with intact fonts, etc). When
I mention ON and show them how intuitive is note taking, they just stare
back at me. They don't have any idea of what kind of software ON is.
Features like shared notebooks or integration with Outllook are
irrelevant for students.

Maybe MS should push vendors to create tablets with better graphic
chips. It is well known how Intel integrated graphics do not measure
against the competition. But tablet PCs carry only Intel graphics. It's
sad because ON then we have to choose between the tablet features of ON
and decent graphics performance.

I also found out about ON with my new laptop.

++Hector C.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Features like shared notebooks or integration with Outllook are
irrelevant for students.

Depends on the IT environment of the student.
In case one has only *one* computer the feature of "shared notebook"
ands synching does not matter.
If the student has more than just one computer (typically a notebook and
a desktop) having the notebooks automatically synched is a most
important feature.
I do not know any another piece of software which solves the problem of
keeping computers in sync in such a fantastic way.

Rainald

 

[Hector C.]

We use two laptops and one desktop. One laptop is for my wife and I use
the other one. I use Beyond Compare to update my files
(http://www.scootersoftware.com/) and my wife's to the desktop.

Now, I've never used the sync option in ON, so I don't know how it
works. Does the synchronization happen at file level (earliest file gets
overwriten) or there is some sort of revision control system (RCS) where
you are asked to approve the changes to check in? Can I integrate the
synchronization in the batch files I use for backup? The only advantage
of using ON sync would be if there is RCS; otherwise, even just a batch
with "xcopy /M /D" will work.

Perhaps I extrapolated too much: there are only 3 of us using ON in my
department and we don't use the sharing features nor integration with
Outlook. A classmate even has her files in a USB flash drive and uses
the department computers (all of them have ON installed!) when she
doesn't bring her tablet PC.

++Hector C.

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

The ON synchronization happens at the paragraph level - which is to say that
you can make changes on the same page on both machines and as long as you
didn't make changes to the same paragraph they'll sync just fine.


--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
http://www.officeforlawyers.com/outlook.htm

 

[Josh Einstein]

Actually, if I recall, doesn't it happen at the object level? Things like
ink are segmented at a finer level than paragraphs and stuff like images and
other objects on the page would not be contained within a paragraph.

At any rate, the point is OneNote sync is extremely good and rarely, if
ever, conflicts due to the fine granularity of sync.

 

[exciter]

You keep ON files on a usb stick.
There is no problem of sync then.
I do it like that.

 

[exciter]

When
I mention ON and show them how intuitive is note taking, they just stare
back at me. They don't have any idea of what kind of software ON is.

This I dont understand. Why one would stare when you mention about a note
taking program.
It happened to me too.
Occasionaly I happen to show something on ON and hardly anyone wonders what
this program is about.
I dont know what is wrong with people...
Or they are not very interested in being organized as I do...

Well quantification of "being organized" is a little difficult, and more if
the efficiency does not seem to change.
But for me, with ON I can keep diverse subjects in folders and I am able to
reach them easily.
And I believe I can develop myself in an organized way in the various
subjects I am interested.

Anyway I am not going to advertise ON anymore...
People are free to miss.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

You keep ON files on a usb stick.
There is no problem of sync then.
I do it like that.

You are working with ON2003, aren't you?

The scheme of synching in ON2007 is quite different.
The usage of a USB-stick instead of sharing the files and have them
synched automatically whenever the machines are connected is not the
proper way of doing things under ON2007.

Rainald

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Actually, if I recall, doesn't it happen at the object level?

Yes, it does (AFAICS).

Things like ink are segmented at a finer level than paragraphs and
stuff like images and other objects on the page would not be
contained within a paragraph.
At any rate, the point is OneNote sync is extremely good and
rarely, if ever, conflicts due to the fine granularity of sync.

Yes. It works in a fantastic way.

It's just amazing to see how the screen of the second computer is
updated automagically when one just changes a comma - the more, if this
is done on a handheld device ;-)

Rainald

 

[Rainald Taesler]

We use two laptops and one desktop. One laptop is for my wife and I
use the other one. I use Beyond Compare to update my files
(http://www.scootersoftware.com/) and my wife's to the desktop.

I would suggest to change the way of doing things.

Now, I've never used the sync option in ON, so I don't know how it
works. Does the synchronization happen at file level (earliest file
gets overwriten) or there is some sort of revision control system
(RCS) where you are asked to approve the changes to check in?

As Ben already said, the automatic synching does *not* work on the file
level.
Different from synchronization software, ON does not *replace* files, it
changes things inside a file.

Can I
integrate the synchronization in the batch files I use for backup?

No need for doing so. ON does it automatically.

The only advantage of using ON sync would be if there is RCS;
otherwise, even just a batch with "xcopy /M /D" will work.

Things are totally different with the way ON works. In short:
- One keeps the *files* just on *one* of the computers;
- on the second computer there are no notebook files at all;
- on the second computer the files are opened via a network share and ON
works with a local cache;
- as long as the machines are connected, each change made on either
machine is automatically sent to the other computer within a seconds;
- when the machines are disconnected (typically: the laptop taken out of
the house) one works from the cache;
- as soon as the machines are re-connected, all changes made in the
meantime are automatically synched on either machines.

Perhaps I extrapolated too much: there are only 3 of us using ON in
my department and we don't use the sharing features nor integration
with Outlook.

The way to work in this situation depends on the needs of the
participants. If you are working together in the team and want to use
the same notebooks, just store the notebooks on a *common* machine (a
server) and open them from there on the individual workstations. The
data then always are in sync on all off the computers.

A classmate even has her files in a USB flash drive
and uses the department computers (all of them have ON installed!)
when she doesn't bring her tablet PC.

Due to the truly fantastic synching of ON using a USB stick for storing
the files should be limited to certain special situations.

In your private situation the proper way of doing things would be to
store the notebooks which are used by your wife and yourself on the
*desktop* computer and remove them form the laptops.
You'd then both open the notebooks on the laptops over the network.
And you would *exclude* the ON notebooks from stuff synched by your
synching software, offline files etc.

HTH
If any further questions, pls ask.

Rainald

 

[exciter]

Yes. What I do is not the same thing and it is just a primitive way of being
sycned.
But I presume that I can do the same thing when I will convert to ON2007.
Right?

 

[Josh Einstein]

I just say "it's like the electronic version of a trapper keeper" and they
get it.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Yes. What I do is not the same thing and it is just a primitive way
of being sycned.
But I presume that I can do the same thing when I will convert to
ON2007. Right?

The program will not stop you from doing what you do right now.
Does not make too much sense, however, when there are better instruments
<bg>.

Rainald

 

[exciter]

I dont see a better instrument for my case.
Keeping on a usb stick is a better option then keeping things on a server to
which it is
doubtful to reach all the time from other locations.
Instead, plug the usb stick and you have everything with you.
Or not.?

 

[Josh Einstein]

I have a USB stick that I try to keep with me at all times but I've left it
behind so many times. You might look into Hamachi. It's free and if you've
got a desktop back home always on the internet then it will be like you're
on the same LAN anywhere that you have internet access. It's really cool
actually.

www.hamachi.cc

 

[Ben M. Schorr, MVP]

Yes, I think you're right. I was tired and typed "paragraph" when I should
have said "Object".


--
-Ben-
Ben M. Schorr, MVP
Roland Schorr & Tower
http://www.rolandschorr.com
http://www.officeforlawyers.com/onenote.htm

 

[Rainald Taesler]

I dont see a better instrument for my case.
Keeping on a usb stick is a better option then keeping things on a
server to which it is doubtful to reach all the time from other
locations.

No need to reach any server - at least when carrying around a notebook
and working on that.

Instead, plug the usb stick and you have everything with you.
Or not.?

As said: only in exceptional situations, not the "normal" scenario.

Rainald

 

[Rainald Taesler]

You keep ON files on a usb stick.
There is no problem of sync then.
I do it like that.

I was seriously wrong in my last reply!!!

Don't know how why, but I mixed things [grrrrhhhh]
Pls accept my apologies.

The contrary of what I had said:
As far as ON2007 is concerned, working with files on a USB or SD-card.
It's different under ON2003, however, as the whole area of synching etc.
was completely changed in ON2007.

For further interesting info on this topic see
David Rasmussen's blog "
OneNote Notebooks on USB drives and SD cards"

http://blogs.msdn.com/david_rasmussen/archive/2006/06/29/650705.aspx



Rainald