My comparison between OneNote for Windows and OneNote 2016 Microsoft Teams), it seems strange that a product which is “part of the Office family” appears to be developed and run so far out of the rest of the platform. In a time and platform where users are struggling between the “what to use when” situation (ie. It also has a different user interface which can be confusing for end users, as visual settings don’t travel between them (ie. One of the challenges for IT pros is that OneNote for Windows is not included in the Office installer which means deployment, management and updates are applied differently from the rest of Office. I’ve tried a number of times to take on OneNote for Windows, but every time I last about 10 minutes (usually less) and then have to switch back to OneNote 2016. The argument for the new OneNote was that had a new sync engine, and so I guess we have to assume that requires a completely new app? Microsoft did similar with OneDrive for Business when it replaced the Groove-based sync engine however they are quite comparable in terms of use cases and features.

Let’s get started with a number of links that explain the differences between the two applications: The title of the article was “The best version of OneNote on Windows” which was met with (and continues to this day) with considerable pushback.īefore I go further, I’ll clarify that this blog post is both my personal opinion, as well as a collection of opinions from IT pros and as end users I work with. Just over a year ago Microsoft dropped a bombshell that it was replacing OneNote 2016 with OneNote for Windows.

You can read more on the announcement here, and rejoice in the fact that dark mode is already available and new features are on their way! UPDATE November 2019: Microsoft has recanted on their plan to kill off OneNote 2016 in favour of OneNote for Windows.

UPDATE August 2021: Microsoft has gone further than the previous update and has officially announced the demise of OneNote for Windows 10, and the fact that the OneNote (2016) app will be the way going forward.

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