Support for new types of data (including video), better collaboration, and better integration with other applications are highlights of the first service pack for OneNote, Microsoft's note-taking application. Although part of the Office System, OneNote is sold separately from the Office suite and is most useful on a Tablet PC, where it can take advantage of the Tablet's digital inking technology—two factors that limit its audience today. But Microsoft's decision to broadly release a free preview of OneNote with the new service pack could convince IT departments and laptop users to take another look.

What's New in SP1?

Introduced in Oct. 2003 as part of the Office System 2003 launch, OneNote combines the user friendliness of a paper notebook, such as the ability to write anywhere on a page and never having to click "Save," with the benefits of digital technology, such as searchability. OneNote is best suited for a Tablet PC, where handwritten notes are recognized and can later be searched by keyword or converted to text. But because OneNote supports many other types of input, including keyboard, hand-drawn and imported images, and digital audio (and now video), it can be useful on other PCs as well—for taking notes during meetings or phone conversations, for instance.

In Apr. 2004, Microsoft released a free preview of OneNote 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Unlike some Microsoft service packs, which contain only tested fixes for bugs and security vulnerabilities, SP1 offers some fairly significant new features, including the following:

New note-taking capabilities. OneNote’s initial release allowed users to record audio and synchronize it with notes taken at the same time. For example, as the user listens to the audio playback, the cursor travels to related notes on the screen. SP1 adds similar functionality for video notes, which can be taken using a Web cam or camcorder attached to the PC. SP1 also has a screen capture function that automatically pastes portions of a user's screen into the notebook (users access the feature by right-clicking the OneNote icon in the notifications area of the Windows taskbar), and the ability to import digital pictures for later annotation.

Collaboration. SP1 users can establish collaborative sessions in which they share notebook pages or sections with other SP1 users, then edit those pages together in real time (this feature is similar to but separate from Windows Messenger's application-sharing function).

Better integration. Users can more easily share information between OneNote and other Office applications. For example, users can now import meeting details from Outlook 2003 to OneNote, create Outlook 2003 contacts and appointments from within OneNote, and save OneNote pages as Word 2003 documents. Users can also post OneNote pages to a Windows SharePoint Services site, import material from other Office applications for annotation as pictures rather than text (for example, the "Print Layout" view of a Word document), and import handwritten or audio notes from a Pocket PC. (Notes cannot be exported from OneNote to a Pocket PC, however).

API for data import. A new API allows corporate developers and ISVs to build add-ons to OneNote so that users can import data from other applications in a format that OneNote understands. However, the API does not have any provisions for exporting OneNote data into developer-defined formats.

Other fixes. SP1 contains numerous other improvements, including what Microsoft claims was the most-requested fix by customers: when users title a single notebook page, that title automatically appears in the corresponding tab marking that page. (Users have always had the ability to title entire notebook sections in this way, but previously, page tabs could only contain page numbers.) Other improvements include searches that can be limited to a particular notebook section and digital ink erasure with a manual rubbing action (similar to a pencil eraser).

Availability and Resources

The preview version of OneNote 2003 SP1 is available as a free download, even for customers who didn't purchase the original product. The preview will be functional through Aug. 31, 2004, after which customers will have to buy the full product. Pricing varies, but is US$99 for non-volume customers who already have Office or Works; volume customers will pay less, although prices may go up after Sept. 1, 2004 (when a 50% volume licensing discount ends).

Current OneNote 2003 users can install the preview, but should make sure they have the original media on hand before doing so. That's because when the final version of SP1 emerges in July 2004, these users will have to uninstall the preview, reinstall the original version of OneNote, then apply a patch to upgrade to the final version of SP1.

Because SP1 contains a number of new features, organizations with installations of OneNote 2003 should test and deploy SP1 like a product upgrade, rather than treating it like a traditional service pack.

For more information on OneNote 2003 SP1 and to download the free preview, see www.microsoft.com/office/onenote/prodinfo/sp1/.