Evernote Vs. OneNote

As many of my of my veteran readers may know, I’m a big fan of Evernote. Not only that but I’m also an Evernote Community Leader which means that I’m associated with Evernote (hence the link to sign up for Evernote on the right side of the page…) and (WARNING: LEGAL STUFF!!!!) if you click on the link and sign up I will get a very (very) small commision. IN either case, I’ve been talking about our societies trend toward being done with using paper and I figured I should give you the pros and cons of the two biggest names in the note-taking Business. I should also mention that I am not affiliated with OneNote. I have used both products and they both have their pros and cons.

 

 

1) Cloud backup – I’ve talked about the benefits of cloud computing before, so it should be no surprise that this is a positive that I would latch onto. Having Cloud Backup for any notes that you take is now a staple for most working environments. Without it, you run the risk of losing your information if something happens to the device you are working off of.

 

2) Available on most devices/Internet – There are Evernote Apps all over the place. Certainly, I have them on my iPhone and iPad. While I was able to use Evernote on the Samsung phone I talked about a couple weeks ago(Hyperlink) but I cannot speak to other Android devices. My assumption would be that it is a program you can find on ANY device. A staple of CLoud systems is that you can access Most anything that is Cloud accessible through any web browser, and EverNote is no Different.

 

3) Holds no end of notes and information – I have been using Evernote since 2013 and I have not had any issues with “too many notes” or “Running out of space”. I like the fact that I can write notes to my heart’s content and there is basically no chance of me running out of memory.

 

 

1) Handwritten notes are a bit tricky – I will admit that since I started using Evernote doing handwritten notes is not something that it has excelled at. While you are able to do handwritten notes on Evernote, being able to annotate is not really possible. This, for me, is where Evernote falls down. Despite do

 

 

1) Cloud Backup – OneNote is another program with Cloud backup. It’s something I really like about all the Microsoft programs because it means that you are not dependant on any particular machine. If something were to happen to any one of the devices you work off of, having the cloud backup is a great safety net. Speaking if which…

 

2) Available on most devices/internet – Like Evernote, there are apps for OneNote available on every device. Certainly, every device that I have tried to install it on.. Having access to your notes and thoughts can be a critical component to being digitally organized, so having apps on every device is a natural step.

 

3) CAN do handwritten notes – I will give OneNote this, they have figured out how to do the handwritten notes and text together. Because of this, you are also able to annotate any of your notes right there on the screen.

 

 

1) Need Microsoft account – The only major disadvantage for using OneNote is that you need to have a Microsoft account in order to use the program. To be clear, I have a Microsoft account through my work which is how I am able to talk about using OneNote, but in my personal life, I don’t. I’m also a big Mac user so getting a license for Microsoft products just to use OneNote is not something that appeals to me.

 

At the end of the day, I think I’ll stick with Evernote. I know you’re shocked but bear with me here. I posted a while back about why cross-platform programs are so critical (Hyperlink). One of my conclusions was that because programs are not “device dependent”, It means that it comes down to the look and feel of a particular program. I happen to like the look and feel of Evernote. I know people who like Evernote and people who like OneNote. Either are really great products. You may be wondering what I do for handwritten notes if I want to not use paper. Stay tuned, cause my next post talks about just that, and let me tell you the solution I’ve discovered is quite, remarkable.

 

Do you take notes Digitally? What product do you use?