Onetastic
OneNote SkyDrive Sync
Why you shouldn't use other synchronization systems to sync notebooks
January 01, 2013
- Disclaimer
- What this post is about
- Traditional Folder/File Sync Models
- How OneNote Is Different
- Setting up Direct Sync
- Other Benefits of Direct Sync - Web App and Mobile Sync
- What about Working Offline?
- Syncing to two Locations?
- Opening Notebooks from SkyDrive
- Using SkyDrive Desktop App along with Built-in Sync
- Key Takeaways
Disclaimer
This is not an official Microsoft document or an official statement from Microsoft. I am only explaining my understanding of the topics discussed and I may be wrong.What this post is about
This post is about OneNote - SkyDrive sync model. I am writing it because OneNote users sometimes fail to set up synchronization correctly due to misunderstanding of how OneNote sync works and they try things that doesn't work as expected. I will try to explain how OneNote synchronizes with SkyDrive, how that is different than other synchronization models and the best practices for setting up your notebooks for synchronization. We will start with the other synchronization systems people try to use for this purpose.Traditional Folder/File Sync Models
You can call this Standard Folder/File Sync Models if you want. I am referring to all the other PC-to-PC (Device-to-Device) or PC-to-Cloud (Device-to-Cloud) folder/file sync models. This includes SkyDrive Desktop sync application (certain exceptions notwithstanding), the deprecated Windows Live Mesh, DropBox, Google Drive etc. (Again I don't know the exact details of all the services/applications mentioned here, just my understanding).Working Offline
These folder/file synchronizations systems/services typically work by keeping a copy of the files on your PC to allow you to work offline. Applications that work on those files will work on the local copy and the user relies on the synchronization system to keep files up to date between multiple computers and the cloud.Detecting and Synchronizing Changes
The synchronization system monitors changes to the files in the folder(s) they synchronize and when they detect changes they will send the changes to the server, while simultaneously checking with the server to see if there are updates on the server. If the synchronization system wasn't running at the time the files are changed, it may have to talk to server or look at some data it previously stored (like a hash of the file) to understand what is changed. The most important thing here is that the unit of synchronization here is a file. Therefore, unless the sync system has some additional smarts built into it, if a single byte is changed in a file, the system has to upload/download the whole file.
Figure 1 - Typical file sync mechanism
Syncing Whole Files
Let's step back and try to understand what we just said. If you have a 500MB video file and you edit the file to remove a single frame from it, the system has to upload the whole 500MB because it doesn’t know what exactly changed inside to tell the server to do a similar change on the server copy. Now as I said, the system may have more smarts built into it, like dividing the file into small pieces and comparing them and trying to identify what part is changed. Based on how the contents of the file is arranged in the file, this may help reduce the amount of data to be synchronized down to very small. But if it had knowledge about the format of the video file, (and if the format was designed to make it possible), it could inspect the file and understand the type of change that was done and tell the server to go ahead and delete the frame #123. This would be much more efficient but it is not possible with a general purpose sync system. In case of a OneNote notebook, this can cause huge traffic because OneNote frequently and automatically saves changes and this can cause several large file uploads as you edit a page.Handling Conflicts
Now let's look at how such a folder/file sync system would handle conflicts. Let's say you were offline when you removed that frame from that video file. Then you moved to your laptop and opened the same video file and did some other change, say edited a different frame. When both computers get online and try to sync with the server, the system will notice that the same file is changed in two places and would have to ask the user to resolve the conflict by picking one over the other. Again if the system understood the file format, it could see that removing frame #123 an editing frame #124 can be done simultaneously without conflicting with each other. Then it would tell each PC to duplicate the editing done in the other PC and things would be happily in sync again without user having to intervene and syncing hundreds of MBs of files.
Figure 2 - Conflict situation with file sync mechanism
How OneNote Is Different
OneNote has a built-in synchronization system that works against local files, file shares, SharePoint and SkyDrive. Since the target audience of this post is the general public, the SkyDrive sync is typically what I refer to here, though others work very similarly. This built-in synchronization system works directly against the server and does not require a separate sync application to sync locally made change.Smart Synchronization
This synchronization system has understanding of the OneNote file format, which is specifically designed to make syncing easier. Now you might see where I am going with this. When you make a change on a OneNote page, the synchronization system knows exactly what change was done and it can tell the server about it precisely. For instance if you add a paragraph of text in a page in a OneNote section, it can tell the server that a paragraph of text is added to the certain page in the certain section. This small difference that is being synced is sometimes called the "delta". OneNote stores each section as a .one file, so a traditional file synchronization mechanism would have to upload a whole section when you make a small change to it.
Figure 3 - OneNote Sync Model
Merging Changes
Syncing only the small change you made is orders of magnitude more efficient than syncing whole files. It also allows you to make changes simultaneously to different parts of the file from different computers without conflicting. This is very useful if you are sharing the notebook with other people. You and they can edit different pages, or different part of the same page, and OneNote will seamlessly synchronize and merge all the changes without creating a conflict, which a file based synchronization system cannot provide.Setting up Direct Sync
By now you should have understood why you shouldn't be using a file based synchronization system to keep your notebooks in sync between multiple computers. It may be surprising when I say this, but you shouldn't be using SkyDrive Desktop sync app to sync your OneNote notebooks to SkyDrive (or other services like DropBox). What should you be using instead? The built-in direct sync.The built-in sync can be set up by sharing a notebook to your SkyDrive from inside OneNote. If you have a notebook stored locally on your computer, go to File > Share in OneNote and pick Web and choose a folder and it will upload the notebook to SkyDrive and set up direct sync. Note that the local notebook is left where it was and disconnected. It will no longer be updated or synchronized to SkyDrive, you should simply get rid of it. Some people think that that folder is still active and that OneNote is syncing that folder with SkyDrive. No, OneNote creates a different/hidden local copy as I will explain below and this folder will be abandoned.
Figure 4 - Sharing a Notebook on SkyDrive from OneNote
If you are creating a new notebook, you should create it from OneNote by picking Web as the location instead of creating it locally and then sharing.
Other Benefits of Direct Sync - Web App and Mobile Sync
The notebooks shared from OneNote to SkyDrive using built-in sharing has other benefits compared to files synchronized through SkyDrive Desktop app. The built-in sharing functionality correctly sets up the notebook on the server so that OneNote Web App will be able to open it. Also for mobile versions of OneNote (Windows Phone, iOS, Android) can only open notebooks that are shared through this mechanism. This is a common problem people hit when they share notebooks using SkyDrive desktop app and the try to open them on their mobile phones.What about Working Offline?
When using built-in sync, OneNote will create a local copy of the notebook, similar to the file synchronization systems. This local copy however is not in a folder that the user normally works with. It is in some obscure folder that stores other OneNote data like your settings, and you shouldn't need to ever deal with that folder or the files in there storing the local copy. The important thing to understand here is that this allows OneNote to work offline and merge changes later when you get online.Syncing to two Locations?
Some people ask about syncing a notebook to two locations. For instance syncing the same notebook to both SkyDrive and to a network location. This is not possible, the notebook is only at a single main location. OneNote creates a hidden local copy to work offline, but that is it. No second sync location can be set up.Opening Notebooks from SkyDrive
We said you shouldn't use SkyDrive desktop app to sync notebooks. This may bring up two questions:- How would I then open the notebook from another computer?
- If I am using SkyDrive desktop app for other files, and notebooks are directly synced to SkyDrive by OneNote, wouldn't SkyDrive desktop app download the whole notebook each time it is changed anyways?
Let's tackle the first question first, then we can look at the second one after that. There are multiple ways to open notebooks:
File > Open
The easiest way is to go to File > Open in OneNote and you should see the list of notebooks on your SkyDrive. You can pick one and open right into OneNote
Figure 5 - Opening SkyDrive notebooks from OneNote
Web App > Open In OneNote
Another way is to open the notebook on www.skydrive.com in OneNote Web App and there is a button on the ribbon called "Open in OneNote"
Figure 6 - Opening in OneNote from the Web App
Notebook Links
The third way to open notebooks is using notebook links. On the computer you set up sync, right click on the notebook and choose "Copy Link to Notebook", then paste it to an e-mail and send it to yourself. OneNote will automatically offer you to create such an e-mail for you the first time you set up sync for a notebook.
Figure 7 - Copying link to a notebook
Simple enough eh? Now onto the second question
Using SkyDrive Desktop App along with Built-in Sync
The second question above was: If I am using SkyDrive desktop app for other files, and notebooks are directly synced to SkyDrive by OneNote, wouldn't SkyDrive desktop app download the whole notebook each time it is changed anyways? The answer is no. SkyDrive desktop app knows about these notebooks and will create a link instead on your local SkyDrive folder that takes you to OneNote web app. This will avoid unnecessary download of the notebook as OneNote is already directly syncing to SkyDrive.Key Takeaways
- OneNote has built-in sync with SkyDrive allowing it to synchronize only the changes, which is significantly more efficient than file synchronization mechanisms like SkyDrive Desktop app or DropBox as it knows about the file format and can sync only the changes
- The built-in sync also allows OneNote to merge most changes without creating conflicts
- You shouldn't use other file synchronization mechanisms to synchronize your notebooks
- OneNote web app and mobile apps require notebooks to be synced using the built-in sync
- Use File > Share > Web to set up built in sync
- Use File > Open, or the web app, or the notebook link to open notebooks
- You can still use SkyDrive Desktop app to sync other files
- The old local copy of a notebook that is shared to web is now abandoned and will not sync to SkyDrive
Hopefully this will clear up some misunderstandings about OneNote sync. You can ask questions below if you need more information or clarification and I will try to explain further.
Your blog post answered every one of my questions about this
I live in Germany. I am not a Business Customer.im using the Standard OneNote.
I have some few questions about OneNote.
1. I wanted to know in which Country keeps my data when i save in my OneNote.
2. I wanted to know how my data will be secured in OneDrive?
3. Is that Encrypted?
To top things off, OneNote Online (which would ordinarily be a suitable work-around when I'm behind a proxy or VPN) is horrendously slow no matter how good a connection you have.
I hate syncing because:
#1 - I don't want my files on a server somewhere.
#2 - The WiFi at my school and in my dorm is unreliable.
Thank you!
ps -- Perhaps you should consider writing the OneNote 2013 Bible for us?
Thanks again -- your work is appreciated!
*This entire model makes an assumption that you have multiple people sharing a workbook.
*At the end of the day, all OneNote is is a collection of files. Why make it so convoluted for those of us that a)are the only user, and b) are only interested in maintaining a static file?
*The absolute dependence on the mechanisms described above to maintain a sync with a ON notebook points more to a broken approach to this problem than a true solution.
Here is an idea: instead of constantly maintaining a sync almost ActiveSync style, provide a mode or option for the more traditional approach for those of us not collaborating, similar to a Word document. In other words, either the notebook autosaves at a specified interval or when manually saved. That saves on bandwidth, allows for a more traditional file/folder sync method (such as Dropbox, Box, etc), and would erase a TON of frustration for many people. I know people who refuse to use ON because they can't have that local/traditional sync option. Speaking personally, I already pay for Dropbox, I don't need yet another cloud based drive system just so I can use OneNote. In addition, I should be able to take my notebook anywhere, back as many backups (of my own) as I feel necessary. I get that Microsoft is all about the cloud with Office 365, but you're doing to Office what you did with Windows 8.1: force a singular approach to a problem that has multiple legitimate approaches. It would be nice to use an application these days that isn't dependent on the cloud to function, or at least one that provides the ability to do so. Using OneDrive should be a feature for those that want to utilize it, not the entire backbone of the application.
Thank you for this post. I found it after realizing that my desktop notes were not syncing to OneDrive; not even the name of notebooks that have been changed.
I can't believe that such an explanation is needed for OneNote sync; that I have to find it (in a panic), and read, and hopefully understand, this wonderful, but lengthy, explanation of how it works. Come on, Microsoft! (This is a good reason for me to quit OneNote. I've already quit Evernote for basically the same reason... which I obviously didn't understand. Sigh.) (I am rethinking my perceived need for synced files in the cloud entirely.) Who knew that syncing notebooks wouldn't actually sync notebooks?!
All that being said, I think you are awesome... and I think that OneNote is awesome. If only one didn't have to be technically-curious, software-competent, and have the time and patience to explore, investigate, and experiment with all the in's and out's of its various quirks, bugs, and limitations.
Two questions:
1. Why is there a OneNote sync feature that doesn't work, i.e. syncing to the cloud? Would it not make sense to delete that feature, if what you have explained here is actually what is needed to sync? (And quit making it more complicated than it needs to be?)
2. I presume that all of your references here to SkyDrive, apply to OneDrive now?
(OK. So that's 4 questions in total.)
Jan
Thank you for this post. I found it after realizing that my desktop notes were not syncing to OneDrive; not even the name of notebooks that have been changed.
I can't believe that such an explanation is needed for OneNote sync; that I have to find it (in a panic), and read, and hopefully understand, this wonderful, but lengthy, explanation of how it works. Come on, Microsoft! (This is a good reason for me to quit OneNote. I've already quit Evernote for basically the same reason... which I obviously didn't understand. Sigh.) (I am rethinking my perceived need for synced files in the cloud entirely.) Who knew that syncing notebooks wouldn't actually sync notebooks?!
All that being said, I think you are awesome... and I think that OneNote is awesome. If only one didn't have to be technically-curious, software-competent, and have the time and patience to explore, investigate, and experiment with all the in's and out's of its various quirks, bugs, and limitations.
Two questions:
1. Why is there a OneNote sync feature that doesn't work, i.e. syncing to the cloud? Would it not make sense to delete that feature, if what you have explained here is actually what is needed to sync? (And quit making it more complicated than it needs to be?)
2. I presume that all of your references here to SkyDrive, apply to OneDrive now?
(OK. So that's 4 questions in total.)
Jan
Anyway, my question is: For many of my OneNote notebooks (which I am sharing with myself across computers and with others) I need to keep Excel and Word attachments (as links) that can be opened up from within a OneNote page. These attachments, when opened, need to be both read/write capable. Where do I save attachments to so that they are available, when needed, across any platform and for any OneNote notebook authorized collaborator?
I want to be able to access the "phone: notes on my laptop as well. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Mike
unfortunately the built in sharing and opening one note notebooks doesn't work with OneNote 2010 and latest updates..
There was an update in Nov 2011, but with the newest SP and updates it no longer works nor shows up.
I think something is broken up here.
See my email.
Kind regards from Germany,
P_Schuetz
first of all, thanks for this wonderful and detailled explanation which sheds ligtht on many problems around sharing notes.
One thing is still not clear to me though. Does the \"incremental update\" only work in conjunction with SkyDrive/OneDrive or is this also working with a network/SharePoint shared directory? What I\'m reading between the lines is probably \"no\". I hope I\'ve misinterpreted it :)
All the best,
Fred
Mycket bra förklarat. Har letat efter hur detta funkar på riktigt.
Plötsligt så insåg jag varför jag helat tiden får tillbaka en massa foldrar när jag tar bort dem i SkyDrive Desktop, det ligger en .onenote fil i dem på Skydrive och de kan man inte ta bort i SkyDrive Desktop, så de synkar tillbaka.
Bara att flytta dessa i One note så var problemet löst!
Gött!
I try signing into the web account but ......feel so helpless despite so many tries. Developing many sync issues due to this issue.
Because I\'m at work this method you explain didn\'t work as I couldn\'t sign in to Live.com. What did work was setting up the notebook while not on the company LAN then going on to the LAN. Now I\'m able to work offline, on the web, on the LAN and on my Surface.
Thanks You!
Thank you very much for your expertise!
You should tell people that they need to go into their account settings and sign-in to their Skydrive account before trying to sync. No one ever mentioned this, and it wouldn\'t work correctly. I kept getting error messages. I actually found out that this was a problem by accident.
Thanks again for the great info!
You\'ve helped me understand why Microsoft are such dumb, stupid people and why they\'ve made it so difficult to 1) intergrate with skydrive desktop and 2) fail to reassure us that directly syncing with skydrive from within one note does in fact contain a perfectly in-tact local copy of the data - for those of us that want replicated copies both online and locally stored.
Many thanks.
One last question - what attached files are encrypted in password protected sections?
From what I understand, audio and video attached to a page in a password protected section are not encrypted, but what about images on the page?
Thanks!
I had synced my OneNote notebooks using the built-in sync with no problem. The sync to my iPad was also smooth. Then SkyDrive appeared. Thinking it was just an upgrade of the SkyDrive Live app, I thoughtlessly downloaded it. Oops.
Long story short, my notebooks are synced via the OneNote built-in sync to Skydrive. AND I have the (useless) circumstance of notebooks in the desktop folder of SkyDrive. AND, in my experimenting/problem-solving, I have linked my computer, plus I\'ve got folders (blue in color) online that contain OneNote notebooks. (I promise, I will never thoughtlessly do anything on my computer again.)
I would like to clean up this mess, but I worry that I will lose important research data if I keep \"experimenting.\" The end result I would like is:
1. All OneNote notebooks syncing via the built-in sync mode (Since they are set up to do that already, I guess that\'s a moot point.)
2. An automatic backup of OneNote notebooks to a location outside of my computer\'s hard drive. (Yes, I have read that there is an auto backup, but I prefer a location other than my own hard drive)
3. Live Drive banished from my laptop (I\'ll access it via the Web if I want to use it)
4. All unnecessary gunk (OneNote files NOT being auto-synced) removed from my Skydrive Web folder
I would be grateful for any advice you could offer.
Thank you in advance,
klbz
So even if I have a password protected section that is unlocked (ie I\'m currently working on it) it is still sent and stored encrypted?
I really like the way onenote syncs between computers using skydrive, but how does this smart \'onenote aware\' skydrive syncing work when there are password protected sections? I guess I have three sub-questions:
1. When a password protected section is synced, is the data stored on the skydrive server encrypted? What about if the syncing occurs whilst the password protected section is currently unlocked?
2. When a small change is made in a password protected section, does it then have to sync the entire section file or can it just sync the change?
3. If it just syncs the change, how can this work if the data is encrypted?
If the notebook is never closed, even if Onenote itself is shut down then the local hidden copy persists, so I guess I\'ll jest never close any of my notebooks, just keep them all open? Or go back to local storage as primary...
Thanks for taking the trouble to share this info. It is invaluable and I had already posted a comment on the Onenote site (somewhere) that I was abandoning the software, well the sync side of it anyway, as I had spent far to long trying to get it to work.
I think your style of writing is very good and the attention to detail is excellent. The quality of your work is far in excess of that provided by Microsoft.
Thank you.
Let OneNote sync directly itself to Skydrive. As some who syncs between 3 devices constantly I can tell you OneNote is awesome.
For the second question, the \"paragraph block\" you mention is called an \"outline\" in OneNote. Although it is possible for an addin to merge separate outlines into a single one, it won\'t be able to tie them together (and still keep them) as separate outlines as there is no such concept in OneNote. Merging them into a single outline might also be problematic because the will then need to conform to a stricter schema and their layout may change. Anyway, I haven\'t heard of such an addin.
Id like to ask one other question that has nothing to with any of this, and that is, do you know of any addin that allows you to bind and unbind paragraph blocks or \"layers\" together easily? The reason I ask is that when writing things in tablet mode letters, words, sentences, and diagrams tend to begin to split into different \"paragraph blocks\" resulting in layering issues and portions of things begin to vanish. If you dont understand what i mean by paragraph block, it is the box/window that forms around text to constrict the text within it, almost like a textbox on steroids. It allows you to drag around any segment of text around the page, it resizes width and length often so that the text will remain in view, and it can go downwards infinitely but it tends to stop at a selected width.
Unfiled Notes Section
Backup Folder
Default Notebook Location
Cache file location
For general questions about OneNote, the Microsoft Community Forums is a more appropriate question (answers.microsoft.com)
When I started using One Note, about 9 years ago, I decided that the best approach for writing notes in a page where I would be writing lots of chronological notes, would be to write the last notes first (at top of the page), so that I do not have to scroll to the bottom of a potentially long page every time I access that page (this may or may not be a correct fear/concern because maybe One Note\'s latest versions may now remember the location where you left every given page/note within a section/notebook?). The downside of this approach is that I would have to add some space every time I add a new note in a page; but, considering how easy to use & intuitive/visual the add/insert space feature in One Note was, I decided to go with this approach.
Enter year 2013, and with the Web App, this approach is pretty much no good. The reason being that the web app, at least today, the web app (and Iphone/Ipad apps, which I also use) does not have the space inserting feature (which was probably designed for adding space between notes, and not at the top of a page on a routine basis), therefore adding notes to the top of the page (newest/latest first) is not practical (as far as I can see) & more so with Iphone/Ipad apps. However, the original issue, of potentially having to scroll to the bottom of of a long web page, probably applies in this case for sure (if One Note on the desktop remembers, which I am not sure it does, as far as I can tell, the web app & Iphone/Ipad apps do not remember, nor bring you to the bottom of the page so that you can enter a new note). I guess One Note may not remember in the PC neither, because how would One Note know whether you want to see/review your notes, or add a chronological note? Maybe One tastic could categorize notes to be either of chronological nature (in which case it automatically brings you to the bottom of the page) or of non-chronological nature (in which case it shows the top of the page)? Is there any setting within One Note for setting up this behavior even if it applies to all pages? (whether all pages with content in them are open at the bottom or top)
I am sure this is something many people have to deal with, what are your thoughts and suggestions?
Once again, thanks so much for your time, I realize a lot of these questions are not related to Onetastic per se (but technically neither was your blog post :)
Assuming for audio an average quality of 10 kbps (kilobits per second), this means that I would have 1.25 kBps (kilobytes per second) (1 kB = 8 kb). For 7 hours of audio only meetings per week, this means 7*3600= 25,200s (1hour = 3600seconds), and 1.25 kBps * 25,200s = 31,500 kB, or 30.76 MB (megabyte) (1 MB = 1024 kB), or 0.0300 GB. For 1 year, this is 30.76MB*52weeks = 1599.52 MB (1 year = 52 weeks) or 1.56 GB.
Assuming for video an average quality of 100 kbps (kilobits per second), this means that I would have 12.5 kBps (kilobytes per second) (1 kB = 8 kb). For 3 hours of video/audio meetings per week, this means 3*3600= 10,800s (1hour = 3600seconds), and 12.5 kBps * 10,800s = 135,000 kB, or 131.8 MB (megabyte) (1 MB = 1024 kB), or 0.13 GB. For 1 year, this is 131.8MB*52weeks = 6,853.6 MB (1 year = 52 weeks) or 6.7 GB.
So for a year this would be 1.6 GB (audio) + 6.7 GB (video/audio) = 8.3 GB, and for 2 years about 17 GB. I do not usually work with bits and bytes, so hopefully you can glance the above and confirm there are no gross errors. If the above is correct, even with a lot of notes and a fair amount of pictures, I should expect to be able to be OK with a 32GB allowance for OneNote alone, based on the given assumptions of # of meeting hours and audio/video ratio. I am sure by then SSD\'s should be a minimum of 128GB or 256GB which will be nice.
The copy link to page on Web App seems to work for IE and Firefox in Windows 7 but not Chrome. Not sure about Mac OS.
Onetastic will work with the desktop version of OneNote on x86/x64 PCs. It won\'t work with Windows 8 app (OneNote MX). It will also not work in Arm PCs (Windows RT). Atom being x86 should be fine.
Because of the Atom powered devices I would like to use mentioned below, hard drive space is limited to around 32GB (even if it is a 64GB unit, only about half is available). Do you know how space hungry recording audio and video is with One Note? For example, if I wanted to use the device for the next 2 years, recording 10 hours worth of meetings per week (3 video+audio and 7 audio only), would there be enough space? I have never seen any metrics for space requirements, so was trying to set realistic expectations as to whether this is something that can be done often or very rarely (audio/video recordings).
Thanks!
...any issue that you can think off installing onetastic in one of the Atom powered units?
Also, when installing onetastic, does it work with both desktop and windows 8 app/(former metro) versions or only with the desktop version?
Thanks!
Sorry to ask off-off topic (although someone else may benefit from the discussion), but do you happen to know if there is any way to create a bookmark in a browser for a specific section/page within a one note notebook (web app). For example I would like to have a bookmark that takes me directly to a specific location, instead of opening the notebook and navigating to it manually (which is quite slow).
The root cause of this being that I use a MAC as a primary machine currently (this may change if I purchase a Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 or similar pen enabled device - also I have a Win 7 laptop where I can use MS One Note 2010), and want to efficiently make updates to notes via Chrome installed on the MAC.
If you have any thoughts on the devices I described above (I want the lightest possible tablet w/ wacom pen, since my use case is to essentially & primarily use it as a note taking device, and then if I can do other light browsing/office stuff great). I figure you may be thinking/have experience with hardware that could be useful. Thanks again!
As for the Win 8 app, it doesn\'t have all the features of desktop, but it is more friendly to touch, so if you have a tablet, it might be easier to use. Also it is currently free, whereas desktop version isn\'t (unless you have Windows RT).
By the way onetastic looks truly truly awesome - on paper anyways, as I have not yet tried it - before I install is there a reliable/simple uninstall process (in case there are any issues)?
Also, if I install it now (with 2010) and then upgrade to 2013 should I expect any issues? (or is it a simple re-install of onetastic after upgrading/installing 2013?)
You may want to consider a blog about onenote for win 8 vs. the one note win app - I am kind of confused as to why both exist (my understanding is that they are two separate programs called one note!), and maybe your thoughts about the future (i.e. the win8 app will become the only option in the future and the \'desktop\' version will likely go away?) - maybe discuss best practices to living with Win8 and using either one or the other (or when to use which).
Here is hoping that onetastic features become part of OneNote (and not an add on!)...MS should pay careful attention as it is only a matter of time until Apple gets on the touch/pen trend with their own software to support it!
Second, this is a prime example, in my opinion, of how to confuse and overwhelm people with unnecessarily complex solutions. Meaning, if Microsoft had done their job right, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use, in addition to common sense, there would have never been (and should have never been) a need for this post in the first place. What twisted mind in MSFT thought/thinks that this is a good solution for the user?
I have been using Microsoft (and OneNote) for a long long time and I fully expected to be able to keep the .one files in Skydrive (and have MS figure out how to have that solution efficiently sync OneNote files, since they develop the software AND also be able to open them via the webapp), but not being able to is just sad (for the issues it causes, as per the limitations you mention, let alone the confusion). Here is hoping that they remedy this for OneNote 13 or later...I love OneNote, but this was just wrong.