[German]Microsoft is making a U-turn when it comes to OneNote integration in Microsoft Office. While OneNote 2016 was kicked out of Office a year ago, this application has now been integrated back into Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Office 2019.
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OneNote 2016 in a few words
Microsoft OneNote is a notebook application developed as a 32-bit Win32 application since 2003. I don't know exactly, when OneNote became part of Microsoft Office as a Win32 application. But in my books about Microsoft Office 2007 OneNote is already mentioned.
(Start menu with two OneNote apps, Source: Microsoft)
OneNote is also available on macOS, Android and iOS. Since mid-2014 OneNote can be used free of charge on all platforms. There are two variants of the application (see also the screenshot of the start menu above):
- The classic desktop Win32 application OneNote 2016, which was released in September 2015 and has a wide range of functions.
- And there is the Windows 10 OneNote app from the Microsoft store, which, according to Microsoft's will, should set the tone in the future.
The OneNote app for Windows 10 was once planned as a killer application (see Microsoft: 'OneNote app will be better than Win32 application'). But the app was delivered with a poor feature set (my impression) and never got pushed. It was just a lean replacement for the OneNote 2016 Win32 application.
OneNote 2016: Declared as dead and buried
In my German blog post Microsoft Office 2019 kommt ohne OneNote I had reported in April 2018 about the latest plans of Microsoft regarding OneNote. Basis was this article (now outdated) from Microsoft, where they wrote:
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Beginning with the launch of Office 2019 later this year, OneNote for Windows 10 will replace OneNote 2016 as the default OneNote experience for both Office 365 and Office 2019.
As a reason for choosing OneNote for Windows 10, Microsoft stated that the app has improved performance and reliability and is supported by a brand new sync engine (which they will also offer for Web, Mac, iOS and Android). The auto update mechanism of the Microsoft Store was also praised. These dreams have now come to an end
(OneNote, Source: Microsoft)
After all, the desktop Win32 version of OneNote 2016 should still be available to interested users for two years free of charge. But Microsoft did not want to develop OneNote 2016 any further.
OneNote desktop application is back in Office 365/2019
Now comes the big U-turn. I have become aware of this, as I read an article from German blogger Martin Gauss. Martin writes at Dr. Windows in this article that OneNote 2016 has been removed in 2019 from the installation package of Office 365. Users then had to install the OneNote app for Windows 10 from the store to work with notes.
In November 2019 Microsoft informed us that they would continue to support OneNote 2016 until 2025. While setting up a new PC with Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 365 (keyword Microsoft 365) Martin Geuß noticed that OneNote 2016 was suddenly part of it. Martin writes that '3 weeks before' during a new installation of Office 365 he had not seen this.
While writing this article I took a look at the German Wikipedia about OneNote. There you can find the information that OneNote 2016 is 'since March 2020' again part of Office 365/Microsoft 365. The source is this Microsoft article, which states the following:
Starting in March 2020, when you install Office 365 or Office 2019, the OneNote desktop app will be installed alongside the Word, PowerPoint, and Excel desktop apps.
I think that many users appreciate it. Or how do you see it?
Similar articles:
Microsoft: 'OneNote app will be better than Win32 application'
OneNote: Microsoft reveals future plans
Support until 2025 for OneNote 2016
Office 2019 general availability (October 2, 2018)
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