desktop note taking software

November 16, 2005 7:48 AM

I need a good Windows XP software for taking and organizing quickie notes ? Something that will stay on the desktop but not look too intrusive. I have used "post-its" software and SyncNotes. A freebie would be nice.

I was looking at OneNote by MS, looks really cool. How is it? How much does it cost?

posted by sandra194 to computers & internet (11 comments total)

OneNote is indeed very cool.

It comes with some versions of Office, so if you have the latest Office, it's already there on a separate CD. Retail is $99, academic pricing is $49. And there's the usual 60-day free trial.

I use OneNote all the time to organize projects, meeting notes and various bits on info that aren't quite fully formed documents. It replaces a notebook for my daily work with the added advantage of being searchable.
posted by GuyZero at 7:56 AM on November 16, 2005

Second vote for OneNote - excellent product...even has a useful screen capture facility which I use a lot (windows+s) - I wouldn't be without it now.
posted by mattr at 8:16 AM on November 16, 2005

Ive been using the to do list in rainlendar lately, and its free.
posted by skrike at 8:17 AM on November 16, 2005

I also use OneNote at work and I find it very useful. It has some cool functionality where you can "tag" the little note snippets with things called "note flags" (you can define your own but the defaults are things like "to do", "remember for later" "question", "important date" etc). You can then have it produce a summary view where you can view all the items with a particular flag in one place. Kind of hard to explain, but I find it useful.
posted by shinji_ikari at 8:36 AM on November 16, 2005

I don't know if you've tried this one, but I enjoy using ATnotes, which is a free post-it program. You can color the notes and set alarms and hide notes and all that stuff. It's pretty basic, and I can't compare it to anything since it's the only one I've used, but you might want to take a look.

The website says it's been discontinued - there won't be updates, but you can still download the most recent version. I use it at home and at work - mostly the alarm function, since there are little tasks I have to do weekly and I need something flashing at me to remember. Also good for lists as you think of things.
posted by bibbit at 8:58 AM on November 16, 2005

Another vote for OneNote. Don't let anyone tell you that "it's for tablets" - I use it on two desktop machines, one with a graphic tablet/pen, the other without. The handwritten notes feature is great but only one small part of the package.
posted by ceri richard at 9:22 AM on November 16, 2005

konfabulator widgets has lots of free sticky programs...
posted by dawdle at 9:32 AM on November 16, 2005

A nice free piece of software is EverNote. It is free and works very well.

If you are looking for something for the Mac, hands down MacJournal whose free version is still very available.

Both are excellent though I have been a fan of MacJournal for longer.
posted by jadepearl at 10:00 AM on November 16, 2005

I like Net Snippets. There's a free version and, if you like it, you can upgrade to a fancier, paying version. I have stuck with the free version and it does what I want (i.e. let me save odd pages from the Net and/or the clipboard and organize them by subject.)
posted by TheRaven at 11:30 AM on November 16, 2005

Google Desktop 2.0 has notes. So does the Opera browser. Both are freeware.
posted by evariste at 4:39 PM on November 16, 2005

I use Bret Taylor's stickies program which is modeled after the Mac program, and I like it.
posted by radioamy at 10:38 PM on November 16, 2005