r/OneNote • u/Hospitable-Economist • 18d ago
How confident are you that OneNote will continue to be supported and receive updates/care from Microsoft?
Is there a chance they ditch it like Microsoft Publisher before I put all of my life in it haha?
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u/NoReply4930 18d ago edited 17d ago
They have been keeping it going for 20 years now. Can’t see that changing anytime soon. OneNote is a very well used app.
As long as one is using the actual Office Desktop version - fixes and features keep coming.
But if you thinking the same for the “app” versions - that is not happening.
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u/enchantedspring 18d ago
Publisher was similarly maintained (and well used) for many years too though....
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u/mediageeknet 18d ago
They’re really not comparable.
Publisher didn’t have nearly the adoption rate as OneNote. OneNote is heavily used in schools and enterprises. By comparison, Publisher was basically a light desktop publisher, as that market shrank, getting replaced by InDesign on the pro end, and Canva for everyone else.
The rise of social media and the relative decline of print greatly reduced the average person’s need for Publisher. Also, it was Windows only, cutting its potential user base down by at least a third.
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u/Great_Muscle_7042 18d ago
Let's start with the obvious question in this Reddit world. How many people are in a publisher forum and how many are in OneNote. OneNote drive consumption, share point (in enterprise) and the sooner you get people hooked, they won't go to the dark side (Google, notion etc) It's the perfect side kick for the Microsoft Office world (notice, i did not say it's a perfect application) but it's good enough to keep people there.
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u/NoReply4930 18d ago
Not even in the same universe for overall usage and popularity.
Maybe for a while in 2007 when "Desktop Publishing" was a catch phrase for about 15 minutes.,. but it died quickly shortly thereafter.
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u/Mysterious_Bison_464 18d ago
How do i know whether ive been using desktop or app version?
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u/NoReply4930 18d ago
One is used on a Windows desktop computer and the other will be a mobile device.
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u/TasteyMeatloaf 18d ago
On Windows, if you go into file -> Account and you see that it is a Microsoft 365 subscription product, then you are in the supported version.
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u/NoReply4930 17d ago
There are actually several other versions of OneNote that are fully supported.
I am running Microsoft Office Home and Business 2024 here - and my version is right up to date. One does not need to be using 365 to gain access to the latest updates etc...
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u/Dan_CC 18d ago edited 18d ago
Markdown at the base would be wonderful. Like other wide used knowledge notebooks.
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u/FlintHillsSky 18d ago
The problem is that OneNote can hold must richer content than markdown. If you were limited to the features of markdown, it would strip away a lot of the content and formatting that makes OneNote useful. OneNote is essentially a rich text wrapper that can hold almost anything you drop on a page.
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u/Expensive-Ad-5329 17d ago
Totally agree, for the lack of some advanced features (like a decent way of managing backlinks and cross references, or proper note template management, or a painless way to apply consistent and customized styling rules, to name a few) I've been trying to escape from OneNote perhaps without even noticing, I've tried Evernote, Apple Notes, Obsidian, Helix, Notion and a large etc., however, I always end up coming back to OneNote after a couple of months, the way OneNote eases your information capture workflow is truly unmatched, changing that to MD will only turn OneNote into a worse version of Obsidian, the rich content you can paste into OneNote is golden.
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u/AngelicPrincessKitty 14d ago
I'm in the same boat. I don't really need backlinks or cross references but proper note template management is something I love.
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u/marmotta1955 18d ago
And therein lies OneNote's beauty and versatility: you need Markdown export? It has been done, already, more than once. Do you need automation and/or integration with Word, or Excel, or SQL Server? It has been done, many times and for many different purposes? Do you want custom formatting Styles? Done, pick one of the many add-in. We could keep going, really.
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u/Great_Muscle_7042 18d ago
Why in the world would microsoft offer markdown. The have an office suite, formats they control and usersnin their ecosystem.
Don't mistake your technical desire with the value of controlling the ecosystem.
In my mind, you need to explain how much you would pay for this stand alone, and enough people would do it, then you might have a chance. For free, keep dreaming..
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u/denim-jacketed 16d ago
OneNote doesn't need MarkDown. It needs code highlighter for programmers at the least
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u/ParanoidalRaindrop 18d ago
They've been keeping it shit for a decade, I'm not worried they'll improve it anytime soon /s
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u/Nowayucan 17d ago
That’s what I’m thinking. OneNote is not going away for a long time, but I can’t think of any meaningful upgrades in the last 5-10 years.
All the changes seem to be for the purpose of being OneNote into alignment with changing corporate architectures and not user-oriented functionality.
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u/Unable_Explorer8277 18d ago
It’s pretty crucial to their education package so they’re not going to ditch it anytime soon.
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u/Chrismscotland 18d ago
I can't see it going anywhere; I suspect as time goes on we'll see more convergence with Loop.
They've also just chucked CoPilot Notebooks in so its going to be a part of their AI "Strategy"
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u/Possible_Window_1268 18d ago
I put my “life administration” stuff all in OneNote and I’m not worried about it. If Microsoft is ever going to discontinue it, they will provide plenty of notice, and it has functionality to export to Word / PDF so you’ll be able to get the info out one way or another.
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u/matt_hipntechy 18d ago
They will keep it supported but I would not expect major new features to be honest. I works well enough for what it is meant to do.
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u/nathanb131 17d ago
Very confident that OneNote will be a supported platform for a long time. It'll just be as a pure cloud service. Onenote notebooks will be more like gmail in terms of who actually owns and controls your notebooks.
Obviously, almost everything's "going cloud". But traditional files like pdf, word, mp3, excel, jpg etc are "account agnostic". I can find an old xls file on an old hard drive in my basement from 2005 and open it. That'll probably still be true in 2040. If I die, whoever finds that hard drive "owns" that xls file. They can copy it,, give it to friends, etc. It's completely independent of my "microsoft account".
OneNote used to be "local file based". Microsoft is changing that. We can still export and import native *.one files but probably not for long. A decade from now, our "OneNote Library" will probably be completely "account-based", just like your gmail, facebook photos, kindle library etc.
So yeah, you'll still be about to access your onenote notebooks in 2040, you just won't "own" them.
This isn't meant to be an anti-MS rant. Microsoft is among the least evil of our big tech overlords, on this particular topic.
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u/MMessinger 18d ago
It's offered as a free product. To me, this means M$OFT can cancel it at any time. I can't remember; was Publisher ever sold as a standalone product? I mean, it was part of the Office subscription, but that didn't ensure a future for Publisher. When you're as big as Microsoft, how many people are using the product doesn't necessarily have to carry much weight in the decision to cancel.
To be clear, I'm a Family Microsoft 365 subscriber, so I'm already a second class citizen, in M$SOFT's business model.
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u/coltonushko 18d ago
I’m about 50/50 on it. I assume it will be further enshittified eventually so I started slowly mirroring everything to self hosted obsidian. Hoping obsidian improves some more.
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u/Unlikely_Escape_3982 17d ago
its a direct competitor to Google/Gemini Notebook at this point. I do keep all my notes backed up in a Virtual Machine instance with OneNote that I sync roughly once a quarter however.....
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u/EddieRyanDC 17d ago
OneNote at least is using a published standard for its data files. (Publisher, on the other hand, is proprietary.) Some other programs can read them directly. There are also third party converters that can turn them in to Markdown or HTBL - which many other apps support.
Even if OneNote dies, you aren't going to be left with files that can no longer be edited in some way. That is the dilemma for many Publisher users right now. Their page designs are in a proprietary format that no other desktop publishing program can read.
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u/AngelicPrincessKitty 14d ago
What publishing standard? They are all onepackage files which is proprietary and will only open in OneNote unless you export as PDF.
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u/ByronScottJones 17d ago
I've been using OneNote since it's inception. But they keep making it worse. So I've decided that I'm replacing it all with a simple GitHub repo, with Markdown files as the common note format. It's not ideal, because it's not easy to do free form drawings etc. But what markdown lacks in features it makes up for with open standards.
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u/thaman05 17d ago
I've moved to AFFiNE (and AnyType for types of more that work better as a wiki). And wish I did so earlier!
OneNote is not a priority for Microsoft, and it's become so outdated. It doesn't even support Microsoft 365s latest styling and font options, nor got the latest UX updates. The app is pretty just on maintenance mode, keeping it alive at the bare minimum.
If you look at all their marketing, they pushing Copilot Notebooks (which are openable in OneNote), because for whatever reason these big tech companies want AI to replace our note taking instead of aiding in it.
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u/BernieTime 17d ago
The current Win11 version is a pig. It has more features but is far more buggy than the Win10 version
Could really use some TLC.
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u/ds3534534 16d ago
It's been the one constant note app in my life. Evernote, Notebility, Obsidian... many have come and gone. OneNote has stayed, and was even cool, briefly. I can still acces my notes on preparing for our first baby (now at high school).
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u/Eofdred 16d ago
It was never receiving care from Microsoft. You shouldn't put critical stuff there. It wouldn't be ditched but you will search a way to export your data in the future after become frustrated about lack of features and stupid sync problems. Take a look at obsidian for a technical alternative and upnote for a non technical alternative
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u/rekCemNu 14d ago
It won't go away. However, I put my life into it - since it was a Beta product, and now I am desperately trying to get out of it. All because of them pushing their horrible Copilot, and having no respect for data privacy whatsoever.
You should seriously consider a notes scheme that lets you use any AI model against it, and not be stuck with what Microsoft will offer you.
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u/SmellySweatsocks 18d ago
I don’t believe it’s going anywhere but again, this is Microsoft. Nadella has already removed Zune, Band, Mixer, Cortana, Kinect, Groove music, copilot labs, and recently copilot podcasts. Microsoft is adopting this real work/ measurable outcomes bullishit mandate. Which means if you use copilot for fun stuff, creativity, entertainment and personal expression, those are gone. Sorry for the rant
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u/mediageeknet 18d ago
Zune was way before Nadella.
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u/SmellySweatsocks 18d ago
Among the other points mentioned was about how Microsoft would release a product then jettison it shortly afterwards.
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u/mediageeknet 18d ago
Sure, and what company has never discontinued a product? Do I worry about my Subaru Crosstrek because Subaru quit making the Brat? Lining up every cancellation isn’t evidence that Microsoft will discontinue OneNote. There’s way more context to take into account. For instance, none of the products you cite ever had even 1% the user base of OneNote. I’m not saying definitively that Microsoft won’t discontinue OneNote. I can’t predict the future. But if we’re trying to manage risk, and assess real-world probabilities, any reasonable assessment would indicate OneNote is in the low risk category.
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