Surprise! Microsoft revealed today that it will extend support for OneNote 2016 and begin adding new features again.
“Microsoft is extending mainstream support for OneNote 2016. Users who prefer it should continue using it,” the firm revealed quietly in its “Book of News” for Ignite 2019. “Office 365 subscribers will begin to see more features rolling out, starting with Dark Mode. The team is working hard to bring additional premium value features to OneNote for Office 365 subscribers next year, such as collaboration capabilities you’re used to in other Office apps, like @mentions for quickly pulling collaborators into your notebooks.”
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Microsoft used to maintain two major versions of OneNote on desktop, OneNote 2016, which was part of the Office 2016 suite, and OneNote for Windows 10. But in April 2018, the firm announced that it would no longer update OneNote 2016, nor would it upgrade the application for Office 2019. Instead, OneNote for Windows 10 became the default OneNote experience, and it has been updated steadily ever since.
Well, cue the record-scratch because Microsoft is reversing course. It will once again maintain two major versions of OneNote on desktop, and it will add new features to each.
At least, I believe that’s the case: It’s possible that OneNote for Windows 10 will quietly fall by the wayside now as well. I guess we’ll need to wait and see what happens.
Stooks
<p>This kind of stuff is truly irritating from Microsoft. </p><p><br></p><p>Adding new features in Windows 10 that most will never use, don't use them, it harms nothing. The occasional bug found in a big release (1809) that impacts edge case users (relocating default Windows folders and using OneDrive at the same time) well, you should BACKUP YOUR shiite up and get your booger hook away from the mouse button that is refreshing the update screen so you can update to the latest build, milliseconds after it is released.</p><p><br></p><p>Changing directions on a app that is both highly used and highly liked, only to reverse direction again is simply irritating. We use Office 365 and we have been pushing our OneNote users to the Windows 10, UWP, version for that last year. Yes it has less features but I doubt our users even know this. From a UI perspective it looks way more like the Mac, Web, iOS and Android versions of OneNote.</p><p><br></p><p>Is Microsoft going to put this in future Office 365 installs? Will they provide a separate link for the download? Will it even work with Office 365 or will you have to jump through hoops like you do to get Visio and project installed along side Office 365.</p><p><br></p><p>Two steps forward, one step back.</p>
dontbeevil
<blockquote><em><a href="#486738">In reply to Sylvala:</a></em></blockquote><p>so now a product it's INFERIOR just because it miss a single feature that you use… that's so funny</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#486266">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>I do not plan on going back, unless the next bit of news is that they ditch the UWP version for an updated Win32 version as part of Office 365. As long as notes still open I guess it does not matter.</p>
dontbeevil
<p>from support.office.com/en-us/article/frequently-asked-questions-about-onenote-6582c7ae-2ec6-408d-8b7a-3ed71a3c2103</p><p><br></p><p>OneNote 2016</p><p>Your Office 365 subscription unlocks:</p><p>Local notebook support</p><p><br></p><p>OneNote for Windows 10</p><p>Your Office 365 subscription unlocks:</p><p>Ink replay</p><p>Researcher</p><p>Math Assistant</p><p>Stickers</p><p>and more to come</p><p><br></p>
dontbeevil
<blockquote><em><a href="#486510">In reply to dontbeevil:</a></em></blockquote><p>so I get downvotes even reporting real facts, haters are so cute</p>