“Microsoft is releasing on Tuesday a version of its OneNote note-taking application for the iPhone,” Fried reports. “The program will be free for a limited time, Microsoft said, adding that notes taken on the iPhone will automatically be synchronized and backed up to the Web using Microsoft’s Windows Live SkyDrive.”
Fried reports, “Of course, OneNote is just one piece of Office–and one of the newer and least used of the main components at that. It’s also an interesting choice, since OneNote isn’t available natively for the Mac. But Microsoft seems to be leaving the door open to bring other pieces of Office to the iPhone.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’d rather have bamboo shoots shoved under our fingernails, thanks.
Would this do anything Evernote doesn’t?
Why would Microsoft release office apps for iPhone?
For those stuck using Windows based PC, this is your app. For the ones lucky enough to use a Mac, skip it.
I have OneNote for Microflop
This will, by far, be MS’ most successful app on any mobile device.
OneNote is a good note taking app. Not one I’d buy freestanding… but many students own it bundled with their Microsoft Office Suite. So if this allows them to record a lecture, snap a photo, or jot some notes in class – then sync to their iPhone… great! MS is not all evil… just 99.99999%
“While Microsoft still hopes to one day rival the iPhone…”
I still hope to one day flap my arms and fly to the moon. And I think I have a better shot.
You know, I hate MS products as much as anyone else in this forum, but if they would remember that their name is MicroSOFT and start trying to make the best mobile apps in the world, instead of trying to turn their desktop monopoly into a mobile monopoly, they might actually get somewhere in the mobile space.
Nah.
Alex: “Why would Microsoft release office apps for iPhone?”
Well, They’re not on as solid ground as they used to be. So maybe some of them are simply looking into going back to the way things were in the beginning. When Microsoft was but a humble (though scheming) provider of Mac OS software.
I thought this observation was interesting:
Microsoft has already released apps for the iPhone before, including its Bing search and Tag Reader apps, but until now it has never offered an app that wasn’t already intended to be cross-platform. It has usually tried to reserve Office apps for its own platform as selling points, such as on Windows Phone 7. An iOS app is a partial admission that competitors such as DataViz’s Documents To Go have rendered the advantage obsolete and that official ports could encourage the use of Office on the desktop or in the cloud.
Overheard at MS headquarters:
“The iOS ecosystem is a HUGE untapped market for us. What should be our first foray into app store? How about something that will leverage the competitive advantage we have with our Office monopoly…er…Suite. Maybe Word or Excel…”
“Why don’t we start with OneNote? It’s not like note-taking apps are the most popular productivity apps or anything…”
“Brilliant! Get ready to count the ducets, boys!”
MS made Office for Mac, and they’re dumb if they don’t try to make the killer productivity suite for the iPhone. Dumb, dumb, dumb. They should attempt to do the same on Android as well. They are a software company, and sometimes a damned good one. They can’t be so dumb as to think Windows Phone is really going to make any headway–they’d have to hedge their bets.
I’m not an MS fan, but I’d love to see them come out with really kick-ass iPHone software.
I’m still amazed that MS Office is still thought of as a “killer productivity suite”. Word is the scourge of all Designers – its bloated wares cause endless trouble importing into more professional and friendly software. Anything created in Word or PowerPoint looks unprofessional and anything of reasonable complexity is never easy to do. Why authors and all the general public use it I’ll never no.
There’s not even a native Mac client of OneNote. I’m sticking with Evernote.
“While Microsoft still hopes to one day rival the iPhone…”!
Are you sure this is not a line from a “Joy of Tech” strip?
They’re going to try and pull another Mac Office 6 but this time for the iPad. It will be bloated, buggy and ridiculously slow – they then expect users to blame apple and mass defect to windows phone 7 for tablets. Ballmer thinks it’s going to be just like 1991 again.
If Microsoft has any hopes for succeeding with their iOS apps, they must give the development to the MacBU, rather than giving it to their mobile or, even worse, Office divisions. The guys at MacBU are truly Mac people (most of them clandestinely carry iPods and iPhones around the campus), they understand the ecosystem and have a significantly greater chance of making a decent iOS app.
“notes taken on the iPhone will automatically be synchronized and backed up to the Web using Microsoft’s Windows Live SkyDrive.”
Just what I want, M$ backing up my personal notes on their cloud…
Downloaded and setup an account to try it out. just to see what they have accomplished.
Well, what they have accomplished to to remind me of the junk they make!!!! Could not log in to the account with the iPhone. It displayed a “Login failed, error: 400” every single time I tried. I could login to the account by the iPad. But the actual iPhone app would not!!!!
Thanks Microsoft, you once again failed to get your programs to even work!
Hey Steve, could you make a Apple version so I will have a working App to take notes and not the notepad or iCal.
Please!
I downloaded it while its still free – just to see the suckage.
@NCG598,
Every review in the App Store says the exact same thing.
Well, just installed it and registered. Same 400 error message as everyone else. What a f—ing joke!!!
Thank you MDN for somehow finding words for my feelings
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Microsoft finally wises up and embraces the competition rather than trying to pretend they don’t exist. Perhaps there is some meager hope for them yet…
I’m not seeing OneNote listed in the App store.
Is this a US only release?