OneNote

Microsoft OneNote 2010 is a great program for taking notes for class, for business (e.g. in meetings), or just for yourself. When you open OneNote, a notebook is opened and you view a guide page. After looking over the guide page, you can delete it or create a new notebook to start your own work.

Once you create a new notebook and are on the first page, there's a number of things you can do to organize your pages and the text you put on them. Some of the more useful features you can use are Tags, Attaching Files, Recording Video or Voice, Snycing and Sharing your notebook online, and Drawing. Tags can be useful when you need to make a checklist, or want to star important notes. Attaching files can also be useful, since you don't have to worry about emailing other people things. You can also record voice or video, which can be useful if your computer has a webcam and you'd like to capture something you can't describe in words. Snycing and Sharing your notebook online is also useful, because if you would like to share or compare notes with others that you took during a meeting or class, you can do so by giving others' access to your notebook through Windows Live. The drawing feature is helpful incase you'd like to label or draw something, like an image, to go along with your notes. Speaking of images, if you have one on your screen and want to include it in your notebook, you can by using the Screen Clipping tool.

Overall, OneNote can reduce the amount of pencil work in notebooks, and should be used in more classrooms and businesses in the community. It's a great way to organize, customize, and share your notebook with others, rather than if you had a spiral notebook.