What’s New and What’s Coming to OneNote on Windows

What I am missing heavily, is the pencil implementation that we had in OneNote for Windows 10. The support of tilt and pressure sensitivity (level 3 in surface app) made it to one of the best digital pencil brushes in the digital world. I used it a lot for quick sketching as it was easy to use, but the results were stunning.  When I am viewing the sketches I have made in the old app in the new 365 OneNote, there still look the same which is telling me, the basic functionality is still there... >>>> please, bring it back.

GregMacEachern Gokul_Subramaniam - I am perpetually confused about OneNote versions. My version is "OneNote Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise," Version 2307 (Build 16626.20170 Click-to-Run). The article you reference for checking what version one has, called "What's the difference between the OneNote versions?" suggests "Windows users can choose between two available versions" and lists those versions as "OneNote (formerly called 'OneNote 2016')" and OneNote for Windows 10. But this blog post also mentions LTSC and Office 2021 versions. Can the article, "What's the difference between the OneNote versions?" please be updated to reflect all existing versions?

Can you please provide a more comprehensive list of OneNote versions and explain which will be updated with these features and which will not.  Is "OneNote Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise," considered a perpetually updating version, like the "OneNote app," or is it on a different update schedule?

Thank you for your help.

GregMacEachern 

1. How about tighter integration with Microsoft ToDo? 
   1. This one point in particular is bothersome, because Microsoft ToDo has essentially been a product that has not evolved at all.  I can't even organize by Category (tied to Outlook) here, but the lack of integtration into the Office 365 ecosystem is mind-numbing.  
2. How about using Categories from Outlook for improved organization? 
3. How about MarkDown support?
4. How about tighter integration with the new Outlook (Beta)?
5. How about tighter integration with Google Calendar?

Perhaps a suggestion for rolling out "new" features would be to really have everything ready and then launch the "new" feature or prodcut.  It generally seems to me that the execution for Microsoft products is lacking.  I remember when the "new" Outlook.com was rolled out, an announcement was made and then approximately 8 months later I was able to use it.  If I could cautiously suggest taking a page from Apple's playbook on exectuion, it could go a long way to making your most loyal and dedicated customers happy.  It just seems like Microsoft does the bare minimum to develop something, then throws it out to the market, then essentially nothing evolves.  

It is great that Microsoft can flex its technical prowess, however its execution leaves a lot to be desired for those of us who rely on your tools to be productive without always facing the headwinds of technical change.

I get that a lot of these "new" features are useful, however OneNote has not really evolved, technically, to keep up with other often used tools.

With regards,

MM

@GregMacEachern 

I have to agree with Dan Foxley Microsoft Loop is a great example of execution failures.  Why introduce Microsoft Loop when you can integtrate that app and its feature set into OneNote?  I understand they aim to serve different audiences, but come-on now, do not tell me your technical prowness at Microsoft canot figuire out a way to integtrate these product better?  

By the way have you tried Microsoft Loop?  I tried it and within 5 minutes I was left with a "What am I suppose to do with this product feeling."  Again, no integration with Microsoft ToDo or Outlook.  For example, in Loop I can insert a Task List, but guess what?  None of the tasks show up in Microsoft ToDo.  How is that even possible?  Who is developing, and approving for launch, these products?  Simply, unreal!  Guess what else I can do in Loop?  I can insert a Label, but guess what I cannot do?  I cannot sync this label with anything else in the Office 365 ecosystem, such as Outlook Categories; again, why not? 

Where is the collaboration amongst your teams within Microsoft?  It is as though everyone at Microsoft is sitting around in their own fiefdoms and not collaborating?  You have a product called Teams, but is as though you do not use it?!  I really cannot understand at the most fundamental level how you do not ask the simple question about how your products could integrate together for productivity purposes.  Simply amazing.

Given the OneNote team's track record, I'm guessing I'll be lucky to actually see any of these features before next summer. You're literally highlighting vertical tabs as coming soon, which you also did in a similar article a year ago.

Maybe by 2039 we'll be able to add section groups in something other than the Windows client. Going vertical with tabs makes it even more important to be able to group those sections, and they just don't want to seem to let you do it. Then again they also don't want to fix syncing issues, so 🤷‍.

Weird, I'm obviously missing some "elephant in the room" situation with one OneNote.  Is this product on life support only for education, is it written off for enterprise? 

OneNote seems to shuffle itself between versions, only to add legacy features to catch up with itself, with little to no innovation. All the while, other Office products have eclipsed it with full re-writes and Loop looking to overshadow its existence. Too bad.

Hi GregMacEachern , 

Are the pens/highlighters in the Draw tab going to get synced to the signed in user's account, like how it was in OneNote for Windows 10?

Unfortunately every time I reimage my machine and sign in again on to the Office desktop apps, none of the previous pen colours are available and I have to customise that part of the ribbon again 😞 

feeked Vertical tabs is available in all channels with the exception of the semi-annual channel! The semi-annual channel will receive Vertical Tabs in March 2024!

m36five Thanks for the feedback, we'll follow up to see how we can create more clarity with regards to the versions. Since you're seeing a version with 4 digits (e.g. 2307) you're on the OneNote app. For reference the OneNote for Windows 10 app has versions in the format of 16xxx.xxxxx.xxxxx.x 
So, you're on the right app. And "Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise" means that you're using an enterprise license, so likely the update cadence is managed by your company. So, you should be getting the updates but it may be on a different schedule than current channel.