OneNote for Windows until 2023

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For those of us who are extensive users of OneNote, this report from Office Watch comes as a big relief.

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINK FOR THE FULL REPORT

https://office-watch.com/2019/good-news-for-onenote-with-windows-as-microsoft-does-a-180/?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ow

Good news for OneNote with Windows as Microsoft does a ‘180’.

13 November 2019

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OneNote for Windows has a better future after some reverse-course announcements from Microsoft. OneNote desktop program gets extended life and a promotion. The desktop and app versions merging into a single codebase. We’ll also explain the strange case of two OneNote for Windows.

The announcements amount to a 180° reversal of past poor, short-sighted management decisions. These recent changes are very welcome, but should not have been necessary. Microsoft is putting a gloss over it, boasting “On being customer obsessed’ as if that’s something new or worthy of praise. Shouldn’t all businesses be focused on customers?

The future of OneNote for Windows still isn’t entirely clear, but it seems that the full featured desktop version is back! It’s even got a new feature, albeit just the Dark Mode already in other Office programs.

OneNote for Windows until 2023

Back in April 2018 Microsoft announced the end of OneNote 2016 for Windows, the desktop app. The program would get no new features, only security fixes

Now Microsoft is back-pedalling on that.

Mainstream support is now available until 10 October 2023. Extended support continues for another two years. Microsoft says this aligns with Office 2019 support dates, but doesn’t mention that Office 2019 support was deliberately shortened to 7 years from the supposedly ‘fixed’ 10 year support policy.

More importantly, OneNote 2016 is back in the mainstream product bundles. From March 2020, it will be included in downloads of desktop programs for Office 365 and Office 2019.

It’s in keeping with last year’s decision by Microsoft to sideline Word, Excel and PowerPoint UWP apps in favour of the full featured Office desktop programs we’ve been using for years.

OneNote confusion continues

On the other hand, that doesn’t mean Windows desktop program will be the main OneNote platform.

A Microsoft Product Manager says “ There will still be a Desktop and separate Windows 10 app”. Why have two different programs for the same platform?

Most likely Microsoft is unwilling to publicly admit that their Modern app strategy has failed. Instead of admitting what’s obvious to their customers, Redmond pretends the apps are OK while taking another development path.

It’s a shame OneNote fans can’t get a firm commitment from Microsoft to provide a full featured OneNote program that runs on Microsoft’s own operating system.

Merging code bases

At the Ignite conference, Microsoft announced that the OneNote desktop and Windows app versions would be retooled to work from a common codebase. The Windows desktop program will be merged with the main OneNote codebase for Windows app, Apple and Android.

That’s important because it suggests that however OneNote for Windows develops, it should be fully featured desktop program not a regression to a lesser state.

Whenever Microsoft boasts about merging or common codebases, it begs the question “ Why were they split in the first place? ”. The answer is inevitably a short-sighted decision to meet immediate needs rather than the medium or long term expectations of customers.

As any developer knows, saying you’ll merge divergent code is easy to announce but a lot harder to do.

Watch this space ….

(MUCH MORE IN THIS POST)

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Onetastic Add-in for OneNote Desktop

If you are a OneNote user then I highly recommend the Onetastic macro plugin sets. Start with the free version. The choose the Pro($15) or Developer($60) once you have run the macros up to 500 times.

The developer version allows you to create your own macro set using the Onetastic tools.

https://getonetastic.com/

https://getonetastic.com/pricing

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https://getonetastic.com/blog-onenote-mainstream-support-extended

Microsoft Brings back Mainstream Support for OneNote 2016
November 04, 2019

Today Microsoft announced that it will extend mainstream support for OneNote 2016, reversing their earlier decision to stop adding new features to OneNote 2016. This means you can continue to use OneNote 2016 and enjoy the benefits of Onetastic for the foreseeable future. OneNote 2016’s support dates are being aligned to that of Office 2019. Office 365 subscriptions are being also updated to include OneNote 2016 by default in the near future.

You can find the announcement at:

There is also an FAQ about the announcement available at:

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Member of the e-file association will have access to the changes:

  • EFILE CHANGES EFFECTIVE FEB 2020

    • * New 5 Digit Field Codes (over 900 revised Line Numbers);
    • * Tuition Information now available in RAC and AFR systems;
    • * T183 Signature Line (Part D) now at bottom of the T183 form;
    • * T1013 Authorization continues in force after client deceased;
      • Authorization forms T1013, RC59 and NR95 will be combined into one form - the new T1013 for offline access only;
    • * For online access, a new “signature page” will be available via your tax software (the T1013 for online access will be discontinued);
    • * Dedicated Telephone Service (DTS) for EFILERS now permanent;
    • * E-submitting authorizations (using T1 software) on behalf of individuals will no longer be restricted for reasons that generate error messages W103, W104 and W105.
    • __* __Full details of changes provided in our November 2019 and January 2020 IMPACT Newsletters sent to all EAC/ATC Members

  • FOR MORE INFORMATION

    Please Contact:

    • Steve Watson MA, CFP, FMA
    • Executive Director EAC/ATC
    • PO Box 20040
    • Kelowna, BC V1Y 9H2
    • Phone 1-866-384-4066 E-mail swatson@efile.ca
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Welcome to the Community!

This is useful information for our members, but it should be posted into a new thread, not dropped into an unrelated post.

For instance: If I wanted to find out about the changes to Efile, I wouldn’t click on the link to a post labelled “OneNote for Windows until 2023”