Lifehacker’s been dancing around it and so have I: which desktop notetaking app should win the big prize? OneNote and Evernote are the clear contenders here and I personally use both. Lifehacker has a poll going on over there and I am finding the results very interesting.
Lifehacker prefaces its poll with a quick little synopsis of the differences and similarities. To quote Adam Pash:
OneNote integrates like a dream with every corner of your Windows desktop…. Both apps are serious about syncing your notes with the web and other computers with the software installed. Evernote wins the mobile war with support for the iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Palm Pre; OneNote, on the other hand supports only Windows Mobile devices. Both can perform optical character recognition (or OCR) for translating your handwriting into searchable notes…. We could go on, but ultimately both tools have a lot in common with subtle differences (the tablet PC-owner niche loves OneNote).
I have always thought this particular war is the victim of price-bias: advantage to Evernote available at the unbeatable price – free. Evernote premium is a paid application but costs only about 1/2 of OneNote’s retail price. Consequently the results, at the time I looked, were a bit surprising to me in spread rather than lead, and that was even BEFORE I voted.
So, which application do you think I favor? Which application do you favor? Enquiring minds want to know.
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Advocate's Studio 
I also use both but for different things. I find Evernote unbeatable for “to-do”s, web clippings and other shorter things to store away. But OneNote can serve as a low-price digital trial notebook holding folders for documents, photos, transcripts, cases, jury instructions, etc. I don’t think Evernote can do that effectively.
I use them in a manner similar to you, John, although I am not a trial attorney, so I don’t create trial notebooks. But I like Evernote for web clippings and OneNote for projects generating more information and requiring greater organization. I prefer OneNote’s ease of use and I am still not completely comfortable with Evernote’s interface. But I do use Evernote on the iPhone occasionally, and that convenience is great!
Cheers!
Martha
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I’ve used OneNote exclusively for the past year and a half or so, primarily for things like class notes and other school work, or else personal projects where a binder-like organization is convenient. I recently subscribed to Evernote because a new flash drive that I bought had the software installed on it (the SanDisk Cruzer with U3, in case anyone is wondering). I have yet to try Evernote, but from what I’ve found by just looking around it I doubt I will be using it for any massive chapter outlines. The only thing I don’t like about OneNote is that I can’t simply put the program on my flash drive and carry it everywhere with me. In my personal opinion, OneNote is that tiny bit more convenient.
As I have been using my iPhone more for on the fly note taking, I have been using Evernote more. I still prefer OneNote’s ease and organization, but having Evernote right there on my ever-present micro computer is hard to resist.
Cheers,
Martha