“Get an A+,” boasts the disc sleeve that holds Microsoft’s educational equivalent to the Holy… “Get an A+,” boasts the disc sleeve that holds Microsoft’s educational equivalent to the Holy Grail: OneNote 2003. The software claims to raise note-taking to a new level by offering the flexibility of regular note-taking with a digital format. But does it really deliver?

Installation is pretty simple, much like standard Microsoft products. The updates failed to function properly, however, on three separate occasions over the course of two days. Perhaps the server was getting hammered, but this isn’t Windows that we’re worrying about, so we can let this slide.

The tour manages to be somewhat helpful, albeit short. You can see how to take and reorganize your notes, and edit or create tabs. Unfortunately, even the tutorial feels more like a business organization program instead of an academic one.

Microsoft opted for a non-interactive tutorial; OneNote only has a “show me” button that demonstrates how to go through each process. And instead of the windows conveniently remaining on top so that you could test out those features in your own digital notebook, they minimize. Although this seems like a small oversight, it’s nonetheless an important one for those who are not computer savvy.

It is pretty hard to decide if OneNote feels more like a regular notebook, or a deluxe planner. The question is, would you be willing to take out your notebook from your book bag and substitute it with a laptop? OneNote also works with tablet PCs, but not everyone in the world packs a Palm Pilot or anything of the sort. And if they do, why would they opt to shell out money for a Microsoft program if they already have note-taking and date-book programs?

There is one decent feature of OneNote, though. It allows for voice recording of notes as well. Although there was nothing that I could test this on, it would be helpful to be able to record guest lecturers or even professors in class. But at the same time, you could use any program like Sound Recorder to do the same.

OneNote is designed to be the next big thing. They tried to pack it in for all University of Pittsburgh students, yet there hasn’t been a single person willing to use it. Why use it if you already have programs to do it with? Or perhaps a better question is, why should it be used in place of the good old pen or pencil and paper?

Microsoft made a valiant effort to market itself to the student crowd, but at the same time, it failed to make its product stand out over conventional note-taking and organizational tools. Maybe with a bit of revamping (or even updates), OneNote could break through as the future of note-taking. But until then, it still has a ways to go.