Returning to database concepts for a moment, the OneNote 2010 storage model is conducive to very efficient synchronization operations. If you’re familiar with the Microsoft Sync Framework and/or SharePoint Workspace, incidentally, and are wondering if OneNote uses the same underlying technology, it doesn’t the OneNote product team created a OneNote-specific synchronization framework instead, although it’s likely the various Microsoft sync frameworks will be consolidated in future product releases. Most OneNote 2010 users do not need to be aware of the options in the synchronization dialog, but some people may find it useful to occasionally switch OneNote to “work offline” mode, in order to, for example, work on draft content to be synchronized later.

To a OneNote user, all activity appears to be local, but in reality there is only one master copy of a shared notebook, residing on SkyDrive or SharePoint.įrom a user experience point of view, you can track OneNote synchronization status by expanding the notebook view on the left-hand side of the main OneNote window, as shown in Figure7.įigure 8 The OneNote Shared Notebook Synchronization dialog Indeed, when working with shared notebooks, OneNote defaults to working with automatically-maintained local notebook copies, and unobtrusively synchronizes edits (your work and updates from others working elsewhere, using OneNote 2010, OneNote Web App, or OneNote Mobile). OneNote’s database framework includes a seamless synchronization service that makes it possible for OneNote 2010 users to work with local copies of shared notebooks.

This is a usage pattern previously addressed by products such as IBM Lotus Notes/Domino and Microsoft Groove (which was expanded and rebranded as SharePoint Workspace in Office 2010). For most people, however, there are still circumstances in which you’ll need to be able to work without a network connection, or can’t be confident you have a sufficiently trustworthy network connection.

It’s easy to take Internet connections for granted these days, with data service-enabled smartphones, widely-available Wi-Fi services, and even networking options on airplanes. Learn More Buy That Seamless Sync’ing Feeling That Seamless Sync’ing Feeling

One note will not sync