Microsoft working on comprehensive OFFICE READER

[fjtorres]

From the Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/27/47...-windows-phone

Office Reader is a new modern Windows 8-style app that supports web pages, Office documents, PDFs, ebooks, and textbooks. At first launch it includes library, sources, and recommendations sections. Koenigsbauer demonstrated PDF support and the ability to reflow text to navigate through PDFs easily on a touchscreen. During a textbook demo, the ability to look at tables and interact with various parts of the content was also shown.

BING INTEGRATION AND PEN SUPPORT FOR OFFICE READER

Perhaps the most interesting part is Microsoft's work with stylus support for Office Reader. Koenigsbauer showed a number of tools activated via a Surface Pro pen that allow users to circle, underline, highlight, and make notes on any document. The notes are then stored and listed in a side panel in each document. Microsoft's Office team has also partnered with Bing to augment document content with data from the search service. You can simply select a name or section of the document to then search and receive information in a right-hand sidebar. The results are displayed in a very similar way to Windows 8.1's integrated Bing hero search.

When Courier was cancelled, a reason cited was that the Office group was working on a similar application. Given the crying need for a comprehensive reading application this app might find a ready audience.

*If* MS get serious about academic reading.

[Istvan diVega]

The astonishing thing is that no-one has done this long ago. Hopefully they'll manage to come up with something very competent and hopefully someone else will then take the idea and make an equally competent app for Android. Since there's no way I'm migrating to Windows on tablets, I mean.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Istvan diVega

The astonishing thing is that no-one has done this long ago.

More astonishing is MS already has 75% of this capability in ONENOTE and hardly anybody noticed.

[Penforhire]

Agreed. OneNote on a tablet PC has been, for years now, like an expensive secret weapon.

[mrmikel]

Windows 8 style is a deal killer for a lot of people. It may not do well if they insist on that interface.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Agreed. OneNote on a tablet PC has been, for years now, like an expensive secret weapon.

And there is no reason to keep it secret or expensive; I know people in corporate and academic settings that *live* in OneNote. If they had publicized OneNoteRT properly, the SurfaceRT wouldn't have thudded.

[frahse]

I have found a computer with keyboard and mouse to be the most satisfactory for my complicated needs. A stylus is less useful.

For a reader, the simple Kindle is enough if the format is proper.

[WillAdams]

I've found a keyboard and mouse wholly inadequate for anything beyond office-oriented tasks.

Using a stylus facilitates:

- marking up a text by circling terms, drawing lines and arrows and using proofreading marks
- using proofreading marks to control Microsoft Word (there is a fabulous plug-in for MS-Word which uses gesture recognition to control it using traditional proofreading marks)
- using handwriting recognition to input text w/o needing finger-bending keyboard sequences for accents, or mind-bending memorization of 4-digit codes for special characters

William

[frahse]

Originally Posted by WillAdams

I've found a keyboard and mouse wholly inadequate for anything beyond office-oriented tasks.

Using a stylus facilitates:

- marking up a text by circling terms, drawing lines and arrows and using proofreading marks
- using proofreading marks to control Microsoft Word (there is a fabulous plug-in for MS-Word which uses gesture recognition to control it using traditional proofreading marks)
- using handwriting recognition to input text w/o needing finger-bending keyboard sequences for accents, or mind-bending memorization of 4-digit codes for special characters

William

I would consider most all the items you listed as "office-oriented," tasks that I would take care of quickly and directly with the keyboard and mouse.

Still if you wish only to tell someone else what to do, I can see your point. Essentially hand signals, whistles and chirps.

[WillAdams]

Which can a person draw more precisely w/? A bar of soap, or a pen?

I'll take the pen, thank you.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

From the Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/27/47...-windows-phone

From the description it sounds like a browser.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

From the description it sounds like a browser.

Most likely it simply calls/stores webpages as embedded IE objects. That's what OneNote does. It might be the next version of OneNote though I doubt it; OneNote is about capturing and organizing information from multiple sources and this is more about displaying and annotating information from multiple source types without changing it.
Slight distinction but a critical one if they are aiming for the academic textbook market.

[Lynx-lynx]

I use Evernote rather than OneNote, although I can't comment now on Onenote's capabilities because I stopped using it more than 3 years ago.

An advantage with Evernote (free version) is that it goes across all my devices irrespective of the software, eg Blackberry Playbook, BB Phone, PC (and if I had a current model Sony ereader then that too).

It's free (or paid version), it's totally portable, it's got a zillion and one features and it does what I need it to do.

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but OneNote is only for the Microsoft environment isn't it?

PS I'm genuine in this post - not trying to stir up a brand issue.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Pardon me if I'm wrong, but OneNote is only for the Microsoft environment isn't it?

PS I'm genuine in this post - not trying to stir up a brand issue.

It's a fair question.
As an MS Office application, OneNote comes in two versions; the traditional licensed version runs as a local application on Windows systems. The subscription-based Office 365 version runs everywhere you can run web apps.

[Lynx-lynx]

And from memory Microsoft and BB don't mingle, which is probably why I chose Evernote some time back now. I know that I'm happy with it, so therefore haven't needed to look elsewhere.

I don't use Microsoft Office anymore at home because I use Open Office which is an excellent (and free) multi featured product. I even have the portable version on my 1 gb usb drive which means that I can print from anywhere I am (although I just used to save my docs etc as PDFs using OpenOffice save as PDF feature).

I've done a complete Sys Requirements project using Open Office, including flow charts, DFDs, wire diagrams. Excellent program by the Apache group. But all this is by the by as to my choosing not to use expensive Microsoft software anymore.

Edit

Gee my post is beginning to sound like a rant ... oops ... not intended ... just writing out loud so to speak trying to justify to myself as to why I use one thing over another, I think