OneNote Desktop Win32 App gets EOL date

[AlTech]

Microsoft has set an EOL date for the OneNote Desktop Win32 application. OneNote 2019 will come with the OneNote UWP app which is being improved to be able to fully replace the existing Win32 app.

 

This is enabled by the fact that the Windows version of the upcoming Office 2019 will be only available on Windows 10.

 

We do not know at this time if similar things will happen for the other Win32 Office applications.

 

Quote

In Office 2019 shipping later this year, that new version of OneNote is moving to the foreground and will become the primary version of OneNote. The existing desktop application, OneNote 2016, will continue to be supported in maintenance mode, receiving bug fixes through October 2020 and security fixes until October 2025. But new features are going to be reserved for UWP version.

Microsoft has already said that Office 2019 will require Windows 10—it's the only version of Windows still in mainstream support—so the switch to using a UWP app should be fairly transparent. Clean installations of Office 2019 won't include OneNote 2016 by default, but if it's already there, it won't be harmed by upgrading.

 

Quote

Right now, there are some features found in the desktop app not present in the UWP; Microsoft is working to fill in the gaps, with features such as tags and Class Notebook support coming later this year.

 

 

Personally I wouldn't mind the Windows version switching to 100% UWP apps. I would like to see better cross-platform support for Office and less BS in how Office is licensed.

 

Source: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/04/onenote-desktop-app-end-of-lifed-replaced-with-windows-10-uwp/

[AresKrieger]

18 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

OneNote UWP

ewwww

 

Anyway I don't see any need for a new MS office, but whatever I could have said that for years, as for Win32 I don't know what compatibility issues will come about from its removal/transformation but I remember something about steam needing it 

[AlTech]

49 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

ewwww

 

Anyway I don't see any need for a new MS office, but whatever I could have said that for years, as for Win32 I don't know what compatibility issues will come about from its removal/transformation

 

49 minutes ago, AresKrieger said:

but I remember something about steam needing it 

Most things which are non-UWP based are based on Win32 in one way or another.

[AresKrieger]

8 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

 

Most things which are non-UWP based are based on Win32 in one way or another.

Well then they'll likely break everything.......again

[Master Disaster]

Microsoft are slowly moving towards the death of Win32 and UWP being the defacto interface on Windows.

[elfensky]

I prefer using the UWP app because it's simpler and more optimized for touch, but I can definitely see people who're used to advanced features I have no idea about in OneNote-x32 being angry, considering the UWP all doesn't have nearly all the features, from what I've heard.

 

[GoodBytes]

I also prefer the UWP app. While it does lack options that the Win32 app has (which I never or rarely used), the UWP one does have features that the that Win32 doesn't have in exchange, which I use more.

 

In addition I find that the pen tracking and smoothing is better than the Win32 app. As a result, I switched to the UWP app long time ago.

 

And if we are honest here, I don't recall a single new feature on the Win32 app since 2010., which was the introduction of the ribbon bar. Ok well technically 2013, which had the updated ribbon bar and display scaling support, which is cooler now... but I mean no actual feature that improves your note taking.

[Master Disaster]

24 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

I also prefer the UWP app. While it does lack options that the Win32 app has (which I never or rarely used), the UWP one does have features that the that Win32 doesn't have in exchange, which I use more.

 

In addition I find that the pen tracking and smoothing is better than the Win32 app. As a result, I switched to the UWP app long time ago.

 

And if we are honest here, I don't recall a single new feature on the Win32 app since 2010., which was the introduction of the ribbon bar. Ok well technically 2013, which had the updated ribbon bar and display scaling support, which is cooler now... but I mean no actual feature that improves your note taking.

But the ideas behind UWP are pretty much all negative...

 

Remove user choice √

Remove developer choice √

Restrict users from modifying software √

Try and make more money by taking a cut from sales √

 

UWP is not good for developers or consumers, the only party receiving benefit from it is Microsoft.

[GoodBytes]

34 minutes ago, Master Disaster said:

But the ideas behind UWP are pretty much all negative...

 

Remove user choice √

Remove developer choice √

Restrict users from modifying software √

Try and make more money by taking a cut from sales √

 

UWP is not good for developers or consumers, the only party receiving benefit from it is Microsoft.

While UWP does introduce limitations for Win32 program mostly due to the sandbox environment it is in (ie: you can't make a system tweak utility, or a AutoHotKey replacement, etc.), you can make anything you want. Google and Mozilla can make Chrome/Firefox in UWP if they wanted (I mean their own web browser, not using Edge), to my knowledge there is no restrictions. Most points you mentioned are Store restrictions. So this is where Google and Mozilla would be blocked. You don't have to distribute your app on the Store.

 

Like Win32 programs (which can now also be distributed in the Store, see: Notepad++, Paint.net, Spotify as examples), they can also be downloaded and installed from the web instead, bypassing the store. So, if the developer wants to sell their UWP app from their website to get 100% profit, they can. You just download the app, and run it, which will pass through an installer, and voila, the app will be on your system.

[Doobeedoo]

Interesting, but not unexpected. Office 2019 being W10 exclusive makes sense too at this point, also reason for them making it for businesses who don't want Office 365 so. 

But if it would be UWP entirely, it would really need to have all functions supported. 

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, GoodBytes said:

While UWP does introduce limitations for Win32 program mostly due to the sandbox environment it is in (ie: you can't make a system tweak utility, or a AutoHotKey replacement, etc.), you can make anything you want. Google and Mozilla can make Chrome/Firefox in UWP if they wanted. Most points you mentioned are Store restrictions. You don't have to distribute your app on the Store.

 

Like Win32 programs (which can now also be distributed in the Store, see: Notepad++, Paint.net, Spotify as examples), they can also be downloaded and installed from the web, bypassing the store. If the developer wants to sell their UWP app from their store to get 100% profit, they can.

Oh really, fair enough then, I was wrong. I genuinely didn't realise that MS allowed UWP apps to be distributed outside of the Windows Store.

 

[jagdtigger]

2 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

While UWP does introduce limitations for Win32 program mostly due to the sandbox environment it is in (ie: you can't make a system tweak utility, or a AutoHotKey replacement, etc.), you can make anything you want. Google and Mozilla can make Chrome/Firefox in UWP if they wanted (I mean their own web browser, not using Edge), to my knowledge there is no restrictions. Most points you mentioned are Store restrictions. So this is where Google and Mozilla would be blocked. You don't have to distribute your app on the Store.

 

Like Win32 programs (which can now also be distributed in the Store, see: Notepad++, Paint.net, Spotify as examples), they can also be downloaded and installed from the web instead, bypassing the store. So, if the developer wants to sell their UWP app from their website to get 100% profit, they can. You just download the app, and run it, which will pass through an installer, and voila, the app will be on your system.

If my memory serves me correctly UWP apps are required to use the engine of edge:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-has-effectively-banned-third-party-browsers-from-the-windows-store/

 

BTW you conveniently ignored the third point, mods. UWP pretty much kills them, even if a dev tries to implement some kind of an option for it it wont be as powerful as a mod that has direct access to the programs files...

[Drak3]

Meh. Both kinda suck. Alot.

[GoodBytes]

37 minutes ago, jagdtigger said:

If my memory serves me correctly UWP apps are required to use the engine of edge:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-has-effectively-banned-third-party-browsers-from-the-windows-store/

If you want to put it on the Store.

 

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BTW you conveniently ignored the third point, mods. UWP pretty much kills them

I am sure 99% of the users of Windows 10 OS are deeply affected by this change. And I am sure the developers are going "Darn! Now, no one is breaking our license agreement!"

 

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even if a dev tries to implement some kind of an option for it it wont be as powerful as a mod that has direct access to the programs files...

Devs can push their mod support as much as they want. They are the ones that choose how far or little they want to invest in implementing it. If they don't want people to touch their game, or app, then so be it. No one can. Remove a or all points in your review of the game or app for lacking such functionality.

[jagdtigger]

15 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

If you want to put it on the Store.

Which most users will use, sorry but like it or not they are removing options here....

 

18 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

And I am sure the developers are going "Darn! Now, no one is breaking our license agreement!"

And possibly loose many customers while they are at it...

 

21 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Devs can push their mod support as much as they want.

It would be fun to watch them sweat and failwhile they are trying to make a mod working in UWP like mcforge for instance... (this is why MS didnt kill the java version, it would byte them in the butt pretty hard)

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, jagdtigger said:

Which most users will use, sorry but like it or not they are removing options here....

 

And possibly loose many customers while they are at it...

 

It would be fun to watch them sweat and failwhile they are trying to make a mod working in UWP like mcforge for instance... (this is why MS didnt kill the java version, it would byte them in the butt pretty hard)

You can make extensions to UWP apps but they'd have to be regulated heavily and authorized by the app or game developed. Every single one would need to be authorized by the dev. That would be ridiculously painful.

[MoonSpot]

4 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

But the ideas behind UWP are pretty much all negative...

 

Remove user choice √

Remove developer choice √

Restrict users from modifying software √

Try and make more money by taking a cut from sales √

 

UWP is not good for developers or consumers, the only party receiving benefit from it is Microsoft.

Just waiting for the day where people have to pay $5.99 to enable individual fonts, and $2 to $200 to enable each formulae in excel.

 

The moment the code is off your machine, your bare ass is left hanging out for MS to have their way with it.  This is a, if not the, goal of all cloud based software 'services'.  They want you to walk into their walled garden and slam the lid shut on you once they've cultivated your dependency on it and them enough.

[captain_to_fire]

18 minutes ago, MoonSpot said:

Just waiting for the day where people have to pay $5.99 to enable individual fonts, and $2 to $200 to enable each formulae in excel.

 

The moment the code is off your machine, your bare ass is left hanging out for MS to have their way with it.  This is a, if not the, goal of all cloud based software 'services'.  They want you to walk into their walled garden and slam the lid shut on you once they've cultivated your dependency on it and them enough.

I can imagine the outrage in the future if Microsoft made Office 365 free on the Windows Store but features in each application requires an in-app purchase. $9.99/month if a user wants advanced math functions in Excel, $3.99/month for adding animations and transitions in PowerPoint and $2.99/month just to insert SmartArt graphics in Word. As terrible as it sounds, I think it’s a stunt Microsoft will try to attempt. 

 

[captain_to_fire]

5 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

But the ideas behind UWP are pretty much all negative...

 

Remove user choice √

Remove developer choice √

Restrict users from modifying software √

Try and make more money by taking a cut from sales √

 

UWP is not good for developers or consumers, the only party receiving benefit from it is Microsoft.

As terrible as it is, I think Microsoft forcing UWP is not because of security reasons but mostly about making more money since Windows 10 upgrades are now free of charge. But then, I doubt the likes of Adobe will be migrating their entire Creative Cloud suite to the Windows Store. 

[Cedimedi]

I wonder if they will change to 64bit standard now because all office apps are still installed as 32bit if you donz explicitly choose 64bit

[GoodBytes]

7 minutes ago, Cedimedi said:

I wonder if they will change to 64bit standard now because all office apps are still installed as 32bit if you donz explicitly choose 64bit

Well Office 64-bit has no benefits over 32-bit beside being better for Excel (can handle mass formulas betters and give high precision numbers) and maybe Access. But the problem is a lot of extensions and VB scripts made for Office needs to be converted from 32 to 64-bit. So for compatibility, it picks 32-bit as default as "best choice" for most, at least for now. They have the telemetry data and know when it would be best to stick to 64-bit by default, and the eventual discontinuation of the 32-bit version (which can only happen AFTER Windows 32-bit is gone).

[Misanthrope]

Uh oh. Luckily I never got around to use this since well I mostly use excel so I've gotten used to take notes directly on excel but a few co-workers will probably need to have their laptops re-imaged to all 64 bit.

[jagdtigger]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

VB scripts

Now this is one thing id like to see gone... Its a pain with non MS stuff and even a bigger pain to learn it .

[Salv8 (sam)]

17 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

We do not know at this time if similar things will happen for the other Win32 Office applications.

i hope to god this doesn't happen, i'm not paying for office 365. hell my cuz gave me one of his MSDN office keys cause he agreed with me (don't do this it's against Microsoft's agreement when you use MSDN, my cuz just doesn't use his cause he shares his 365 subscription with his family to save money)

[Arika]

32 minutes ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

i hope to god this doesn't happen, i'm not paying for office 365. hell my cuz gave me one of his MSDN office keys cause he agreed with me (don't do this it's against Microsoft's agreement when you use MSDN, my cuz just doesn't use his cause he shares his 365 subscription with his family to save money)

there's a difference between office 365 and the UWP Office.

 

Office 365 is just the subscription service instead of a once off payment for a single version of the software. Office 365 uses the UWP apps 

 

They are still releasing the stand alone "offline" versions of Office (like the upcoming Office 2019) just as they always have. Will still be the exact same apps just a different way of paying for it.