What can I use on a Macbook Pro to take notes in class?

Question

I just got this computer and I was wondering if there are any apps or any programs that come with the computer that would just be good for taking notes and organization. I like the tab system Mavericks has maybe I could utilize that, or something. Any answers will be helpful, thank you:)

Answer 1

You can either take notes in an app like Evernote (free from the App Store on the Dock) that keeps all data in a database or you can save individual documents and keep them in folders, such as "Chemistry 2014 fall". The advantage of Evernote is it is self-searching and self-organizing. It has the disadvantage of possibly losing all notes if the one database gets corrupt or damaged. The advantage of individual documents is you can share them with anyone and have better reliability.



For a Mac OS system, you have these popular options for individual text documents:

– You can open and edit .DOC or .DOCX files in TextEdit (included with Mac OS). You can also create reasonably good .DOC files with TextEdit. It lacks some of the more exacting formatting options found in the other choices below.

– MS Office 2011 (for OS 10.5.8 or later). About US$130.

– Apple's Pages that is like Word, and Keynote that is like PowerPoint; should be included with new Macs but for older Macs, buy each for US$19.99, click the App Store on the Dock. For your new Mac, if Pages is not in the Applications folder, click "App Store" on the Dock, and type "Pages" in the search. Download Pages.

– NeoOffice, newest version US$10, last year's version free. Some people use OpenOffice or LibreOffice, but they are lesser cousins to NeoOffice.

– http://Docs.google.com or other online office editors.



{NeoOffice is the direct Mac development of OpenOffice and LibreOffice, and thus has a better interface, smaller size, and better highlighting appearance. Most people learn about OpenOffice / LibreOffice from PC use, but they don't know there is a better free version for OS X.}



COMPATIBILITY:

– MS Office 2011 can edit and save any office document.

– Apple's Pages / Keynote / Numbers (sold separately) can edit any .DOC / .PPT / .XLS document, and export as .DOC / .PPT / .XLS document, but can only view .DOCX / .PPTX / .XLSX documents and edit / export them as .DOC / .PPT / .XLS.

– NeoOffice can edit and export any format of Word or PowerPoint or Excel document.



Pages is similar in use to Word, except not as many oddities and hidden defaults that are hard to change. Keynote is similar to PowerPoint, except with much better transitions. Keynote has two limitations: it cannot apply a video to more than one slide, and it cannot apply an audio file (music) to more than one slide (except as background for the whole presentation). That's why I have both Apple's office apps and MS Office.



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Answer 2

That's like asking "I need clothes: should I buy a tee shirt or a pair of pants?" The MacBook Pro and iPad are both consumer electronics, but the purpose of each is totally different. The MacBook Pro is a stand-alone and fully-functional computer system. The iPad is a portable media device that's intended to be uses with a computer, not instead of.

Answer 3

Syncing Note Taker: Notational Velocity



Notational Velocity is a fantastic Simplenote client on Mac. Simplenote is a great way to keep all your class notes synchronized and stored in one place so you always have access to them.



Note and Idea Capture: Evernote



Evernote is an excellent resource for students to capture everything they have going on in class. If you need a little inspiration for how to use Evernote, Shep McAllister's guest post on the Evernote blog outlines a lot of ways you can use Evernote in school, including taking snapshots of notes, blackboards, organizing research, and more



Office Suite: Google Docs



Not long ago, students were stuck with Microsoft Office for their office suite, but now that Google Docs has offline editing it's a perfect replacement to Office for most students. The best part is the fact that it's free, but it also has pretty much everything you need: spreadsheets, presentations, and a document editor. It also stores you documents in the cloud so you never to worry about the horrible just-lost-my-paper panic.



Books: Kindle for Mac



Carrying around textbooks is a huge hassle. Instead, provided your books are available digitally, you can just carry around your computer and access them on your PC. The Kindle app is also a great way to highlight, take notes and share those notes with other classmates.



Document Backup: Dropbox



Not only is Dropbox a handy place to store all your files, it can also be a lifesaver when you realize you forgot to bring in an assignment. Simply pop into Dropbox, and email the link directly to your professor from any computer.



Secondary Office Suite: LibreOffice



Google Docs for creating and editing your own documents, that doesn't mean everyone else does. Just to be safe, it's not bad to have an Office suite on your computer, and LibreOffice is nice to have around in case you can't access Google Docs. It's also helpful for when you need advanced formatting options for certain types of assignments.



Research Assistant:



MendeleyKeeping track of research can get really complicated, especially when you're working with a bunch of different documents from your library. Mendeley is an organization tool that helps you keep track of all those PDF files. It also lets you annotate and generates citations on the spot.

Answer 4

Hi,

To download LibreOffice for free you can click here http://bit.ly/1p6RwWt



LibreOffice is a great software that offers six different office management tools to meet your project management needs: Text Document, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Drawing, Database, and Formula.



Best

Answer 5

Microsoft OneNote is popular for this purpose. It’s free at SkyDrive.com

Answer 6

How about TextEdit lmao