OCR Using Microsoft OneNote 2007
For the occasional basic OCR stuff, MS OneNote’s optical character recognition feature is a timesaver. You might have missed it…it’s called Copy Text from Picture.
Details see http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-5-free-ocr-software-tools-to-convert-your-images-into-text-nb/

OneNote does cost money but it's great and basically doesn't have any comparable alternative. The only benefit of Evernote is the sync, but that's very easilly solved by pointing your ON notebooks to a Dropbox or Live Mesh folder.

OneNote is arguably the best piece of software of the office suite.

Don't forget to install the PRINTOUT MANAGER plugin.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/onenotetips/archive/2011/01/20/printout-manager-for-onenote-2010.aspx

I'm a big Onenote fan and never really used Evernote. They're different though and each have their strengths and weaknesses. It depends on what you really want to do with your notes/screen clippings/URL's/documents...etc. If you want something like Onenote but free, I suggest you try Zoho Notebook. So far, it's the closest thing I've seen and it's online so accessible from many places.

Hi there,
I'm looking for an alternative to OneNote (for notebook, not tablet) which allows to draw arrows (and possibly braces and similar stuff) which SCROLL DOWN together with the text.

I mean that one note is wonderful for writing in any part of the page and so on, but... if you write something in the middle of the text, the text of course moves down... but arrows and drawings don't. They stay where they are, completely disconnected from the text, losing any meaning they had.

So... is there any software which allows to write/draw freely and later add some new text above without making a mess?

it is somewhat hard to use but it does the job, its simple and it works for me so i am happy with it

Because of the very uncomplicated Web- and "Windows Mobile" Synchronisation, I prefer EverNote (2+3).
However, if somebody has very confidental data, the online synchronisation could be seen as not so optimal.
OneNote Mobile (1) cannot sync with Online Storage (neither with Live SkyDrive nor with Live Mesh), only with the Desktop PC about Active Sync or WMDC.
The greatest advantage of OneNote in my opinion is the great and unique OCR function of the OneNote Desktop version.
(1) http://alternativeto.net/mobile/onenote-mobile/
(2) http://alternativeto.net/desktop/evernote/
(3) http://alternativeto.net/mobile/evernote/

i have to disagree with you, Lambda. i think linux users would be smart enough to realize they could just use google docs or google notebook or something.

You know, if M$ released this on Linux, I imagine Linux users would even pay for it.

So I can't view Evernote on my phone if I am offline and I can't edit notes on my phone. It is like having a bike but can't use it in certain conditions. Pointless.

Premium Evernote does cost money, and it has a horrendous text editor and note taking ability. Honestly, these are two different beasts. Onenote lacks the simple syncing and "cloud" integration and Evernote lacks a haflway decent editing tool, dynamic placement of note elements and has a terrible scrolling interface that they seem attached to. Until one of these programs fills in some gaps, they are still not that comparable. If you want to snap quick photos, email quick notes, and need the simple syncing, then Evernote is probably best. If you are trying to make more thorough and customized databases, knowledgebases, or other such "records" Onenote offers a lot that others don't. If you are capable of utilizing the server based advantages of Onenote, that may tip the scales some. depends on what you need.

I use and am satisfied

I miss onenote after getting my Mac. I use xinote.com and it is pretty similar to onenote in terms of interface. It is quite good for me as of now.

OneNote is nice. But it cost money and Evernote does not. Evernote is the winner!