Windows Journal
| Windows Journal | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Windows Journal running on Windows 11 | |
| Developer | Microsoft |
| Included with |
|
| Successor | OneNote |
Windows Journal was a notetaking application created by Microsoft. It allowed the user to create and organize handwritten notes and drawings. It could be used with an ordinary computer mouse to compose a handwritten note, as well as a graphics tablet or a Tablet PC. It was first included with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, and then later included with selected editions of Windows Vista and later. It was removed in 2016 with the Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" and was succeeded by OneNote. In the following months, patches for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 were released to uninstall Windows Journal due to security vulnerabilities with the Windows Journal file format (.JNT).
History
[edit]Initial release
[edit]The first release of Windows Journal was included with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.
Windows Journal Viewer
[edit]Windows Journal Viewer, also created by Microsoft, allowed viewing notes created with Windows Journal on other systems without the Tablet PC software. The most recently released version 1.5.2316.0[1] for Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 was removed as of March 2016.
Windows Vista
[edit]An update was included with Windows Vista with slight visual changes.
Discontinuation and replacements
[edit]Windows Journal was included with later revisions of Windows. While it didn't receive feature updates, it was still tested for compatibility and patched for security vulnerabilities.[2] Windows Journal was available in the original July 2015 release of Windows 10 (version 1507) and the "November Update" (version 1511), but it was removed in the "Anniversary Update".[3] Windows Journal is now replaced by OneNote, which is integrated into Windows 10. OneNote does not support natively support Windows Journal files, but Microsoft offers the ability to reinstall Journal[4] and a tool for converting Journal files to OneNote files.[5] On July 12, 2016, Microsoft released a patch (KB3170735) for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 to notify users about future Windows Journal developments.[6] On August 9, 2016, Microsoft released another patch (KB3161102) to remove Windows Journal from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 due to the Windows Journal file format (Journal Note File, or JNT) being susceptible to security exploits.[7][8]
On February 17, 2021, Microsoft released an alternative to Windows Journal called Microsoft Journal[9] as a part of the Microsoft Garage program.
JNT format
[edit]Microsoft has provided no documentation for its proprietary .JNT file format, which makes it difficult or impossible for other developers or software publishers to read or write .JNT files. Therefore, other programs cannot import Windows Journal files. There can be no third-party applications that make direct use of files created with Windows Journal. .JNT files should be converted to other formats such as XML with the Journal Reader Supplemental Component,[10] for external applications to use.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Download Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer 1.5 from Official Microsoft Download Center". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. 14 March 2005. Archived from the original on 2016-01-15. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ^ Shinder, Debra (12 May 2016). "May 2016 – Microsoft Patch Tuesday". gfi.com/blog. GFI Software.
- ^ Veal, Nicholas (5 May 2016). "Sticky Notes updated for preview users". MSPowerUser.
- ^ "Windows Journal Application Beta Refresh for Windows". Support. Microsoft. 9 August 2016.
- ^ Guin, John (21 December 2007). "Journal to OneNote Importer". OneNote Testing. Microsoft.
- ^ "July 2016 Update for Windows Journal". Support. Microsoft. 15 July 2016.
- ^ "Update for Windows Journal component removal". Support. Microsoft. 9 August 2016.
- ^ Popa, Bogdan (10 August 2016). "Microsoft Releases KB3161102 to Kill Off Windows Journal". Softpedia. SoftNews SRL.
- ^ Windows Insider Program (2021-02-17). A look inside: Microsoft Journal, a Microsoft Garage project. Retrieved 2025-11-02 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Microsoft Windows Journal Reader Supplemental Component for the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Development Kit 1.7". Microsoft Developer Network (v.1.7.2600.2180 ed.). Microsoft Corporation. April 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
Further reading
[edit]- "Create and personalize handwritten notes using Windows Journal". Windows 7 Help home. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- "Customize the appearance of a Journal note". Windows Vista Help home. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- "Tablet PC improvements". Windows 7 home. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- "New Tools to Use with Your PC". Windows XP Tablet PC Edition home. Microsoft Corporation. 7 November 2002. Archived from the original on 4 February 2004. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- Russel, Charlie (20 January 2003). "Getting to Know Windows Journal for Tablet PC". Windows XP home. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
- "Converting Journal Notes to XML, SVG, and OneNote". Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
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