Evernote announced today that users of its popular notetaking software on Windows now have access to Presentation Mode, a feature that allows people to automatically create presentations from their notes.
The feature, which is now available for users of the Mac, iOS and PC versions of the Evernote app, is a clear shot at Microsoft PowerPoint. Rather than requiring users to build a new slide deck out of whole cloth, Presentation Mode makes it possible for someone who already has notes saved in Evernote to create a presentation with the push of a button. Here’s a video that shows how it works:
Users who have their device hooked up to a projector or other external display can edit the note or notes that are being used in the presentation in real time, and then see those edits pop up inside the presentation. That could prove a boon to people who need to add content to their slides on the fly, or who want to incorporate new suggestions into their notes while presenting.
In my brief testing, Presentation Mode isn’t going to replace a precision-crafted slide deck from an app like PowerPoint or Keynote for major presentations, but Evernote’s current implementation is an easy and frictionless way for people to give informal updates based on notes.
In addition, Evernote announced that it has topped 100 million users across its platforms, including its main notetaking app, Skitch, Penultimate and other products. While the company wants to keep adding users, it’s also gathering speed and taking on more established players.
While Evernote is encroaching on Microsoft’s turf, the Redmond-based company is pushing back. Mac users finally got a version of OneNote, and Microsoft has started offering its notetaking software for free in an attempt to compete with Evernote’s software.
