Microsoft to push OEMs to bundle OneNote with Windows 8.1 update 1

In the next couple of weeks, Microsoft is expected to release Windows 8.1 update 1 via Windows update. Seeing as Microsoft already posted the build to Windows update (twice), many of us have begun to play with the new features.

For OEMs, however, it looks like Microsoft is about to start pushing OneNote with new installs of the update.

In a document that was recently leaked that details the Windows 8.1 Update 1, or as the document refers to it as Windows 8.1 Update GDR, Microsoft will be pushing vendors to include OneNote with the update.

Microsoft recently released OneNote for OS X and it would appear that the company is about to start pushing the product as another core offering of Windows. By bundling the apps together, Microsoft will likely hope to make inroads into against competitors such as Evernote.

Windows 8.1 update 1 will bring a bunch of new features to Windows 8.1 including pinning modern apps to the taskbar and additional mouse and keyboard friendly context menus. The update will likely be pushed out with patch Tuesday in April and detailed at Microsoft’s upcoming BUILD conference.

With OneNote about to become another core app that ships with Windows 8.1, Microsoft will once again, increase the value of the platform out of the box.

Thanks for the tip @bav0!