Although we are staunch defenders of the keyboard and mouse combo for working on a computer, there are some tasks that require a different strategy. Taking notes and writing freehand with a mouse is irritating at best, or outright impossible at worst. However, that can improve a lot with the right tools, and on the software side we have OpenBoard. It is one of the best interactive digital whiteboards, which besides being free and open source, also supports the major operating systems.
The supply of note-taking software for mobile devices is enormous. OneNote, Evernote and Google Keep are the first options that come to mind when it comes to Android, but I know I am forgetting dozens of iOS-compatible apps. Now, what happens on traditional computers? There are many devices with touch or stylus support out there, either built into the screen or with the help of a Wacom-style accessory.
The rest is a matter of finding good software, and some arrows point in the direction of OpenBoard. Its page describes an interactive digital whiteboard especially designed for schools and universities, but nothing stops us from downloading it for personal use. This software is maintained by the Department of Education of the canton of Geneva in Switzerland, costs nothing for the end user, and is completely open source.
Download OpenBoard, an Interactive Digital Whiteboard for Teachers and Students
Installing OpenBoard takes a few seconds, and its package takes care of adding any missing dependencies in the operating system (at least, that's what happens in the Windows version we evaluated). Once the process is complete, the software starts in board mode, with two control bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
At the bottom we have commands to annotate documents, erase and highlight, select, modify and interact with elements, page scrolling, zoom, virtual laser pointer, line drawing, text, screenshot and virtual keyboard.
The commands on the top bar can change a bit depending on our selection, but generally we have stroke color and size, eraser diameter, backgrounds (for example, if you want to use lines or grids), page controls (add, advance and go back), a global erase, and shortcuts for the Web, documents (open, export, etc.), or the desktop.
This last point is one of the most interesting, since it enables the possibility of creating notes and highlighting text directly on the Windows desktop. You can mark any web page, Word document, PDF or help file, take a full or partial screenshot, and export the material to a PDF document, which is the main option in OpenBoard.
OpenBoard is compatible with Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.13+, or Ubuntu 20.04 64-bit, but if you need an older build, you can find it on its official GitHub profile.
Official website and downloads: Click here
