And the AI helped to power new gestures, like scratch out and instant lasso - tools you could move between more easily, without mode switches. The AI also helped to improve the app’s search capabilities so you could pull up your old notes, lists, sketches and more, based on its understanding of your inked notes and content. For some of the drawings and headings, the app puts a cue on the side of the page that users can tap to select the content and then take other actions like “move” or “copy.” The team trained the app’s AI to automatically recognize and categorize the things users write, including headings, starred items, keywords and even drawings. Journal, however, wanted to push the concept forward by combining the digital ink input with AI technologies.

The concept was familiar to the company, which had first launched an ink-focused application called Journal back on its Tablet PC in 2002 and continued to release “ink” capabilities across apps like Whiteboard, OneNote, PowerPoint and more, the company explained at the time. The original idea behind Journal was to offer users an alternative to grabbing a pen and paper when inspiration strikes, while still allowing them to express themselves through writing.

The company this week announced the new note-taking app will now be available as “Microsoft Journal,” allowing users to capture their thoughts and create drawings using their digital pen on Windows tablets, 2-in-1s and other pen-capable devices. A little over a year after its initial release, a digital note-taking app called Journal is making the leap from being an experimental project housed with Microsoft’s internal incubator, Microsoft Garage, to becoming a full-fledged Microsoft Windows application.

Microsoft notes app