[1][2] Previous version allowed the user to create and organize handwritten notes and drawings, and to save them in a .JNT file, or export them in TIFF format.

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,[3] for external applications to use.

Windows Journal Viewer, also created by Microsoft, allows viewing the Windows Journal notes (.JNT files) on other systems without the Tablet PC software.

Windows Journal was not visibly updated after its introduction and eventually became obsolete, although it was tested for compatibility throughout the development of new versions of Windows and patched for security vulnerabilities as recently as May 2016.