Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
In fact, Tablet PCs will use a special edition of Windows XP called Windows
XP Tablet PC Edition. Don't worry, it is not some crummy trinket
like the feared Windows CE (Compact Edition). Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is
actually Windows XP with added features.
You may remember a special version of Windows 3.x designed for pen
computing called Windows for Pen Computing. Although nobody really used this
Frankenstein OS, feel free to think of it as the grandfather of Windows XP
Tablet PC Edition.
Desktop Orientation
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition makes it easy to rotate the orientation of the
desktop between landscape and portrait depending on how you are holding the
Tablet PC. This function will come in handy for users of the many Tablet PCs
that can function as a monitor as well.
Input Panel
This feature, represented by an icon next to the Start Menu, toggles between an
on-screen keyboard and a pen-text entry mode. In the pen-text entry mode the
user can use a stylus to enter handwritten text. Sophisticated
software promises to convert this handwritten text into computerized text for
any software program. Using the single-button available on the stylus along with
the pressure sensitive click, the user can enter various modes such as
highlight, italicize, or erase, to name a few.
Windows Journal
This software utility is the Tablet PC version of WordPad and Notepad.
Featuring a college-rule note paper atmosphere, it is designed for use with the
stylus. Within Windows Journal the user can select text, highlight text, add
lines of text between others, cut and copy text, convert handwritten text to
computerized text, and more. There is even a feature to Copy as Text so that
you can retain handwritten text in the clipboard before conversion.
Windows Sticky Notes
Yes, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition comes with sticky notes. Users can attach
sticky notes to most applications. In addition to text, the notes can retain
sound samples recorded by the user.
Personal note on Sticky Notes: I wrote a Sticky Note shareware program back in
1995 and sold it on AOL as shareware. (Me and about 5,000 other people.) Mine
sold considerably well since I charged a nominal $1 for registration. I was in
8th grade, what did I know. To me, a hundred bucks was equivalent to topping out
an IPO at 5$US Billion.
Inkball
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition features a game called Inkball. I haven't played it,
but I assume it involves the stylus somehow. I think it is a pong derivative
somehow.
Tablet PC Office Pack
Microsoft Office will have special features designed for the Tablet PC that come
in the Tablet PC Office Pack. Basically, the pack will offer handwritten text
compatibility for Word, Outlook, and
Powerpoint.
www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_tabletpc.asp
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/