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The Tablet PC ushered in a new era of mobile computing as a single, fully functioning PC that's practical and comfortable while you're on the go and that also works well when you're at your desk. With integrated pen support, touch-screen support, digital-ink input, handwriting recognition technologies, and innovative hardware, ultra-portable Tablet PCs are comfortable and productive virtually anywhere, anytime.
(To learn more about Tablet PCs and the mobile lifestyle, visit our mobile PC site.)
Windows Vista includes significant pen improvements that, besides making a tablet pen easier to use, further enhance Tablet PC functionality beyond that of laptop computers.
Windows Vista provides visual pen feedback for single-tap, double-tap, and right-clicking. This subtle feedback gives you greater confidence in the operation just completed. You can turn visual feedback on or off in Pen and Input Devices in Control Panel.
In earlier versions of Windows, it was difficult to select multiple files when using either a slate Tablet PC or a convertible Tablet PC in slate mode. Explorer check boxes now make it easier to select multiple files. When you hover over any set of files with a tablet pen, a small check box appears. You can select one or more files and then move, copy, or delete them as a group.
Windows Vista enhances pen functionality by adding pen flicks. These are gestures that you can make with a tablet pen to quickly navigate and perform shortcuts.
Navigational pen flicks include drag up, drag down, move back, and move forward. For example, instead of dragging the scroll bar down to read a webpage on your Tablet PC, you can flick the pen, and the window will scroll down. Editing pen flicks include copy, paste, delete, and undo. For example, you can paste an item into a document or delete text with just a flick of your pen.
You can customize pen flicks to perform other functions, which increases your efficiency while making pen use feel more natural. To make pen training easier, Windows Vista includes a tutorial that presents the essentials of using a tablet pen to perform these shortcuts.
Windows Vista improves document navigation in Internet Explorer with a new feature called the Panning hand. Instead of using the scroll bar to page through a document, you can grab the page with the pen and move it directly. By using a button with a hand icon on the Internet Explorer toolbar, you can toggle between panning and text selection modes.
If touch input is available on your Tablet PC, you can use your finger to do many of the things that you do with a mouse or a tablet pen. For example, you can use your finger to browse the Web, control objects on the screen, and even write. You can also use touch flicks—gestures that you can make with a flick of your finger to quickly navigate and perform shortcuts.
To overcome the challenge of targeting small items or resizing windows with your finger, Windows Vista includes the touch pointer. This new feature consists of a left mouse button, a right mouse button, a drag area, and a pointer. While you're using touch, this mouselike assistant floats on the screen just below your finger.
You can capture a snip (or screen shot) of any object on your screen—whether it's part of a website, document, or program. Using your pen, draw a circle, a rectangle, or a free-form shape around the object. You can then add handwritten comments to the snip and save it or send it in an e-mail message.
If the image you captured is from a webpage, Snipping Tool attaches the URL automatically. Snipping Tool in Windows Vista prevents the capture of content that has been protected by digital rights management.
Snipping Tool in the Experience Pack for Tablet PC is one of the most popular programs among Tablet PC users. Because Snipping Tool is an accessory in Windows Vista, desktop computer and non–Tablet PC users can also take advantage of this feature. Just drag your mouse to select a rectangular area for capture.
Windows Vista improves Tablet PC Input Panel, an accessory on Tablet PCs that enables you to use handwriting or an on-screen keyboard to enter text. You can use the writing pad or the character pad to convert your handwriting to text, or use the onscreen keyboard in the same way that you use a standard keyboard. By using Input Panel, you can enter text on your Tablet PC when typing on a standard keyboard would not be appropriate, such as in a meeting, class lecture, or interview.
Entering URLs, e-mail addresses, and file names is faster and easier with AutoComplete, a new addition to Tablet PC Input Panel that works just like AutoComplete in programs such as Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office Outlook. As you write a letter or series of letters, AutoComplete lists possible matches in Input Panel based on text that you've entered before.
Everyone needs to make corrections to what they write. In Windows Vista, it's easier to edit or replace ink in Input Panel. For example, in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, you must use the Z-shaped scratch-out gesture to erase words or characters. Windows Vista enables several new, more tolerant scratch-out gestures, including strikethrough, vertical scratch-out in the pattern of an M or W, circular scratch-out, and angled scratch-out. If your tablet pen has an eraser, you can also use the back-of-pen eraser to delete writing.
The Tablet PC Input Panel tab provides a new way to open and position Input Panel on the screen. When Input Panel is closed, the tab appears on the left edge of your screen by default.
To open Input Panel, tap the Input Panel tab, and it slides out from the edge of your screen. When you close Input Panel, the tab slides back to the edge of the screen.
You can move the Input Panel tab by dragging it up or down along the edge of the screen. Then, when you tap it, Input Panel opens at the same horizontal location on the screen that the tab appears.
Noticeable improvements have been made to the handwriting recognition experience right out of the box. In addition, because personal writing styles vary considerably, and the vocabulary that individuals and organizations use constantly evolves, Windows Vista includes two new features that you can use to teach the handwriting recognizer about your writing style and vocabulary. These features can further improve handwriting recognition accuracy.
The way you form characters and words is part of your individual writing style.
In Windows Vista, instead of having to change your handwriting to get better handwriting recognition results, you can train the handwriting recognizer to recognize how you write characters and words.
You can provide handwriting samples to teach the handwriting recognizer about your writing style and specific recognition errors to target. Using the handwriting recognition personalization tool increases the likelihood that your handwriting will be recognized correctly by Input Panel and by programs for the Tablet PC that use handwriting recognition.
If you turn on automatic learning in Windows Vista, it enables the handwriting recognizer to learn your handwriting style or vocabulary by collecting data about the words you use and how you write them. The personalization occurs behind the scenes, without user interaction. Automatic learning works with many e-mail programs, including Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2003.
For English, automatic learning creates a unique dictionary from your sent e-mail messages. It adds new words and terms, such as acronyms, industry jargon, and e-mail addresses, to the dictionary. The recognizer prioritizes the words by their frequency to further improve handwriting recognition results.
For East Asian languages, Windows Vista offers special recognition help for converting handwriting in Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, and Korean into text by remembering the corrections that you make to characters. As you make corrections, Windows Vista learns to distinguish more precisely between different characters so that you see better results the more you use your Tablet PC.
Automatic learning creates a unique dictionary from your sent e-mail messages.
Windows Vista provides a way for you to send information to Microsoft about corrections that you've made in Input Panel. By reporting errors, you can help Microsoft identify common handwriting recognition problems and improve the accuracy of handwriting recognition in future versions of Windows.
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