Windows XP Tablet PC Edition Chat

Chat Topic: Tablet PC web chat (10am-11am PST)
Date: Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Hi everyone, and welcome to the Tablet PC chat!

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Today we are answering your questions about Tablet PC.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Before we begin, I would like to begin by posting the chat rules and instructions for customers:

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
1. This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there are some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information or because the information is not yet public.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
2. We encourage you to submit questions for our Experts. To do so, type your questions in the send box, select the Submit a Question radio button and click SEND. Questions sent directly to the Guest Chat room will not be answered by the Experts, but we encourage other community members to assist.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
3. We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over, but not during.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
4. Please only submit your question once. Submitting your question more than once is against the Chat Code of Conduct.

Introductions

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
I'm Andrew Brown, and I'm the MVP Lead for Tablet PC, and the moderator for this chat.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Welcome! I'm a Program Manager on the team that released the Experience Pack and Education Pack for Tablet PC.

robert (Expert):
Hi. I am Robert Williams, Director of Business Development for the Mobile Platforms Division. Thanks for joining our chat.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Hi, my name is Frank Gocinski and I drive ISV business development for the Mobile Platforms Division, welcome to the chat.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Go ahead and begin sending us your questions, and we'll get the chat underway.

Start of Chat

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Are there any plans on increasing the lanuages for tablets? I noticed that the recognizer pack has several languages but is missing Russian for instance. any plans on adding a few?
A: With Windows Vista we’ll ship support for Dutch and Brazilian Portuguese, we continue to look at investments around other languages.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Are there any new form factors planned for the Tablet PC platform?
A: The original equipment manufactures are continuing to invest in the tablet platform with new designs. We are seeing smaller and lighter as well as larger (12” wide screens with optical drives), check out the OEM showcase up on tabletpc.com

robert (Expert):
Q: What is the future of the Tablet? Where are we going with it?
A: Tablet PC is a collection of enabling technologies that drive highly mobile computing scenarios. Coupled with the right HW it delivers on a number of on the go and natural user input based personal computing scenarios. As we move forward with the release of VIsta, the next WIndows operating system, we will see tablet technology become more common across the Vista product line. The details will become more public as we move forward with our Vista product disclosure plans, so that's all I can say for now.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: andrew...do the newer tablets Pc's allow all functionality of a program like Corl Painter 9.. with pessures sensitive pens for art media drawings..?
A: Some of the applications built for external digitizers like the ones you mention didn’t work out of the box on Tablet PCs because they expected an external not an onboard (internal) digitizer. Wacom (one of the digitizer manufactures) resolved this problem with a new driver that is available on their site and should resolve the problem you are seeing.

robert (Expert):
Q: hi should i get a tablet pc or a laptop for school i was thinking a tablet would be good for taking notes
A: I have two kids in college and one in high school. They find tablets to be the ideal PC for student tasks. They love the ability to take notes on their PC. I would recommend a tablet over a laptop for any student.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Running into issues trying to install patch KB887998 after .NET 2.0 has been installed on a tablet pc. Is there a fix or an updated KB file to fix this issue?
A: what are the issues you're seeing?

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: Wondering if there are any current, lightweight devices running Tablet. Have a Compaq 1000TC, but it is mud slow. Anyone out there producing a 2-3 pund device running the os?
A: There are quite a few Tablet PCs in the 3-4 lb range. Electrovaya, IBM, HP, Fujitsu, and Motion all have Tablet PCs in that weight range. There are currently only a few in the 2-3 lb range by NEC, Motion, and Research Machines, and possibly some others I'm forgetting. But manufacturers are constantly exploring both larger and smaller form factors of Tablet PC, so keep a look out as new hardware becomes available.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: Are the plans to eventually replace desktops the like with tablets or similar?
A: We believe that a variety of form factors will be successful. Reducing the size, heat and power consumption of components will always be more expensive, so a world of 100% laptop/notebook devices seems unlikely, at least in the near future. You may have heard, though, that portable sales have overtaken desktop sales, so the trend seems to be heading in that direction. Certainly the functionality you see in today's Tablet PCs - inking and stylus use - are something we believe should be broadly available in mobile form factors.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Am I right in thinking that the handwriting recognition in Vista will be trainable ?
A: We have added what we call Personalization to the recognition engines in Windows Vista and you will be able to teach them how you write your words and letters. It’s very cool.

robert (Expert):
Q: How do I train the handwriting on the current TIP using dictionary?
A: When you correct a misrecognized word in the TIP you will see an option in the upper right that says add to dictionary. Click on this option. You are not actually training the reco engine but you are adding the word to the dictionary that the reco engine uses so accuracy on that word will significantly improve

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Will Vista have a separate OS for Tablet (like XP) or will the same version run on all machines?
A: Unlike for Windows XP where the Tablet features are only available in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, the Tablet features of Vista will be available in several home and professional versions of Windows Vista.

robert (Expert):
Q: You can use OCR to recognize text in scans with the Microsoft Office Document Image Writer, why not use this technology with Send to OneNote so that you can search text and handwriting?
A: you can already search handwritten text in OneNote and Journal but this capability does not use OCR. It leverages the data stored in the ink data type files. It's more accurate than OCR because the data set is much richer.

robert (Expert):
Q: About the OCR and OneNote, I meant that why can't you search documents that are put in OneNote by Send to OneNote. From what I recall they are basically images in OneNote. If you can search text of scans with OCR then why not with onenote
A: ok, I get it. I think it's b/c those files come in as bit maps. Frank can add more

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: About the OCR and OneNote, I meant that why can't you search documents that are put in OneNote by Send to OneNote. From what I recall they are basically images in OneNote. If you can search text of scans with OCR then why not with onenote
A: That is correct the ink in documents is imported as a Gif file format, the OneNote team made this decision. I would add and ask that you bring this issue up with them so they can hear it straight from the customer.

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: In the Experience Pack, with the snipping tool - does it load the program every time you use it as it seems to take a while to load every time I want it - Is there a way of loading it and having an icon in the tooltray for easy (read fast) use ?
A: By default, it does load the program every time you use it. For faster access, you can set it to be in memory by putting a shortcut to SnipMgr.exe in your Startup folder. (SnipMgr.exe will be in your Microsoft Experience Pack\Snipping Tool folder under Program Files.) Then, when you launch SnippingTool.exe, it'll show up much faster. Doing this won't put it in your System Tray, but if you turn on your Quick Launch toolbar, you can easily launch Snipping Tool from there.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: I have a recurring problem (indexing service filter has to close & causes a data execution error) with Windows Desktop Search on my Tablet. I don't this problem on my desktop. Are there any know issues with using Windows Desktop Search on a Tablet?
A: I have not seen this problem but I understand your frustration. Have you installed the latest version? I would suggest you post this to our newsgroups at windowsxp.tabletpc they should be able to help you there.

robert (Expert):
Q: Is there much focus on ergonomic issues of the Tablet platform at MSFT? i.e. screen angle, the fact that many people either move the tablet to their lap or prop it up with their power brick etc.
A: Yes. We are doing a lot of work with dispaly manufacturers to optimize displays for tablet usage scenarios. Most current high volume LCD displays at 15" or under are optimized for laptops. This means they are always viewed in landscape orientation and adjusted with the laptop hinge to give a 90 degree viewing experience. For tablet one needs a wider viewing angle that works in both portrait and landscape mode. They also need better antiglare and antireflection coatings. Several tablets are already leveraging these technology advances. Try the new Motion M1600, Lenovo X41T, or Acer C200. You will notice the difference.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: We had someone ask for information on http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306906&sd=tech. It makes it sound as though handwriting will work on a desktop with either a mouse or a pen no reference to a graphics tablet. Can you elaborate?
A: It’s an accurate article but what is missing is the sampling rate of a mouse won’t deliver as high quality ink as a pen on a digitizer hence recognition will suffer. Also, it seems to imply you can write on your desktop monitor which you can’t (unless you’re using a Wacome cintique or one of the new Samsung monitors which have a digitizer built into it.)

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: One of my favorite things about MSN messenger now is that it has tablet compatibility (ink). Does microsoft plan on releasing some program that acts like a huge whiteboard intstant messenger where people can basically draw diagrams on togeather?
A: OneNote has this capability today, you can start a shared session and everyone you invite will be working on the same document.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: Are there any plans to improve the way left handedness gets handled? Even though I have it selected, most scroll bars still show on the right side.
A: Terri, one of our Tablet PC MVPs, had a good answer to this in the Guest window (I'll paste it here): "To move the scroll bars to the other side isn't hard. What's hard is dealing with all the vendors whose programs will no longer work correctly. They'd all need to be rewritten to accept the left scroll bars." We don't have any plans announced in this regard.

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: Will the upcoming Office 12 release properly handle left-handed scrollbars on the Tablet?
A: Office 12 includes a number of improvements for the Tablet PC, but we can't comment on what specifically was improved since that information isn't public yet.

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: have you spoken with Bill Gates about tablets much? I heard that he liked them a lot and I kind of figured so because of all the free applications on the Microsoft website. Is this true?
A: Not personally. :) He's a busy guy. I've also heard that he really likes Tablet PCs. We're investing in Tablet PC software because Tablet PCs are a great device and the software helps show potential customers how useful the Tablet PC can be and allows Tablet PC owners to be more productive. Well, I suppose Hexic and Ink Crossword don't really help you be more productive... ;)

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: I'm new to tablet PCs. Any suggestions for tutorials/resources/etc to help me get up to speed? I'd like to hear what the "non-experts" found useful too.
A: check out tabletpc.com there is a wealth of information for you to review

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: Do you have to read all the little excerpts for the Speech to text to work? I read half and still can't get mine to work.
A: The more excerpts you read, the more accurate it is. The main problem I've had with speech in the past is a microphone that isn't powerful enough. The microphones that come built in with some Tablet PCs may not be powerful enough for speech (mine wasn't.) Speech recognition worked much better for me when I bought a higher quality microphone. Other than that, I recommend you complete all the training in order for it to have a chance at recognizing your voice.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Are there any XP Tablet service packs in the wings? Will some of the Vista Tablet improvements be made available back to XP via a service pack?
A: I am not aware of any new service packs for XP. Since the Tablet features in Windows Vista are built on top of the Vista Platform it is unlikely that they would even work on XP.

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Q: Someone should remind the Vista GUI folks that some future users will be needing bright, attractive colors to make the OS easier to read through the protective LCD mask. How about it? Ever struggled to read a dark taskbar or Start Menu in bright lights?
A: I think we made some amazing progress in Windows Vista specifically in this area, have you played with it? I do share your pain I can’t see the caller id information on the phone in my den and it drives me crazy. Grey background with a dark grey text…

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Q: Voice regonition recognizes commands, but won't convert speech to text. my question is, do you have to read all of them for the conversion to wok
A: If you want it to work well, you have to complete all of them. I've never tried doing the speech recognition without completing the wizard, so I'm not sure what would happen. I know that Speech has two different modes - command and dictation. It sounds like you might be stuck in command mode for some reason. I'd try playing around with the speech settings and see if there is something you can do there. Other than that, I haven't heard of this particular problem before.

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
This concludes our Tablet PC chat for today. Thanks for coming, everyone!

VictoriaKruse_MS (Expert):
Thanks everyone! See you next time!

FrankGo_MS (Expert):
Thank you for your time - Got Ink? Check out our development center at <http://msdn.microsoft.com/tabletpc>

Andrew_MSFT (Moderator):
Please feel free to stay and continue to chat about Tablet PC or other Windows topics.

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