• Use your PC in different ways • The technology for true mobility • New ways to interact with your PC • New tools to use with your PC • The full capabilities of XP and more • Options for customising the use of your PC • A powerful platform • A wide variety of models to choose from • System requirements • Top 10 benefits of the tablet PC • What the critics say

New ways to interact with your PC

With Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, you can use your computer in new and different ways. It offers the simplicity of pen and paper by letting you turn your computer into a writing tablet. And while you have the option of using a keyboard and mouse, you can also control your Tablet PC and Windows XP-compatible applications with either a digital pen or speech commands for ultimate mobility.

Not only have advances in digital ink technology made the Tablet PC possible, but advances in screen technology, including Microsoft ClearType®, make reading on your Tablet PC more comfortable.

Digital Pen and Ink

Your Tablet PC comes with a digital pen that you use to control the computer and to input information in your own handwriting. Using Microsoft Windows Journal, you can handwrite notes or create drawings and save your handwritten notes or drawings. You can easily convert your handwriting into text and save that text in Windows Journal or in other applications, such as Microsoft Word 2002, Excel 2002, and Outlook® 2002.

The Tablet PC has tools to help convert your handwritten text into typed text by identifying words that may have been recognized incorrectly and by giving you a list of alternative words.

With digital pen and ink, you can also mark up existing documents that you import into ink-enabled programs, such as Windows Journal or Word 2002. The document is unchanged, but your annotations on the document are saved. You can mark up an article and send it to a co-worker, you can add notes to a meeting agenda, or you can draw a route on a map and send it to a friend. Documents that can be printed can be imported into Windows Journal.

Gestures

You can also use your digital pen to "gesture," that is, to make movements with your pen to complete common tasks. For example, to replicate a right-mouse button click, you tap your pen on the screen and hold it until a mouse icon appears; to erase ink, you scratch out the ink with your pen. You can also select and drag text with your pen, similar to how you would with a mouse.

There are also gestures that can be used to open Input Panel and to replicate the actions of commonly used keys, such as ENTER, BACKSPACE, and the SPACEBAR. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition also offers the architecture for developers to create gestures for their applications.

Speech Recognition

With Tablet PC speech recognition technology, you can use your voice instead of a mouse, keyboard, or pen to control applications. Speech can also be used to input text. Speech can be combined with other input methods, such as handwriting, for a more natural computing experience.

Speech recognition is accessed through the Tablet PC Input Panel. With a microphone, you can speak into your Tablet PC, giving commands to drive Windows-based programs or dictating text to be entered into programs. Voice commands can be used to correct errors, format dictated text, or control Windows XP-compatible programs. Speech can sometimes be an easier and quicker method of input than entering text with the digital pen, and it frees up your hands for other activities, such as reviewing printed documents while you dictate.

Reading

The Tablet PC not only offers new technologies for handwriting and voice; it also offers new technologies that make reading from your computer easier and more comfortable. A high-resolution display and use of ClearType technology makes reading from your Tablet PC easier and less fatiguing. Lightweight, longer battery life, and the ability to easily orient the screen in either landscape or portrait give you more options for comfortably reading text on your Tablet PC.