Tablet PC Team Blog

Tales of the TIP

If you want to learn more about the history of the TIP (Text Input Panel) and handwriting recognition, then be sure to check out the latest podcast at GottaBeMobile – it features our very own Tablet PC veterans Josh Clow, Jay Pittman, and Patrick Haluptzok.

Definitely an interesting podcast for any Tablet geeks out there J

Jan-Kristian Markiewicz | Program Manager - Windows CoreUX, Touch and Tablet

Battery-conscious software development with .NET Framework 3.0

Battery life is a hardware problem, right?  Not entirely.  Software is at least as responsible as hardware, for preserving battery life on Tablet and notebook PCs.

The .NET Framework 3.0 software platform is something of a challenge, because most samples and demo apps out there are more concerned about 3D rendering and glitzy animations, than they are about battery life.

Andre Michaud is a rising star SDET here on the Tablet PC platform team.  He helped deliver InkCanvas and stylus input in WPF, but wasn't satisfied that the NetFX v3.0 framework didn't do much to make writing battery-conscious applications easier.

So, he wrote a few words about how to do this.  And now it's the headline article in this month's MSDN Magazine!

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/07/07/PowerAware/default.aspx

Great stuff.

Are you going to Tech Ed in Orlando?

Tablet PC will be there showcasing the Vista release.  Stop by the booth (in the User Productivity section) to see some of the latest hardware, talk with people on the team, and get your hands on a great Vista Tablet.  There are developer education talks and Hands on Labs also being presented focusing on Tablet PC.  You can also visit with our many partners who will be represented at Tech Ed.  See you there!

http://www.microsoft.com/events/teched2007/default.mspx Here's the link to Tech Ed 2007.

DEV343 - Tablet PC as a Smart Client Platform

Track(s): Developer Tools and Technologies

Level: 300

Speaker(s): Francis La Vigne

Learn all about the the basics for building Smart Client applications that leverage the portability and power of the Tablet PC platform. In this session, Frank La Vigne introduces developers to the hardware, software, and development options available to building out Smart Client solutions on the Tablet PC. Adding Ink functionality can dramatically add value to existing applications without adding significant amounts of code; see just how easy it can be to take an existing application and add support for Digital Ink, handwriting recognition, and document recognition.

Shawn LeProwse

Tablet PC Team

Slight of hand

Hammerheads: http://www.popcap.com/launchpage.php?theGame=hammerheads

Garden gnomes: delightful creatures living in your front yard or scary overlords swathed in primary colors? In this game, garden gnomes pop out of holes and you have to bop them on the head. 

This is a “whack-a-mole” type game which is perfect for touch.  I recommend playing it in slate mode with the touch pointer turned off.  Perhaps we could con our friends at Popcap to turn off the touch pointer automatically for this game. 

I could easily cruise through the levels using two fingers.  Lots of fun, but watch out for sore digits when finished!

Lindsey Noll | Windows | Tablet PC | Software Design Engineer

No gnomes were hurt in the testing of this game

Pen is mightier than the mouse

First, I must admit something.  I have bad handwriting and I can’t draw.  Yes, these are sometimes good traits since I can test the handwriting recognizer but, it might not help me out with this game.

Line Rider

Line Rider is a fun little physics game.  You draw paths, jumps, loops, anything your heart desires and a little guy on a sled follows the path.  This is a pretty pen friendly game because it is basically ink-as-ink.  You are drawing things! 

At first, I thought this would be the perfect “ink-a-ink” example game, but I did notice an interesting quirk.  My hand shakes.  This is just enough movement to make the little guy crash at times, but it does seem like something easy enough to fix depending on the physical tolerances.

Best example:  Can anything beat a pirate ship?  Some do come very close, but this one is my favorite. 

Lindsey Noll | Windows | Tablet PC | Software Design Engineer

Buff priests

All work and no play?

The Tablet isn’t all about productivity.  It is good for playing games!  I have been scoping out the wide world of internet for games that I can play on my Tablet and that are also fun and friendly--casual games that are good for pen or touch.

I’m not really going to be reviewing the games, some will probably be more interesting than others; but I will be highlighting some interesting features. So, what am I looking for in a game?  Potential! Hopefully this will be a fun public investigation of some unique and interesting interactions that pen and/or touch can provide; whether it is in a game or more broadly.

This week I would like to give special recognition to some students at Stanford (Daniel Salinas, Travis Skare, John Shedletsky, and Douglas Wilson) who used the Tablet SDK to create a game called Euclidean Crisis.  The game was nominated for an award at the 2007 Independent Games Festival.  They didn’t win but I say game on!

As a general aside, I feel compelled to note that this is from my own personal opinion and I’m not representative of Microsoft.  So, with that said, a pen friendly game will be coming up next week...

Lindsey Noll | Windows | Tablet PC | Software Design Engineer

Working hard by playing some games

Media Center improvements for pen and touch.

Aaron Stebner provided instructions in this blog post to help users optimize Media Center for Pen and Touch interaction.

"There are 2 new settings available in Windows Media Center for Windows Vista that can be used to control the visibility of mouse-related controls in the Windows Media Center UI.  These settings are primarily designed for touch-screen development scenarios, but can be useful in other situations as well. "

Navigational arrows and playback controls are always visible after enabling both settings.

Registry Keys that need to be changed:

1. Show playback controls all the time:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Capabilities\TBP = 1
   
2. Navigational arrows are visible whenever toolbars are visible:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\MCE.GlobalSettings\bindNavHintsToToolbars = 1

For more detailed instructions, read Aaron's blog post.

Tom Alphin, Program Manager, Windows Core UX / Tablet PC

Windows Vista Mobile PC App Competition at CodeProject.com

Today’s apps must work in an increasingly mobile environment and must allow new means of input: ink, touch, and more. Build a great application that encompasses these needs, write an article about what you’ve done, and you may win one of three cool Samsung Ultra-Mobile PCs.

One winner per month, 3/15/07–6/15/07.

Check out CodeProject.com for more details.

Using Flicks to Switch Windows via Alt+Tab or Win+Tab

Here's a great trick I learned recently...  the window-switching experiences you get by pressing [Alt+Tab] or [Win+Tab] can be made "sticky" by holding the [Ctrl] key (ie, [Ctrl+Alt+Tab] or [Ctrl+Win+Tab]).  The window-selection mode will persist, on-screen, until you choose a window (or press [Esc], or click somewhere else on the desktop).

This trick is super-useful.  Why?  For configuring Flicks to switch windows, of course!

Background:  Flicks are a mechanism built into Windows Vista, for Tablet PC systems, which allow you to perform common keyboard operations with a quick flick gesture of the pen.

By default, only the "navigational" Flicks are enabled -- these are the most useful (scrolling up/down, navigating forward/back) and the easiest flick gestures to perform.  You can optionally enable another 4 flick commands, which default to common editing operations (clockwise from the top: copy, paste, undo, delete).

To configure Flicks, type "Pen and Input" into the Start menu.  (Or, just make a few furtive flick gestures on your desktop, and respond to the little balloon which pops up. :-)

Personally, I've never felt so great about "delete" being mapped to some gesture of the pen I could perform by accident (not every app has undo support)!

The good news is, you can remap this flick gesture to virtually any appcommand or key combination.  May I suggest [Ctrl+Win+Tab]? (Stick with [Ctrl+Alt+Tab] if your Tablet PC is glass-challenged, or if you're miserly with your battery.)

The real magic with all this is in how well it works -- the Flip3D team clearly put a lot of effort into accurate hit-testing on the 3D windows they render.  This makes it gratifyingly intuitive to tap on the 3D windows' representations, with the pen.  You can even flick forward/backward, and the "deck" of windows will respond as expected.  Awesome.

Amaze your friends!  Terrify your enemies!

eWEEK says "Vista Shines as a Tablet Platform"

Vista Shines as Tablet Platform

Nice quotes:

“The handwriting recognition is greatly improved, and pen flicks, which allow users to navigate the notebook using a flick of the pen, is an addition Tablet PC users are bound to use extensively.”

“Handwriting recognition was faster and more accurate than it was pre-Vista, and the device's full-featured TIP (Tablet Input Panel) made input easy.”

- Ken Dacey, Tablet PC Test Lead

Windows Vista Secrets for Tablet PC?

Tim Sneath has been posting a wonderful series of "Windows Vista Secrets".  (The ability to start Quick Launch items with the [Win+<n>] keys has changed my life -- thanks Tim!)

I have my own set of tips for Windows Vista -- some secret, some not -- that apply mainly to laptop and Tablet PCs, so I thought I'd share.

#1: Windows Mobility Center

Windows Mobility Center is a great one-stop portal for managing a LOT of settings on your laptop or tablet -- power scheme, audio volume, screen brightness, projection, rotation, as well as one-click access to myriad other Control Panel applets for stylus input and handwriting recognition.

It's definitely not meant to be a "secret", but for some reason we really did bury it in the Start / Programs / Accessories menu...  Place a shortcut to MblCtr.exe on your Quick Launch bar, or pin it to your Start Menu, for easier access.

Update: Reader benwatt reminds me that [Win+X] will launch the Mobility Center -- for laptops and Tablet PCs with keyboards!

#2: Snipping Tool

The big "secret" here is that Snipping Tool is no longer just for Tablet PCs!  Use it from your laptop or desktop, to snip a rectangular region of your screen -- and use the mouse to highlight.

As above: Snipping Tool is buried in the Start / Programs menu -- so, place a shortcut to SnippingTool.exe on your Quick Launch bar, or pin it to your Start Menu, for easier access.

#3: DPI scaling via DWM

A screen resolution of 1400x1050 on a 12" diagonal display is about 144dpi, measured horizontally (or vertically).  That's about 50% higher resolution than the 96dpi which Windows assumes of your display, by default!  This has the effect of making small fonts difficult to read and small user interface elements hard target, with a stylus or touch-screen.

Many users address this by turning down the resolution on their displays to something like 1024x768, but that's suboptimal -- it makes user interface elements larger, but blurrier.  And hey, you paid for all those pixels, you should get to use them...  Windows Vista offers a better way.  Enter DWM -- the Desktop Window Manager -- the new graphics plumbing in Vista which enables the Aero Glass theme and effects, as well as the "Flip 3D" and "Taskbar Thumbnail" experiences, for switching windows.

DWM is not just good looking; it's also functional -- it facilitates the smooth rescaling of your desktop and applications, at resolutions higher than 96dpi.  On systems which support the Aero Glass theme, you should take full advantage of the DWM and configure your display resolution properly -- the DWM will enlarge text and other user interface elements, but without sacrificing the smoothness and readability of fonts, or the detail in high-resolution images.

So, if you're tired of squinting, set your DPI properly instead of scaling down your resolution.  You should find that applications work more reliably on Vista, than they did on XP, when the DPI is set greater than 96.

#4: Enlarge the caret (text insertion point)

Consider making the caret (text insertion point) easier to see in bright / daylight conditions, by increasing its thickness slightly.  I don't know if this setting is available anywhere in the Control Panel, but you can increase the caret width with this straightforward registry key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"CaretWidth"=dword:00000003

This trick can be especially helpful on Tablet PCs, for visually identifying which field on a form has the input focus (ie, the field which will receive results from the Tablet PC Input Panel).

Update: This setting, plus a few more, are available in the new Ease of Access Center under "Make the computer easier to see".  (I also really like "Make the focus rectangle thicker", on my desktop systems.)

#5: Get the most out of your battery

Battery not lasting as long as you'd like? Give your system less work to do, by turning off some nonessential features and services.

Everyone's definition of "nonessential" is different, of course, but I like to start by reducing the frequency of scheduled tasks (like defragmentation).  Start Task Scheduler, and you'll be presented with an array of tasks which Windows Vista runs, in the background.  Many of these tasks can be configured to wait until the system is plugged into A/C power (and likewise, pause when switched to battery power).

Here's an oldie but a goodie, for reducing hard disk access:  the NTFS file system tracks (by default) when files and directories were last read from.  This is a cool feature, but it effectively turns every read operation into a potential write operation -- and really, how often do you use this feature?

Run FSUtil.exe behavior set DisableLastAccess 1 from an elevated command prompt (and reboot) to turn off this feature.

Update: This is a little embarassing, but in a good way -- reader Kurt Geisel (aka my boss) tells me that Windows Vista is actually configured to disable last-access tracking, by default!  I've been doing this tweak for so long, I guess I never noticed the change.  So, nevermind the above -- although it's something interesting to keep in mind, when browsing file properties on Vista.  Thanks, Kurt!

The graphics processors in laptops consume a lot of watts -- the Aero Glass theme is great, but do you really need the transparency / blur effect? Making your glass opaque can reduce the load on your GPU, while otherwise maintaining the full functionality of the DWM (Flip3D, Taskbar thumbnails, high-DPI support, rotation, etc).

Similarly: the new little round "start" button is cool, but it forces the GPU to perform a non-rectangular clipping operation, when it overlaps a maximized window.  This has been seen to cause performance problems in some lower-end graphics hardware (the kind found in some older laptops and tablets).  If you notice an application responding more slowly when it's maximized, try this simple remedy: resize your taskbar so it's at least 2 rows tall (or dock it vertically to the right or left edge) so that it joins flushly to the working area of your desktop.

That's all for now...  any other good tips to share?  Leave us a comment, or a trackback!

Mobile Connections (Las Vegas) and TechEd (Barcelona) - November 6-10

Improve Your Tablet PC Experience with Windows Vista

Terri Stratton [MVP] wrote an excellent summary (with copious screenshots!) of the improved user-experience Vista offers on Tablet PC:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/community/improvetabletpc.mspx

And for developers... our own Eliot Graff has written a similar high-level overview of what's new:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/editorial/2006-07/default.aspx

Shawn Van Ness | Program Manager | Tablet PC Platform

Community

Community is by definition not a one-way arrangement. If we don't respond to the community, then we're not in it--as this very community has reminded us. Thank you for keeping us honest.

Since you're reading this, you probably read technology opinion on the web and therefore it is inevitable that you've heard a lot about how big (and dare I say late) the Windows Vista project is. Horror stories appear to flow from both distant pundits and seemingly hard-boiled insiders. I have heard the adage "truth is stranger than fiction" many times, but I often find with the press (and yes, even the blogosphere) that the truth can also be more mundane than the fiction and sometimes harder to find.

You can argue endlessly about Microsoft's strategies (and whether they are aligned or even align-able) and specifically about the sustainable wisdom behind a "be everything" Windows operating system that is developed over long release cycles. And, in fact, we do (you might be surprised at the range of ideas that are debated). It is only natural that customers, partners, and the press also highlight those debates and question the leadership under the circumstances.

But speaking personally, every day when I come to work I look at the people I am surrounded by.

Am I surrounded with money-grubbing career-climbers that would tell their management anything to make their project status look good?  No. Am I surrounded by incompetent tinkerers who have no business writing the software that tens or hundreds of millions of people rely on? Certainly not. By and large, I am surrounded by real people (just like you). I am surrounded by consummate, professional engineers (just like many of you). I am surrounded with people who have vision; and despite the ever-increasing difficulty of making software that becomes powerful in the hands of nearly any person, they desperately want to make that happen.

Over the past thirteen years at Microsoft, I've watched the job get a little bit harder every year. People strive to keep up with the greater demands on the software they build (demands for more return, more reliability, more security, broader use, etc.) They strive to keep up with the resulting technical and organizational complexity. They strive to keep up with the profession. Sometimes I see newly hired people and I don't envy the rate of change they are expected to thrive in (although incredibly most of them do thrive).

I think it's fair to say that we are learning (right along with the rest of the world) how to ship a software project that is as big and broad as Windows Vista. And yes, we do re-learn this every time. Just as we think we are starting to "get it", the game changes.

And we can do much better. That is why I ask you to continue to be ruthless in what you ask of us (starting with asking whether we are going to post here or not!). Over the history of this company, that clearly seems to be the way we do our best.

Now that you have let me rant a little; you might be wondering if there is any lingering defensiveness.  I offer that this post is my little part in the product release process and probably a bit of a personal release as well.  A company is only as good as the groups that make it and a group as only as good as its members.  If that is the case, then Microsoft and more specifically Tablet PC is going to be fine, based on the people that I see when I go to work every day.  I am fiercely proud of my team and all of the individuals that comprise that team.  I apologize for giving in to daily urgencies and not posting more. If you are interested, following this I hope to write a little more about what life is like for my team in the near future.

Kurt Geisel Director of Development, Tablet PC Team

Handwriting personalization, sentence samples, and data migration

For personalization of handwriting recognition, it's true that 50 sentences can seem like a lot to ask - but it turns out that that set represents just the right amount of training data to ensure that users across the board will be able to get a noticeable benefit for their investment. The threshold was set based on test datasets from many users.

Meanwhile a lot of research has gone into how to get that number down, to lower the 'entry level' for reaping the benefits of personalization. As a result of this, the handwriting recognition personalization system can actually give an accuracy improvement after submitting just over 10 sentences via the Handwriting recognition personalization tool. This is the secret feature Ian referred to -- it kicks in for users of the Input Panel with several hundred successfully recognized passages under their belts and Automatic learning enabled. (Btw if any of you experience this feature in action, I'd be happy to hear your feedback!) 

However to guarantee that personalization is giving you the most benefit, you should submit at least the initial 50 sentence samples. Remember that the more you submit, the better handwriting recognition works.

One bright side of submitting a large set of samples (besides the world's best handwriting reco experience!) is that you never have to resubmit the samples, even when you upgrade your build.  The samples migrate using the Windows Easy Transfer wizard (found in Accessories->SystemTools), along with the rest of your personal files and settings. When I'm waiting for a meeting to start (or in one that doesn't require a lot of participation... ahem), I ink a few sentences or troubleshoot some words using the personalization wizard.  Then before upgrading, I use Easy Transfer to save my personal data to a USB stick.  Over time I've accumulated significant personalization data that I can easily load onto any post-Beta2 Tablet, and the effect continues to amaze me.

Why "post-Beta2"?  Because migration of this data unfortunately doesn't work well from the Beta2 build to a post-Beta2 build. However I've used it many times post-Beta2 and it's been working admirably.

Fyi Easy Transfer is also useful for avoiding repetitive setup tasks for each upgrade, such as copying desktop files, or tweaking various settings such as folder options or optin to Automatic learning. 

Bradley Music - Mobile PC Team