Tablet PC Input Panel

The Tablet PC Input Panel is an accessory included in Microsoft Windows that allows input of text using a pen and digitizing tablet, touch screen, an on-screen soft keyboard or mouse. It performs handwriting recognition and converts handwriting into text for use in most non-full-screen Windows applications. It was included first in Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and is included in subsequent client versions of Microsoft Windows.

Features

 * Users can use a writing pad or soft keyboard to convert handwriting to text. The writing pad recognises single characters, entire words and shortcut strokes or gestures. The Tablet PC Input Panel also supports AutoComplete in Windows Vista and later.
 * The Tablet PC Input Panel can be docked to the top or bottom of the screen or floating.
 * The integrated handwriting recognition features can recognize print, cursive, or mixed writing. Accuracy can be increased by configuring the recognizer to expect left-handed writing or right-handed writing. For Windows XP Tablet PC Edition which does not support all languages out of the box, recognition in a variety of languages is available with the install of a recognizer pack. Windows Vista and Windows 7 users can get additional language support for handwriting recognition by installing the respective MUI pack (also called language pack).
 * The soft keyboard supports viewing the keyboard layout of the selected input language chosen from the language bar. Windows XP users need to install the Tablet PC Recognizer Pack to support switching of the soft keyboard to the default input language.
 * Handwriting recognition accuracy can be improved by training using the handwriting recognition personalization tool.
 * Windows 7 improves the Tablet PC Input Panel to make faster corrections, supports text prediction in the soft keyboard and introduces a new Math Input Panel for inputting math into programs that support MathML. It recognizes handwritten math expressions and formulas.

History
When first introduced, Tablet PC Input Panel was only included with the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition of Windows XP and had limited application text entry support. Windows XP Service Pack 2 for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, which was incorporated into Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, brought improved handwriting recognition and allowed the Tablet PC Input Panel to be used in almost every application. The Tablet PC Input Panel was also revised to extend speech recognition services (input and correction) to other applications.

With the release of Windows Vista, the Tablet PC Input Panel is built into all editions of Windows Vista with the exception of Home Basic and Starter editions. The speech recognition features were moved into Windows Speech Recognition. Starting in Vista, the Input Panel gained support for text AutoComplete, allowing the user to select from a list of previously entered text. The AutoComplete would populate results before the final application of handwriting recognition converted the actual input to text. This version also introduced support for erasing text with the back of a compatible digitizer pen.

The same Tablet PC Input Panel that appeared in Vista was carried forward into Windows 7 and is available on Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

Although the Tablet PC Input Panel was in Windows 8 Consumer Preview, it was replaced in the final release of Windows 8 with the Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel, a tool that docks to the task bar as a GUI tie-in to Windows Phone. There have been good reviews about major upgrades to the on-screen keyboard but the changes for Pen input have been widely criticized. This new tool must stay docked to the taskbar, will not accept more than two lines of written text, and obscures large parts of the screen. Additionally, there are some other important pen input features removed in Windows 8, such as the ability to make an auto-hidden taskbar reappear by hovering or clicking the screen edge where it is docked; Users need to tap the screen with a finger or hover it with a mouse.