Kevin Daly

Wherein I try Tablet PC Edition 2005, and like it. Lots.

I have execrable handwriting. There's no point in trying to deny it: not only is it impossible for other people to read, it's often impossible for me to read (which is why on the advice of one of my English lecturers at university I bought a type writer). It's also extremely ugly, and I am always ashamed of my ungainly chicken scratchings when I see the beautiful penmenship in letters written in Victorian and Edwardian times.
So it will come as no surprise that handwriting recognition systems don't do well with me. I typically use the itty-bitty soft keyboard for text entry on the Pocket PC and look forward to getting my hands on one of the new Stowaway Bluetooth keyboards.
Soon after the first Tablet PC models were released my boss's boss asked me to evaluate a couple...while I was enthusiastic about the applications of tablets as a document presentation medium (I personally think they're the ideal form factor for Microsoft Reader, for instance..and the mobility helps), after some experimentation I had to conclude that for people like me the handwriting recognition was a neat trick, but not accurate enough to be useful. In addition, the user interface for entering ink seemed awkward.
So I classed the tablet as a near miss.
Time passes (as is its wont) and we reach the present: I'm currently working on a relatively complex project where we are producing and updating lots of UML diagrams. I was discussing with the BA on project the fact that Visio is well, pretty horrible, and that the most natural way to create said UML diagrams is freehand. This led me to wonder if there were any Tablet-based tools for UML entry, which in turn led to TabletUML  (my verdict on which is basically that it has some rough edges but overall it's pretty impressive. And quite a pleasure to use)  - so anyway, having identified a promising-looking application, we arranged for said BA to get an HP tablet on loan to try it out.
I have never seen such a serious person grinning so much just as a result of using a tool, and I've got to say I understand entirely: the handwriting recognition really works now (it even handles my scrawl with aplomb), and the redesigned input panel makes ink entry and correction child's play. I've never really believed the hype about tablets previously, but this latest incarnation of the OS really does make it seem like a more natural way to work (that sounds like a bad advertisement script but it's actually true). 
If only I'd have a visit from the headhunters so I could afford to buy one...sigh.
So anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to give credit where it's true and congratulate Microsoft on a job well done (but I promise normal sarcasm will be resumed after this transmission).