The Tablet PC: An in depth look with the FIC SlateVision

Software: 3rd Party

Most likely thanks to Microsoft backing, there are a number of free 3rd party applications out there that are designed to be used with Tablet PCs. Three of the most interesting applications are developed by major software vendors.

The first of these is a sketching program designed by Alias called SketchBook, of which there is a free "light" version of the program available for download. SketchBook is a surprisingly full featured drawing program designed specifically for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The program functions like a sketch book using nothing more than the tablet PC and the pen input. There are quite a number of tools to choose from, including air brushes, markers, pens, and markers. Choosing from the built in pens, color, tools, or options is amazingly easy. To choose a color, for example, simply point on the color wheel present on the lower left selection tool. Doing this pops up up a color wheel directly above the wheel. Now, drag the pen in the general direction of the color you wish to select (there is a line indicating the selected color) and you are set. It is clear from using this program that it was designed with the pen input method in mind and it pays off.

Click here to enlarge.

We are no artists, but we can assure you that SketchBook is a great program. If you don't believe us, a quote from Gabe one of the amazing Penny Arcade artists may help:

I think Alias Sketchbook is absolutely incredible. Feel free to take a look at the sketch below and decide for yourself.

Believe it or not that was drawn on my tablet PC using Alias Sketchbook. It looks just like a... Pencil drawing if you ask me. Sketching into it feels so natural that occasionally I forget that I'm using a stylus instead of a pencil and that my lines are being rendered by an 800 MHz Pentium 3.

As you can see, Alias SketchBook is capable of doing some pretty powerful stuff. The Pro version, which is not yet available, is said to offer more advanced features and integration but it is unclear what these features will be as of yet.

The second major vendor producing software specifically designed for the Tablet PC is Corel. The software is called Grafigo and it takes Windows Journal to a higher level. The program offers the same handwriting capabilities and convert to text features as Windows Journal but adds in shape recognition, and some neat features like "onionskins" which let you add a form of tracing paper to a document or picture and symbols for pre made symbol insertion.

Overall Grafigo actually turned out to be a more useful program than Windows Journal and at a price of free it is hard to beat. We will have to wait and see how it compares to Microsoft OneNote, but we suspect that OneNote will one up Grafigo.

The final program that is delivering exciting new features to the Tablet PC is FranklinCovey TabletPlanner. We only got a chance to play with TabletPlanner for a few moments while in Comdex this year but it looks to be a powerful calendar package able to search handwritten text. We should be able to report back soon on our experiences with this software package.