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Developers Enthusiastic Over Tablet PC
The Microsoft® Windows® XP Tablet PC Edition and the Tablet PC Platform SDK are leading developers in new directions. Fritz Switzer tells how the Tablet PC Platform won him overand how it can work for you, too.
by Clayton Crooks

If you're like most developers, you've heard about the Tablet PC. You've probably wondered how core Tablet PC technologies like digital ink and enhanced mobility can help you. Well, Tablet PCs have a wealth of great features that can be used in some key scenarios like meetings, where typing would be disruptive. Or Tablet PCs might be used in a mobile environment, where surfing the Web, responding to e-mail, and other tasks can be performed more easily than with a traditional laptop computer.

Tablet PCs use an enhanced version of Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional, and as such, they can run almost any application that a typical Windows PC can handle. This is a key aspect of their growing acceptance, and as a budding Tablet PC developer you might be inclined to stick to what you already know and develop software the way you always have.

But if you did, you'd be missing out on all of the fun. In fact, it takes only a few seconds before you see what Tablet PC early adopters already know: developing for the Tablet PC is easy, enjoyable, and delivers real business solutions and benefits.

Does Your Code Think in Ink?
One of these early developers, Fritz Switzer, has invested a significant amount of time in learning about the new Tablet PC concepts, and he is extremely enthusiastic about its possibilities. Switzer was a recent winner in the "Does Your Code Think in Ink?" Tablet PC development contest on www.tabletpcdeveloper.com.

His applications, which he calls "ablets," showcase the Tablet PC SDK.

Figure 1. Winning App

Switzer started out with the Tablet PC after attending one of the Tablet PC launch events in November 2002, when the "abletBits" name came about (see Figure 1). During the presentation, Switzer felt the recognition capabilities of the Tablet PC were being overshadowed by the ability to simply collect the ink. While ink collection itself enables most of the Tablet PC scenarios, he felt spending some time on the Tablet PC's recognition aspects would be useful to developers. After downloading the SDK, he started work on abletBits, the March 2003 winner in the "Does Your Code Think in Ink?" contest's PowerToy category.

abletBits is a game in which players are given a random binary number and asked to convert it into a decimal by writing their answers in ink, which is then recognized by the application to determine correct or incorrect answers. It was Switzer's first Tablet PC application and was an opportunity, as he puts it, "to address the naysayer."