Windows XP Professional/Tablet PC

[The Old Man]

Yesterday i attended the "Microsoft Introduction of the Tablet PC".
I would seriously suggest that anyone in business, IT professionals, and corporate owners should personally attend this seminar. They are WAY cool, with totally new features and the ability to drastically (like 100%) reduce sheet paper files, order and customer files, notes for everyday and special events... The interoperability and time saving is astounding.
Now, i am not easily impressed by the continual upgrading and updating of Operating Systems and software, *BUT*, this new combination of Windows XP Pro and the Tablet PC using the "Windows XP-Pro Tablet Edition" OS is like comparing DOS6.2 with Windows 2000 Pro. The new "Tablet PC" on top of the Win-XP Pro platform is nothing short of astounding in the interoperability and seamless coordination between your OS, all your office programs, email, wireless/dialup/LAN, appointments, travel orders, customer orders, billing, and total coordination between designated employees... the complete package is nothing less than astounding.
First off, the OS for the tablet is a slightly different animal than is WXPPro for desktop; the tablet version has an additional layer of digital-enbled coding on top of the W-XP-Pro OS. So you have one OS for the desktop station and another OS for the tablet, and they are not (from what the vendors said) interchangeable.
The display of tools, integration and interoperability between office programs, browser, email, and everything you use in the course of business was extremely impressive. The Tablet can be totally operated by voice commands of course, and the voice recognition only missed one word in an impromptu test; the word "Timpanogos" (a mountain around here) was translated as "DOS". it got a fine laugh and appreciative applause from all. After all, the guy stumbled over the word anyway, so the OS just reverted to a prior life's experience.
Giveaways were (of course) a MS Windows XP Pro T-Shirt, various software trials including a 120-day evaluation of WIndows-XP Pro and a 30-day trial of Office-XP Pro. Also a CDRom with a display of the features of Tablet-PC, also for Intranets and Portals we were given a 3-disk package; Intranets & Portals Solutions and Deployment Resource CD, 120-day evaluation of SharePoint Portal Server, and a 30-day evaluation disk of SharePoint Team Services.
Without hesitation, i believe this combination may revive the market for upgrading business operations and the entire computing industry. There were probably 500 attendees at the one i went to yesterday, and after the presentation i watched at least 6 CEO's and COO's give solid orders to the vendors (Toshiba, Compaq, NEC, ViewSonic...) for Tablet PC's on the Windows-XP Pro platform. One CEO wrote out a check for ten Tablet PC's, another that i listened to wanted 100 ASAP and the salesman about passed out. The interest was understandable, after watching how the units worked. I believe that this technology and these products are going to be the industry's benchmark for the next ten years. Well, at least for the next 7 or 8!
The only thing the vendors could not answer for me was the question of documentation for the software on the Tablet; did you get a set of disks for when it (shudder!) crashed, or how did you reload it. The Toshiba rep came closest to an answer, he said that the OS could not fit on one disk because of the extra layer of code to operate the tablet in digital mode, (voice and magnetic pen). He said they were trying to figure out how to do it, but for the moment they had a mirror of the OS on a separate virtual drive of the 40-gig HD, and if your HD went totally TU just send it back and they'd send you another one all loaded up with the Tablet OS. He said they were working with MS to try to get the OS on a disk but had not been successful yet. Another vendor of another brand said that they provided a "combination recovery and OS disk". When i asked her how they got all that on one ROM she got a tad huffy, like some old geezer should not question what she had already explained. Just as well, 'cause her Tablet didn't measure up to the others anyway. Another vendor said they had no idea how to provide the OS in a format that would allow a reload of a crash, but they were working on it. So, at the present , documentation is kind of up in the air, or the reps didn't all quite know the tech part of the Tablet.
On a scale of 1-to-10, as conferences go, i'd have to give this one a ten without reservation. They confirmed my reservation and had me checked-in in about ten seconds, and they had a seat reserved for me right up on the front row, and that impressed me. And for a sort of "P.S." on another statement i made somewhere else, i'd have to say that if for the purposes of business from small to mega-business i'd certainly forget *nix and get everyone on the "Tablet PC Edition". I'm totally impressed with what this combination can do in a serious environment (7-11 migrated to the Tablet and they figure their savings at from 3-5 million annually), and impression not an easy task for anyone to accomplish with me!
Once again, if you are involved with business, or if you help make decisions for business, or if you just have to have the newest technology on the block!

[allenb1963]

Very kewl....I had a feeling that once exposed to the Tablet PC the corporate world would readily convert. I just want to ask one question...given that you evidently saw several offerings from different vendors, which flavor of Tablet PC would be your choice and why?

[The Old Man]

Well, Allenb1963, it would *probably* be the Toshiba, because it had more bells & whistles (even a firewire plug!) than the others at the conference. Also, the techies seemed more forthcoming in their discussion of documentation, and that if it crashed totally and could not be rebuilt from the present ghost, they would accept and try to salvage your data on the crashed disk, and if they couldn't they'd just give you another HD loaded with the OS. I have yet to have a 'puter that didn't have to have it's OS reloaded, and i never buy important software as a download unless the vendor is sending me a hard version and giving me a download until it arrives. But this Tablet PC for the prime employees, with the corporate W-XP Pro intranet backing it, is one fabulous business tool. Just too many fabulous features to even start to discuss online. Where had you already seen it, or are you using them?

[allenb1963]

I got to look at an Acer that a bud of mine from Redmond has and was impressed overall. The only concern I had hardware-wise would be the pivot hinge that the Acer model has....it would be fine for some folks, but probably wouldn't stand up to a rough enviroment.

I really appreciate you sharing the insight you gained regarding the OS and potential issues when reloading is required....I think I will pause in regards to considering the purchase of one until a suitable method of reloading the OS comes around. I'm not real fond of the hardware exchange aspect, and am a bit taken aback by the fact that no one seems to have realized that incorporating a DVD/CD (and using the DVD capacity to provide a hard copy of the OS) might make the TPC a bit more palatable to the public at large. Heh...ever wonder if Redmond is actually on another planet???

[haoeng]

it use 802.11b,
have not security config.

[allenb1963]

Originally posted here by haoeng
it use 802.11b,
have not security config.

<TRANSLATION (I think)> It uses 802.11b, which is not very secure at all.


It need to good english use
(not everyone here understands what you are trying to get across, be a bit more detailed and coherent next time, OK?)

[The Old Man]

Hmmm, i'm not too sure the 802.11b security issue could not be overcome with a combination of coding and encryption, coupled with a boot disk, since the Toshiba TPC has more slots than the Biltmore has garages. I just wish i'd have asked about the boot sector; would it be lost on an FDISK operation. One time i bought 50 Compaq laptops and the first thing i wanted was rid of their proprietary welcome screen which didn't fit with my programs. There was no way to delete it so i formatted the drive and when i went to rebuild it the boot sector was gone, couldn't get to anything to rebuild the HD and load my programs. i called Compaq, and for 50bucks they'd send me a disk with the boot sector on it. i told them i had a better idea; i'd just box this one back up, put it in a stack with the other 49, call UPS and they could have them all back and i'd go find another brand. they suddenly remembered a website where i could download the required code.
Anyway, i'm sure there is someone out there who could overcome the security issues with using the DVD/CD like allenb1963 mentioned. If it absolutely could not be done, it would be the first thing that could not be done.

[t2k2]

This sounds very cool The Old Man. We have a couple people that either just went to the seminar recently or will be going. I am now very eager to hear their summary/presentation on the product. I could use a new toy to play with anyways... Thank you much for the outstanding review.

t2k2