Due for launch later this year, notebooks based on Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet Edition operating system will make attractive Christmas presents.

The company says that it has been working for three years to produce a version of Windows that you can write on with a suitably equipped notebook.

In fact, it was working on pen-based Windows years ago, having initially launched its Pen Computing for Windows technology in the early 1990s.

This time, though, it's going to be different, says Bill Gates.

The company, which wants to re-establish handwriting as an input mechanism equal in status to the keyboard, has made a good effort with the operating system. We tried it on an Acer Travelmate 100 Tablet PC, running an 800MHz Intel Pentium III Mobile processor, which gives it a battery life of about 3.5 hours.

The system, which is wireless network-ready with the addition of an optional card, has 256MB of Ram and a 20GB hard drive, and weighs in at about 3lb. Its size of 251 x 208 x 25mm (h x w x d) means it's small enough to carry around but has a large enough screen to write on. Pressing two release latches at the base of the screen enables you to flip the screen around and lock it shut facing outwards. Pressing a function button on the side switches the display to the portrait position.

The writing is one of the impressive things about the PC. Microsoft uses a screen digitiser with an 8,000 x 6,000 resolution behind the 1,024 x 768 screen, which communicates with a radio stylus. The result is impressive, with a cursor that follows the pen very closely, producing faithful representations of your pen strokes. A Bezier curve algorithm smoothes your pen strokes, makingyour handwriting look elegant, even if it isn't.

You can use a handwriting recognition console at the bottom of the screen that does its best to translate your cursive scrawl into intelligible text. It recognised about eight out of every 10 words when we wrote in our best printed script.

Microsoft prefers users to treat the system like pen and paper, leaving writing and drawings in their original scribbled form. Ideally, you'll use the Windows Journal notetaking application (which looks like a sheet of foolscap, with margins and all) for this purpose.

The Journal lets you write and draw on the screen, handwriting titles for your text. It then lets you search your notes by converting your handwritten notes on the fly and using fuzzy logic to correct any errors. Based on user-directed handwriting recognition, we wouldn't trust it with 100 per cent accuracy.

Unfortunately the Journal also saves files in a proprietary Journal format with an option to export as a tif or mht file (the latter is Microsoft's own web archive format). Microsoft moles tell us that an Office-integrated Journal application is scheduled for next year.

In short, we found ourselves wanting to turn the screen back around and use the keyboard when taking notes, as we type much faster than we write.

And trying to enter URLs into Explorer without using the keyboard was irritating. The solution - using the pen when the screen is switched around and the keyboard is available - defeats the object of the exercise. The ideal notetaking scenario would be to enter text via the keyboard in Word while drawing diagrams with the pen when necessary. This is foiled by the fact that Word's drawing tools are about as useful as a waterproof sponge.

Buying a Tablet PC just for the sake of the pen input would amuse you for an hour or three, but you'd probably still want to use the keyboard primarily and the pen rarely. One exception is artists who want to draw frequently, and who, for some reason, don't want to work with a digitiser tablet and a larger screen.

On the other hand, the form factor of the Tablet PC was very attractive when it came to casual work where little or no handwriting recognition was required. The Microsoft Reader that the company is developing for the machine allows you to use it as an e-book, or you can simply browse web pages with it while you're sitting on the sofa.

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