Microsoft is hedging its bets that the "Lonestar" upgrade to its Tablet PC series will shine. The Lonestar release of the Tablet PC operating system is composed of three pillars: improved ink to text, integration with Office 2003 and a newer, more advanced SDK for developers.

The upgrade will ship mid-2004 free of cost to existing users, and be preinstalled on new systems.

One of the main areas of attention in the development of Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2004 is inking. There is less disconnect between the tablet input panel (TIP) and applications, while TIP itself has been significantly overhauled based upon user feedback.

Rather than be hidden away in the quick launch bar, TIP is now integrated into the input fields of applications. Users click an icon that brings up the panel proximate to wherever it is supposed to be.

The new TIP has, "a clever understanding of the active window," Tablet PC General Manager Peter Loforte told BetaNews. Existing programs do not have to be re-coded to take advantage of this new behavior.

A common gripe reported by users of the current Tablet PC release is that text recognition previously did not reveal its outcome -- for better or worse -- prior to being submitted to an application. One year later, Microsoft has remedied this complaint by having converted text reveal itself instantaneously the moment a stylus contacts the screen.

In addition, the TIP window also grows as a user's handwriting requires more space, and will display commonly used prefixes such as "www" for convenience’s sake.

Microsoft has bolstered the Tablet PC's handwriting recognition by adding what it dubs "context support." In essence, the inking software at the heart of the operating system attempts to zero in on the task at hand. Some horizontal examples Loforte described to BetaNews include state and zip code fields, which narrow errant possibilities during conversion.

The software also learns by examining browser history and other elements to improve overall recognition. According to Loforte, customer feedback "crystallized the new interface metaphor."

An earlier September update gave the Tablet PC a long awaited multi-lingual boost.

It has been known for some time that Office 2003 offers tablet annotation throughout its family of applications, especially OneNote, which is naturally synergistic toward pen input. Lonestar builds upon the suite's innate inking capabilities with context tagging. Each Office program is tethered together with an XML manifest intended to improve recognition contingent upon user interaction.

Another form of interaction Microsoft is gunning for in Lonestar is with developers who have invested time and money to write code for the operating system, which promised to herald in a new computing paradigm ripe with business opportunities.

While an updated version 1.5 SDK offered modest elbow room from the initial release several months back, the Lonestar SDK -- version 1.7 -- aims to enrich the possibilities to create so-called "killer apps." Microsoft's own efforts such as the ill-fated ePeriodicals have thus far fallen short of expectations.

The new SDK throws in Web support and introduces a new real time stylus API. Developers also have access to a context tagging tool - a key element that will improve handwriting support in Lonestar. The addition of Web support means specialized Web pages that can be signed, inkable Web applications and what Loforte christened, "ink blogs," a more personalized variety of Web logs.

Microsoft scuffed at suggestions that the upgrade is free simply because adoption of the technology has failed to meet the expectations of pundits, although recent reports have shown broader product lines and faster take up in the marketplace. Pricing did not take into account negative OEM feedback, said Loforte.