- Best support for pen-abled computing;
- Best-in-class Tablet PC applications, many of which are Windows-only. To name a few:
- Inkseine (Microsoft Research)
- Windows Journal (part of the Windows 7 suite of applications)
- OneNote 2007/2010 (Microsoft Office)
- Classroom Presenter 3 (University of Washington)
- PDF Annotator (Grahl Software Design)
- ArtRage 2.x/3 (Ambient Design)
- ritePen 3.5 (Ritescript)
- Best power management for longer battery life. Real-world use, with WiFi and Bluetooth turned off, on the 6-cell primary battery of the TC4400:
- Windows XP Tablet PC Ed., between 3 to 3 1/2 hours
- Ubuntu 9.10, between 3 1/2 to 4 hours
- Windows 7, 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours
- and, the jog dial works! (I unfortunately was unable to make it work when I was still using Ubuntu 9.10.)
Ubuntu was a good experience for this Tablet PC owner. I have been an advocate of free-to-use alternatives to commercial software -- when an opportunity to do so presents itself, I try to point out to people who ask that there are many free options that are just as useful to end users as for-pay counterparts. I love using Linux. In fact, both my Home Desktop/Server and my office workstation are still running on Linux distros (even though the office PC has a Windows Vista license). It just to happens that in the case of my beloved Tablet PC, the benefits offered by the commercial counterpart are well worth the Php 5,800 (123 USD) price tag.
On a kind of sad note, the final push that resulted in an eventual Windows 7 Home Premium license purchase was a short but nonetheless disappointing experience with Ubuntu 10.04. Tablet PC support kind of regressed from what was available in Karmic Koala -- at the very least, the existing solutions were no longer available to not-so-expert users, owing to some changes in Ubuntu's WACOM support.
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