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Sales of pen-based tablet PCs are expected to increase 88% in 2005 to 1.2 million units, says IDC, but such sales will still be only 2% of the PC market. Tablet PCs have been used in healthcare, pharmaceutical sales, manufacturing, and education, but consumers have not had much interest. For instance, Baylor Healthcare Systems is testing tablet PCs from Motion Computing that run Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005, which are used by physicians to take notes. Baylor plans to port software on slate computers that run embedded Windows to allow patients to fill out forms. The costly tablet PC devices run a Windows version and are larger and heavier than notebooks, and the software can also be challenging to use. However, newer models that will be available at the end of 2005 will cost less and will have more interactive features. Some models permit functions to be launched with a finger tap on the screen, and a new ThinkPad from Lenovo Group weighs one pound less than competing products that convert to laptops. Microsoft Windows Vista has the potential to make tablet PCs more attractive by changing the file format to allow the OS to understand data in tablet PC notes (instead of generating a GIF picture), providing better handwriting recognition, and by merging Microsoft Media Center and tablet PC versions of Windows to create new features that might appeal to home users.
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