Microsoft is starting to roll out new changes to Windows Ink that let you write anywhere you can type in Windows 11. After months of previewing the changes, the handwriting-to-text conversion now works inside search boxes and other elements of Windows 11 where you’d normally type your input.
Microsoft has started rolling out the KB5031455 non-security update as a preview to Windows 11 users yesterday. You simply have to head to Windows Update and toggle the “Get the latest updates as soon as they’re available” setting to get this update before it’s available fully in the coming weeks.
While my handwriting is not great and I never use it for any computing tasks, stuff like this has always been pretty cool. Microsoft has been working on this since Windows 3.1 for Pen Computing 1.0 from 1992, and the recognition is actually very, very good. Being able to input handwriting straight into text fields will be a boon for artists and note-takers who use Windows on tablets, though, so it’s definitely worth installing this update if you belong to that group.
I started graduate school in August. I also have terrible handwriting, and I was initially investigating whether to try taking notes on my Thinkpad Yoga. While I decided it wasn’t quite good enough, I came away very impressed at how well Windows 10 did with handwriting recognition.
I couldn’t find anything like this for Linux, and only a Google equivalent for Android. I’m quite surprised this isn’t a standard way of entering text, everyone learns how to write in at least one language!
I would be interested in trying one. However I don’t find that I am any faster writing text than I am typing it, so I doubt it would replace a keyboard for me. Assuming I had handwriting recognition and interaction that worked well on mobile though, I could see myself replacing the touch screen keyboards that I loath to use for anything substantial.
The article is very unclear whether this works with 3rd party software. I wonder how well it would work at coding, haha.
I feel like this was already a thing all the way back on the HP tablets circa 2006, before Apple “invented” the tablet.
(And TBH I want those tablets back. They worked great. If you want a tablet now its this watered down iPad/Android junk)
jmorgannz,
I’m pretty sure those windows tablets would have been much more popular if they were affordable. I wanted one of those badly, but they priced themselves out of the market.
I was also shocked by this news about Windows. It’s really great that we can now work peacefully on projects created using the https://www.dnpcapstoneproject.com/ service, knowing that they will be stored securely on our computer. This gives you confidence and allows you to focus on developing your project without worrying about losing data. Such amenities make life and work much more efficient and worry-free.