Microsoft makes Windows even more pen-friendly

The company dedicated much of its event in Shanghai this morning to talking about the role of ink in Windows. Since debuting the Surface Pro 3 with Surface Pen back in 2014, the company has gradually made Windows more intuitive to use with a stylus. This culminated in the release of Windows Ink with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, a platform expanded on in last month’s Creators Update.
As part of the new version, Microsoft improved the ink toolbar control to make it easier for developers to add inking to their apps. The toolbar is already available in stock apps like Photos and Maps to let you annotate your images and routes respectively. The company hopes more third-party developers will start to add ink support too, making the pen a first-class input method.

Windows Ink

Microsoft

In response to feedback from users, many of whom are students or creative professionals, Microsoft has added a protractor stencil to the ink toolkit. This lets you draw precise circles and arc sections with accurate angle measurements. It joins the existing ruler tool to create perfectly straight lines on the display. This has been updated to include a built-in protractor too.
Developers can now use artificial intelligence to understand the words that you write using ink. Microsoft’s Smart Ink and Ink Analysis technologies can recognise shapes to power richer behaviours within applications. A drawing app could round off your circles or create neater triangles. Flowchart software may intelligently convert your rough sketches into accurate symbols.
Smart Ink gives developers a way to hook into the context of pen input and respond to it in a way that benefits the user. Microsoft said this same technology is already at work in the revamped Sticky Notes app launched with the Anniversary Update. In this scenario, the app monitors your handwriting for information like dates, web links and reminders. It can then intelligently add hyperlinks or calendar tasks based on your rough jottings.

New features coming to Windows 10 in ‘Anniversary Update’

Microsoft

The new features are headlined today by Microsoft’s refreshed Surface Pro. Alongside the upgraded convertible, the company introduced a heavily revised Surface Pen accessory with sensitivity four times higher than the last model. The pen now registers 4,096 levels of pressure and requires half the activation force before it first detects writing.
The pen is backed by a new Windows system called Low Latency Inking. It allows ink to “flow” from the pen onto the screen almost instantaneously. Microsoft has developed a specialist hardware chip that directly links the pen and display, almost eliminating input lag entirely by enabling hardware ink acceleration.
It’s similar to the acceleration enabled by graphics cards – you can play a 3D game using a processor alone but the frame rate might be choppy. On a graphics card, everything is smoother because the underlying hardware is dedicated to the task. Microsoft’s PixelSense Accelerator does this for ink, giving pens their own controlling hardware built specifically to minimise lag.

Microsoft Surface Pro [2017]

Microsoft

Microsoft is keen for people to use pens as part of their everyday computing environment. It recognised that people are reluctant to leave pen and paper behind because most digital alternatives lack the same precision and convenience. The latest version of Windows Ink and the Surface Pen represent the company’s most accomplished attempt yet to solve these challenges.
“Windows Ink is about transforming the way we think about computers, from a tool that is great at getting things done, to one that harnesses your personality and your emotions into the things you create,” said Microsoft. “It’s about bringing back the human aspects that a mouse and keyboard (and even touch) cannot express fully, it’s about making personal computers more personal, and an extension of yourself, not just a tool.”
The improved Windows Ink platform is available now on computers running the Windows 10 Creators Update. The new Surface Pen, compatible with the Surface Pro unveiled today and older Pro 3 and 4 models, will be available to pre-order “in the coming weeks.” Windows Ink also supports a range of other active styluses from third-party manufacturers.