Microsoft last week sketched out the future direction for its Tablet PC platform, and how it intends to address some of the perceived shortcomings of the technology.

The next full version of Tablet PC will ship with the forthcoming Longhorn release of the Windows client in 2006, according to Microsoft's UK head of Windows, Cynthia Crossley. However, the software vendor will continue to add new functionality to Tablet PC with service pack updates in the interim, she added.

"Tablets and laptops are going to be fundamental to mobile computing," said Crossley. "But some things still need to be addressed, such as network roaming and how do we improve handwriting recognition. These are the pieces we need to put into place."

Microsoft hopes that in the long term, all laptops will eventually offer Tablet functionality. This would mean that handwriting recognition and other capabilities would be present if required, even if staff for the most part continued to use the devices like today's keyboard-based laptops.

Crossley said Microsoft had not decided whether to offer a Tablet PC edition of Windows Longhorn, as the company currently does with Windows XP, or whether to integrate the two into a single product.

"That is something we are thinking about, but it won't be a case of doing it just because we think people wouldn't use it otherwise," Crossley said.

Although take-up of Tablet PC has not been as high as Microsoft hoped, it is now gathering pace, according to the firm. Shipments of Tablet systems grew by 64 percent over the past quarter, Crossley said, and they are now selling particularly well in the small business sector.

"Tablets are following a typical adoption curve, with the first units going to early adopters and the vertical markets," she said. "To go mainstream, we are now looking to lower the price and create solutions around it," she added.

Crossley said that Microsoft will continue to work closely with its hardware partners to build systems to meet the requirements of business customers, and this may result in new device formats.