After discovering that I could configure OneNote to stay on top of other windows I found it was a really great way to take notes on a document.  The problem I next encountered was that for the type of note taking I was doing I would prefer to use Mind Manager 7.

Unfortunately, MindManager does not appear to offer this functionality.  However - a quick Google revealed a great little free utility that will let you keep one or more windows on top.  The application is called XNeat Window Manager - here is an out take from the site:

XNeat Windows Manager adds additional features to the Windows taskbar and system tray, that enables you to minimize any window to an icon in the system tray (instead of the taskbar), keep any window on top, set a custom transparency level, and also hide any window or tray icon, furthermore the program allows you to re-arrange the order of the taskbar buttons by simply dragging them around. XNeat Windows Manager integrates into the right-click menu of the taskbar and system tray. It also allows you to change the taskbar appearance by hiding the Start button, system clock and other elements.

For want of a better term - Neat!  Works exactly as it says and I was soon note taking in Mind Manager while reading a document in another window behind it.

My friend Lee's long wait is almost over - his new LS800 is on the way.  He asked me today what he should do with his new tablet when he gets it.  There are tons of things you can do with your tablet and discovering those things is one of the joys of tablet ownership. 

That said here are 10 tips - things you can do with your new tablet to get you started.

1. Install Vista
   There is a lot to love in Windows Vista if you are a tablet or mobile user.  The Snipping Tool (which is available for XP tablet users in the free Tablet Experience Pack from Microsoft), Pen Flicks, multiple selections in Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer's panning tool, autocomplete for URLs and email addresses, an updated Tablet Input Panel and handwriting personalisation make Vista a compelling offering for tablet users.  You can read more about all of these in this post I did way back in April last year, during the beta.  There are some more mobile friendly features outlined here as well.
2. Make a Mind Map
   Mind mapping is a great way to plan things out or get your creative juices flowing.  I use Mind Jet's MindManager 6 - but there is a new version coming out soon, so that will be well worth checking out.  If you are running it on a small screen tablet, check out my optimization tips.
3. Ink on a PDF.  Tablet users delight in freaking people out.  A great way to do that is to return a PDF form that has been emailed to you by emailing it back within minutes all filled out.  I use PDF Annotator to do this.  Apart from being very efficient it is good fun.
4. Take some notes.  Note taking is where a tablet comes into its own.  If you have OneNote installed you can use that, but if not all tablets (Vista or XP) come with Windows Journal.
5. Do some drawing.  Drawing is great on a tablet.  For the best tablet experience you want something that is aware of the different pressure levels that are reported by an active digitizer.  My favorite is NZ grown ArtRage - even my daughter loves it.  Another good option is the free photo editor Paint.NET.
6. Read a book.  In slate mode a tablet makes a great platform for reading eBooks.  I've used both Microsoft's Reader and Palm Digital Media's eReader and they are both good.
7. Ink in Word - You can use ink in Word to markup documents or to insert ink comments.  If you are using Word as your editor in Outlook 2003 or if you are using Outlook 2007 then you can also ink email messages.
8. Ink on PowerPoint Slides - Another great way to show off in front of the ink challenged masses.  More on that here.
9. Ink Instant Messages - If you use Windows Live Messenger then you can chat in ink.  Great if you happen to be having an IM conversation while on the train (I've done that!)
10. Most importantly of all - Have fun!

I dropped in on the Wellington .Net User Group today to deliver what they call a lightning talk.  The whole meeting was a succession of speakers, each alotted 5-10 minutes to deliver their message.  That is not a lot of time for anything more than a quick intro to a topic.

My topic was "Why you should be developing for Tablet and Touch technologies" and I went bare-bones.  No slides.  No projector.  No demos. 

I just gave a bit of background on the evolution of tablet to date - Windows XP Tablet Edition, Tablet Edition 2005, making the Tablet OS available on touchscreen devices, UMPCs and now Vista.  Then I put it to the audience that if - and I am not sure that this is the case - the tablet has failed to deliver on its promise then fault lies with developers.  Brave thing to say if you are in a room full of developers perhaps, but I stand by the statement.  Why?  Because tablet is just a platform.  Platforms in and of themselves do not add much value.  Applications that leverage the features of the platform to enable users to work better add value.

Next I outlined three classes of applications.

1. Tablet ignorant applications are unaware that they are running on a tablet at all.  They treat the stylus just like a mouse and you need to use the TIP to enter text.  A classic example would be Notepad, but in fact most applications fall into this category.
2. Tablet aware applications offer additional functionality to the user when running on a tablet.  Examples of this include MindJet MindManaer and most of the Office suite.
3. Tablet specific applications are designed to run on a tablet and don't work well (if at all) on a non-tablet.  Some examples of this include Windows Journal and the apps in the tablet experience pack.

I closed with a call to action.  In short I said:

Work with a tablet if you can.  This is the best way to understand their strengths and the painpoints of tablet ignorant apps.  Next start making your existing applications tablet aware.  Lastly if you find a use case that lends itself to ink input then consider writing a tablet specific app.

Just plucked this cool article off the wire via  David Rasmussen's Blog.  David points out thatMindJet Labss have released a great little tool to provide some integration between OneNote 2007 and MindManager 6.

The OneNote 2007 + MindManager tool provides three functions:

• OneNote 2007 Send To MindManager
• OneNote Hyperlinks in MindManager
• OneNote Notebook Hierarchy Mapping

In their own words, you can:

• From MindManager, easily map out the OneNote Notebooks, Sections, and Pages, including hyperlinks to the notebooks, sections, and pages:
• From MindManager, send the current map to OneNote as an image that you can sketch on and annotate:
• From OneNote, send a page to MindManager as a hyperlinked topic

Grab the OneNote 2007 + MindManager download here.

I have been chatting to a couple of people about how they use MindManager of late and have found quite a bit of variance. 

For instance as much as I love it for structuring my thoughts and planning things out I have never had much success with Mind Mapping as a note taking technique.

The key activities I use it for are:

• Mapping out tasks and activities in large projects
• Presentations - I love it for this!!!  Both creating the content and then exporting to PowerPoint or presenting using MindManager's presentation mode are awesome.
• Quickly structuring large document outlines - these are then exported to Word and the content filled in.
• Showing off the Tablet PC :)

How do you use MindManager?

Chuck Frey, of the Mind Mapping Software Weblog, recently interviewed Eric Mack about how and when he uses Mind Mapping and how he leverages the Tablet PC to do this. Eric provides some great insight into how the Tablet adds value to this process.

Check out the interview here.

MindJet have released two new plugins for Tablet users.

First up is an export to One Note plugin. As JK writes:

"The good folks at Mindjet are at it again and this time they have released a plug-in for MindManager that makes me very happy. On a recent OnTheRun with Tablet PCs podcast Lyn and Olga expressed a desire to be able to draw freehand ink on their mind maps. Michael Scherotter of Mindjet just posted a comment on jkOnTheRun announcing the new Tablet Extensions for MindManager."

The other plugin sends your maps to Journal.

Very cool.

Via JK

Hobart Swan has a post that outlines some of the key features in the new version of Mind Manager.

"Rather than try to communicate detailed information about the new product to you using the standard linear form, let's use the new Beta version of Mindjet's new browser-based (IE 5.5 or greater) MindManager Viewer and show to it you in the most efficient manner: a map."

There is an interesting article over on the MindJet blog about a new plug in by MindJet labs - MindManager Accelerator for Google (MMA4Google).

What's it do?

"Right-click on any topic and select Google Search from the context menu.  The results are displayed as a subtopic of the selected topic in groups of ten with the first group shown.  Click on a result set and press the [Get Results] button to get the additional results."

For more details about the differences between this plug in and the now obsolete Google Smart Map Part (GSMP) and a screenshot of the MMA4Google in action check out the full article.

Update: I just downloaded and installed MMA4Google.  It took all of a minute to install and is very cool.

There is an interesting post over on the MindJet blog - Blog Better with MindManager.

The article first provides some thoughts as to why you should plan your content.  After that the author - Tim Leberecht - walks you through using mind manager to map out your post.

Start with a central topic, gather research into the map, make connections, build the outline, populate the full text using the notes feature then copy and paste into your blog client interface.  Tidy up and post. 

This is a great post from Tim, and it applies to more than just blogging.  This is a fantastic roadmap for planning a document you need to write using Mind Manager.

This has been on my 'To Blog About' list for a while but I have been a bit snowed...  Something I didn't know about MindManager is that it not only stores it files as XML, but it provides a native method of adding XSL transforms to import or export any XML file.

From the official Mind Manager Blog:

One of the seldom-discussed feature of MindManager X5 Pro is the ability to read and write XML files.   XML is a text-based self-defining data format that MindManager X5 is built upon.  In MindManager, this XML-reading and writing feature is called Transformations and registered transformations appear as file types in the File Open and File Save-As dialog boxes.

This makes MindManager much more the a powerful tool for mind mapping - which it already is anyway.  It makes it, potentially, into a platform that can be used as part of an integration solution.  Very cool.