# MS Equation Writer - not very impressed

By Murray Bourne, 17 Apr 2007

A while ago, I was excited when I learned that Microsoft had released Equation Writer, a free download as part of an Education Pack.

Equation Writer is designed for the tablet PC. You can write your equations using the stylus and they are converted into images.

I finally got a chance to play with it just now on a tablet PC. The verdict? I'm disappointed.

• The spacing between characters in each expression is limited, making it hard to read. Here's an example:
• It only creates an image. It would have been much more versatile if it had created LaTEX, or better, MathML, so that the equation could be used in other applications and on the Web.
• The image size is fixed. Not a good feature.
• It only allows copy to the clipboard. To save as a GIF or similar file extension, you have to save each image separately into another image editing application.
• I can type expressions into Scientific Notebook (or similar) more accurately and quicker than using Equation Writer. And I can save my file and come back to it later and edit it. I can use what I have done in several different ways, including having SNB solve the equation for me and draw its graph.

I'm not in a hurry to use Equation Writer.

Anyone used it and like it?

### 2 Comments on “MS Equation Writer - not very impressed”

1. deo says:

how can i install the MS EQUATION WRITER to my desktop computer?

2. Murray says:

Hi Deo

There is a link to Equation Writer in the first sentence of the post.

I remember trying to use it on a laptop but with no luck. I think it can only be used on a Tablet PC.

Regards

### Comment Preview

HTML: You can use simple tags like <b>, <a href="...">, etc.

To enter math, you can can either:

1. Use simple calculator-like input in the following format (surround your math in backticks, or qq on tablet or phone):
a^2 = sqrt(b^2 + c^2)
(See more on ASCIIMath syntax); or
2. Use simple LaTeX in the following format. Surround your math with $$ and $$.
$$\int g dx = \sqrt{\frac{a}{b}}$$
(This is standard simple LaTeX.)

NOTE: You can't mix both types of math entry in your comment.