I've been hoping to buy a tablet PC as soon as I can afford to, for
one reason: to be able to edit Word documents with a pen instead of
voice (since carpal tunnel syndrome severely limits my use of
keyboards).

To be absolutely clear about what I mean by "edit," I'll give a couple
of examples. I would be able to delete text by drawing a line through
it and making a "delete" gesture (like the "delete" proofreading
symbol). I would be able to insert text by making an "insert" gesture
(like a proofreader's caret) and writing in the margin or in an input
box or whatever. If the technical details are not quite as I imagine
them and I have to learn a new set of gestures or procedures, that's
not a big deal; the important thing is the ability to make changes to
typed document content with the pen.

Up to now I've simply assumed that Office XP on a tablet PC can do
this. The capability seems so major and so basic that I never
questioned it. But I'm getting suspicious, because I can't find any
documents on the Web that unambiguously say it's possible.

I have found assurance that I can handwrite text and convert it to a
document, but that's not what I need. I also found a "What's new in
Word 2003" thing that gushes about improvements to annotation, but
"annotation" seems to mean handwritten notes and marks that are
layered on top of typed text, and can later be used as a guide to
editing the document with the keyboard and mouse. That's not what I
need, either.

I found a discussion board where someone asked the same question I'm
asking, and got two answers. One answer was that it "should work" with
Word 2003 (which was not yet available at the time). The other answer
was an unconditional "yes," but it was written so obliquely that it
made me wonder whether the author understood the question.

Before I spend $1000 or more for a new gadget, I need to be sure it
will do what I want it to do. Can someone clarify this for me? If the
answer is positive, it will be really useful if you can point me to a
"guided tour" type of web site that shows how it works.

My email address is llm040903 at earthlink dot net.