I upgraded to Microsoft Windows 8 in January 2013 mainly primarily because I noticed myself resisting the change. For the most part, I adapted easily. I liked using Win-q to launch applications, and I even got the hang of the complicated procedure for shutting down.

Still, the upgrade was a step backwards in terms of drawing on my tablet PC. On Windows 7, I had disabled the touchscreen in order to make stylus use easier; on Windows 8 (and later 8.1), I couldn't reliably disable the touchscreen. The option had disappeared from the built-in Pen & Touch configuration dialog, and disabling it through the hardware devices list sometimes didn't work.

This meant that I either had to wear something to insulate my palm from the screen in order to avoid accidental touches (even my thinnest glove was still warm and unwieldy), or I had to occasionally erase stray dots. Both got in the way of drawing on my computer, so I didn't do much of either.

While upgrading various pieces of software (Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Dragon Naturally Speaking), I thought to check if Lenovo or Wacom had released new drivers yet. Wacom had! Woohoo. I insntalled the Wacom Feel driver, rebooted my computer, and found the Wacom Pen & Touch dialog had a checkbox for disabling touch.

It's funny how these little inconveniences can add just enough friction to make something feel annoying, and how smoothening those inconveniences over can make a big difference in how you work and how you feel about it. I'm looking forward to playing around with the new features in Sketchbook Pro now. Glad I checked for updates!