China's Lenovo Group Ltd., which bought IBM's personal computer business last month, on Monday unveiled its first pen-based computer which runs Microsoft Corp.'s Tablet PC version of Windows.

The world's largest software maker said that the debut of the laptop computer, the ThinkPad X41, will help to broaden the market for the portable computers to business users.

Users in the legal and medical professions, where note-taking is essential, have been the main early adopters of Tablet PCs, but Microsoft is betting that more business workers will find ways to use Tablet PCs.

Tablet PCs, including models sold with or without keyboards, allow users to use computers with a pen instead of a keyboard and a mouse.

At 3.5 pounds (1.6 kilograms) and 1.14-inches thick, the X41 is one of the lightest Tablet PCs on the market today. Hewlett-Packard Co., Fujitsu Ltd. and other top PC makers already offer Tablet PCs.

Lenovo, China's largest PC seller, closed its .25 billion purchase of International Business Machines Corp.'s PC business in May, making it the world's third-largest PC maker.

(Chinanews June 7, 2005)