13. A computing device for handwriting recognition, comprising: one or more processors; and a computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors perform operations comprising: segmenting handwritten input from a user into a plurality of segments; determining a set of matching probabilities for at least a portion of the segments; generating an in-dictionary alternate list comprising a plurality of in-dictionary recognition scores; generating an out-of-dictionary alternate list comprising a plurality of out-of-dictionary recognition scores; calculating a balancing factor using a tuning set comprising in-dictionary tuning words and out-of-dictionary tuning words, the calculating comprising one of: selecting a first value for the balancing factor that is less than a resulting quotient of a first probability of an in-dictionary tuning word being correct divided by a second probability of an out-of-dictionary tuning word being correct, if the in-dictionary tuning word is correct and the out-of-dictionary tuning word is not correct; and selecting a second value for the balancing factor that is greater than a resulting quotient of a third probability of the in-dictionary tuning word being correct divided by a fourth probability of the out-of-dictionary tuning word being correct, if the in-dictionary tuning word is not correct and the out-of-dictionary tuning word is correct; comparing the in-dictionary alternate list with the out-of-dictionary alternate list using the balancing factor; combining the in-dictionary alternate list and the out-of-dictionary alternate list, based on the comparison of the in-dictionary alternate list with the out-of-dictionary alternate list, to create a combined alternate list; and making a final recognition decision regarding the handwritten input using the combined alternate list.
13. A computing device for handwriting recognition, comprising: one or more processors; and a computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors perform operations comprising: segmenting handwritten input from a user into a plurality of segments; determining a set of matching probabilities for at least a portion of the segments; generating an in-dictionary alternate list comprising a plurality of in-dictionary recognition scores; generating an out-of-dictionary alternate list comprising a plurality of out-of-dictionary recognition scores; calculating a balancing factor using a tuning set comprising in-dictionary tuning words and out-of-dictionary tuning words, the calculating comprising one of: selecting a first value for the balancing factor that is less than a resulting quotient of a first probability of an in-dictionary tuning word being correct divided by a second probability of an out-of-dictionary tuning word being correct, if the in-dictionary tuning word is correct and the out-of-dictionary tuning word is not correct; and selecting a second value for the balancing factor that is greater than a resulting quotient of a third probability of the in-dictionary tuning word being correct divided by a fourth probability of the out-of-dictionary tuning word being correct, if the in-dictionary tuning word is not correct and the out-of-dictionary tuning word is correct; comparing the in-dictionary alternate list with the out-of-dictionary alternate list using the balancing factor; combining the in-dictionary alternate list and the out-of-dictionary alternate list, based on the comparison of the in-dictionary alternate list with the out-of-dictionary alternate list, to create a combined alternate list; and making a final recognition decision regarding the handwritten input using the combined alternate list. 14. The method of claim 13 , comprising displaying one or more characters representing the final recognition decision to the user.