Related Sections: Microsoft Software
Touching Windows 7: Gestural interface is elegant, useful, improved
Windows 7 is evolving. Microsoft's development team bloggers just released this video showing a handful of the touchscreen gestures for the upcoming operating system. Using ideas first appearing on that Microsoft Surface multi-touch table, it takes some of those concepts even further. It also seems to borrow heavily from the iPhone. Hmm.
We especially like the graceful way of copying and pasting text. See, it's not that hard to do, now is it? At first, we weren't overly thrilled with the idea of a touch interface in Windows 7, what with the smudgy fingerprints on the screen and all, but this video changed our minds, somewhat.
But still, it's just an OS, people! Why are we getting so emotional? See what I really think later today, with my "SHIFT" editorial about the Windows 7 operating system. Meanwhile, here's another video using the touch interface, this one is the Globe application similar to Google Earth, developed in collaboration with the Surface team:
Via Engineering Windows 7 blog
By Mookie at 2:23 PM ON 03/26/09
As a keyboard purist (i.e., a nerd who has been using computers before graphical interfaces and still prefers the keyboard over the mouse when possible), this type of touchscreen interface seems so slow. Using my keyboard, I can whack a few key combinations and do 10 times the work in half the time it takes to make a silly gesture. While I think the gesturing looks very cool and I welcome the coolness of the interface, I hope this newer tech isn't at the expense of people who move around quite quickly using mostly the keyboard.
By Charles at 5:25 PM ON 03/26/09
I don't understand how this can have use in normal day to day computing. I don't know anyone who sits close enough to their screen to touch it easily, particularly since we sit further away from screens as they get larger.
I can see how it may be useful in kiosk situations, perhaps even for laptops (and tablets of course) but, other than that, its usefulness seems limited
By phobos at 3:13 PM ON 03/28/09
I can see why it'd be more useful in a laptop rather than a desktop, but that's the way things are going. Everything is going portable and I think this is a nice step. You could hold your laptop like you would a clipboard while computing.
Also, I use 3D modeling programs, and if this catches on big enough I think it would make a neat way to design.
By smith134 at 12:42 AM ON 06/23/09
Does anyone know if the Windows Touch is just a touch-copy of the full windows 7? or is it some sort of watered-down version with touch add-on?
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