Windows 7 to feature multi-touch interface

"when will windows do something that mac havnt already done? Hey Bill, do something new already!" Ok im a Mac and PC user here, but i really hate the fan boys from both sides. (though i do prefer OS X) :D Windows is an OS, and Mac is the "name" for Apple branded PC's running OS X I think you mean When will Microsoft do something Apple hasn't done already... I really don't understand all this rivalry, an OS is an OS... If "people look at you funny because you have a Mac".... Why? each OS has its + & - OS X + beautiful just works stable efficient best permission and file management ever (hate to use this but) Virtually no viruses System wide optimization (eg there is no need to defrag your HD) - NO GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (This is why i am building a PC this summer) :D Windows + GAMES!!!!!!!!! (yay) due to the DX10/9 most platforms support windows Vista looks nice Mouse sensitivity (far superior to OS X mouse sensitivity) - File permissions (i paid for this OS and my license, so i can do whatever i bloody like with my computers files. aaaRRggg) UAC invasive security features the worst file hierarchy system EVER uninstalling a file still leaves it on the HD and in the registry???? (which windows warns me about cleaning out myself) In the end i think that this new touch OS is a waste. Touch isn't a gimmick, infact the iphone is a beautiful way to interact with your music and phone, but that is the point. Its a good way to interact with the PHONE OS! Not a computer OS! Not a computer OS! This seems to be a desperate last resort by Microsoft to get a new OS out the door that isnt shunned by the masses. I feel a bit lost as well in the world of software, do i buy Vista 64 bit? Has it come to the end of its life? Or wait for the "latest" touch OS?

Comment by Aries4000k at 5:44pm 2nd June 2008

my spelling's crap in that post, I'm sure most of you can make it out tho...(hopes)

Comment by EdArch at 2:16am 31st May 2008

I'm actually glad to hear this isn't solely owned by MS or Apple..it's good to see someone else benfitting from this technology (that is, if they are!). Not wishing to sound like a naysayer, the tech for the restaurant industry alredy exists in the form of a cool material that "remembers" where you place your hot/cold drink and changes luminance/colour depending on the heat/chill of that plate or glass, but really..when you're out with a few friends over a few pints, do you want to be all staring at the coool patterns made by your glasses or do you want to atually talk to your friends? It's nice to have such things but not if they are a distrtion from the actual event of going out socially..and does it really have any benefit to your night out? sure you visit a cool bar but does that make the night any better/more memorable? Te surface cards sounds good and could eliminate a few probs but we don't need a new Win to do this, the technology is already here - and besides splitting a bill isn't that complicated anyway - and I've worked in bars/resturants for 6 years to know that there is no 'poor person' who has to split the bill. Yes the interface may enhance gameplay for Sim/CnC/FPS games phenominally, but the question is; Since touchscreen is already here and can be applied (through tools like the Cintiq) via any OS you hae, does this make the new Win a huge step forward? I don't think the answer at this stage is a definite "yes" - I could play CnC on a PC with a Cintiq and still have more-or-less the same experience - and using a stylus, maybe a more accurate one - same with CAD, CG, etc. The point is that MS is not introducing anything new, just re-hashing what already exists to appeal to what it thinks the current consumer market wants...it's fickle, no substance, maybe a few new little gadgets that people claim they "couldn't live without" while for the past 5-10 years they have lived without it, and quite comfortably too.

Comment by EdArch at 2:00am 31st May 2008

I was playing with this at Microsoft way before the iphone was even thought of. Surface computing and the multi-touch screen have been around for a long time and it just happens to be that apple released something using it first. Just thought I would also point out that the technology is not apples or Microsofts but actually developed and owned completely by a third party. I have seen some awsome examples of uses for this, think about games like command and conquer, i've been lucky enough to try this out and it blows current gaming setups away with its simplicity, what is a mouse after all it's simply a way of pointing at what you want to do much like a finger. One other cool example is restaurant tables having this technology, if you put your drink on the table it can detect it and render snazzy effects but what if you had the bill "sent" from the till to your table then the items are splayed out for all to see. Combine this with "surface cards" that have a chip in them much like chip and pin these days and the customer need only put any number of cards on the table to begin paying htrough simply pointing at and pushing items on to their card. yeh great i hear you say ... so what ... now imagine the poor person that has to split the bill for a hen party or stag night where say 20 people all want to pay only for their own meals. This makes life very simple for them ! for more information on this technology have a look at the movies over at ... http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ Oh i love that dynamic keyboard idea by the way, very cool !

Comment by Wardy at 12:25pm 30th May 2008

YOU should make that thing, that's a brilliant idea, and you probably wouldn't need a new OS to run it..get working!!!... I use CAD, Painter and Photoshop alot as well as publisher so yes this kind of thing would be great for all the above and could make simulation (SimCity, Tycoon etc) and FPS games interesting too :D Only thing with this is, the touchscreen's would need a stylus for CAD/graphical progs to work well on this level, and I'm not sure current touhscreen TFt's allow this - also touchscreen tft's are around £400+ for a 19" 4:3 so again, not great. BUT the biggest thing that puzzles me here - especially following comments from draughtsmen/CG people on here - is that you can ALREADY have a full-on touchscreen windows, regardless of which version you own. Wacom's Cintiq monitor is expensive at between £1800 for a 21" model, but you can still use a mouse separately or you can use the pen to draw, click, shoot etc without the need for a new OS which will probably use more RAM and need more HD space as this new Win will probably need. So at this stage, from my point of view, it looks quite gimmicky I don't hear anything like "uses less system resources" or "loads faster" etc. It just seems as if MS is worried about Apple's new-found popularity and is worried about them biting too much into "their" market - which will never happen as much as anyone thinks for a number of reasons (poor range of program/game offerings to name one). So to combat this, MS looks at what makes Apple percieved as cool' and 'wanted' by the consumer market and implants that onto it's own platform. Just as Vista was MS's attemmpt to produce a shiny OS similar to OS X (without it's lightning quick startup time!), this is MS trying to emulate iPhone in the hope it will divert people's attentions (and wallets) away from Apple and back to the path of Seattle-based righteousness. In short, if you want a touch-screen OS - get a Cintiq, stick with whatever OS you currently have or like, and then give Zaphod some money so he can develop his brilliant-sounding keypad!

Comment by EdArch at 8:34pm 29th May 2008

Do the mac fans not realise that it isn't Bill anymore?? He's now stepped down and Steve Balmer is in charge. Sure, Windows 7 multi-touch is similar to the Mullet-touch on the apple stuff but at least there won't be the same stigma attached. People look at you funny if you say you have a mac...

Comment by gavomatic57 at 7:50pm 29th May 2008

... That they wanna have this as a secondary monitor but with touch screen enabled (sorta like the Nintendo DS).

Comment by NikoBellic at 3:31pm 29th May 2008

yeah dont get me wrong, it would be great for other uses then gaming, all i am saying is instead of having it up vertically facing you, if you had it laying flat on your table, then could be great for allot of application's, CAD, Visio, all sorts of graphics design.

Comment by zaphod54 at 11:41am 29th May 2008

i can definately say that as a draughtsman, this would be a brilliant tool for CAD. would need a big surface, and to angle it to make it comfortable for constant use, but even using the current versions of AutoCAD with a touch screen could be very efficient, and very futuristic and cool. cotton gloves could avoid fingerprints on the screen if the touch was sensative enough.

Comment by only_happy at 11:01am 29th May 2008

I ca nsee the biggest thing to come from this will be a Dynamic Keyboard, Think about it, your board at the moment is stuck with the key placement and what it can do, adn the langauge it was made in. If this does happen, people will not want to reach over to operate there touch screen monitors all day, so Microsoft or Logitech or someone will develope a keyboard with no keys on it, just a very widescreen monitor, inwhich when you boot up your PC into Windows 7 the key appear in the layout for your country, but, if you load up a application that requires a music keyboard, then the normal ASCII keyboard get replaced with a musical keyboard. If they do this, it could do so much, games could make there own keyboard to fit there game, every application could dynamically alter the keyboard to best suit the application. the tool bar at the top of the application could be moved to the keyboard.

Comment by zaphod54 at 8:28am 29th May 2008

I ca nsee the biggest thing to come from this will be a Dynamic Keyboard, Think about it, your board at the moment is stuck with the key placement and what it can do, adn the langauge it was made in. If this does happen, people will not want to reach over to operate there touch screen monitors all day, so Microsoft or Logitech or someone will develope a keyboard with no keys on it, just a very widescreen monitor, inwhich when you boot up your PC into Windows 7 the key appear in the layout for your country, but, if you load up a application that requires a music keyboard, then the normal ASCII keyboard get replaced with a musical keyboard. If they do this, it could do so much, games could make there own keyboard to fit there game, every application could dynamically alter the keyboard to best suit the application. the tool bar at the top of the application could be moved to the keyboard.

Comment by zaphod54 at 8:28am 29th May 2008

windows do something that mac havnt already done? Hey Bill, do something new already!

Comment by lunarus at 8:01am 29th May 2008

You can point and shoot on first person shooters, its called a touch screen monitor with your left click related to the click of the monitor... a few gamers already do it ;)

Comment by Lightning_Pete at 11:13pm 28th May 2008

...but how would this affect the viewing of 'certain' websites? Could make them much more interactive.

Comment by lxstuart at 8:33pm 28th May 2008

Is it just me or do the XP/Linux fanboys come out of the woodwork when Sir Bill gets his new toys out?

Comment by crazyceo at 7:30pm 28th May 2008

could get interesting in a dull sort of way, it really would be point and shoot!

Comment by WoodSpoon at 6:42pm 28th May 2008

i think we will find a nice link vetween computers as they were a few years ago and what bill gates wants, we need a balance. we are slowing down evolution just with the last genertaion of tech whats gonna happen in 10 years time??

Comment by billz at 6:28pm 28th May 2008

i think about it as i do a laptops HID, because if you are gaming dragging your finger across to move you aim can just be annoying plus i like to slouch or sit back when using my computer, so having the monitor on my lap would be a bit awquard...

Comment by NikoBellic at 6:01pm 28th May 2008

I love the idea of touch screens and a touch interface but one thing i hate above all else is finger prints on my monitor. Drives me nuts, so unless they invent a touch screen that is finger print free count me out

Comment by Radical_Monkey at 5:18pm 28th May 2008

I think i'll stick to my mouse thanx...

Comment by NikoBellic at 5:16pm 28th May 2008

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