Windows 7 will bring the 'touch' interface to the masses. Be prepared

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/05/27/introducing-the-microsoft-touch-pack-for-windows-7.aspx

by urlwolf • 17 years ago

17 23 17 years ago

TomOfTTB4• 17 years ago

Touch is a cute trick but for the most part I don't think it will make that big of a difference interface wise. In the end I suspect most users will use it every now and then on photos but it won't significantly change the user experience like it does on say an iPhone.

I made a post on my own blog not too long ago on why, after experimenting with touch interfaces, I found them to be lacking in a PC enviornment. You can find it here if you're interested: http://www.tomstechblog.com/post/A-Quick-Indictment-Of-The-F...

(I link only because there's one small graphic in the post that I think makes a big point and I couldn't embed the graphic here)

josefresco• 17 years ago

What may be a 'cute trick' to you, is a massive leap in usability for others. Mainly kids who at a young age could interact with a touch screen but find it very hard to use a mouse/touchpad (I witness this first-hand with my 3 year old daughter)

This is bigger than most geeks recognize for the 'casual' PC market and also for breaking the PC out of the office.

TomOfTTB4• 17 years ago

It's actually a massive leap backwards in usability. In the post linked to above I point out that the same action that takes one click with the mouse takes 2 clicks and 3 gestures with a multi-touch screen (worst case scenario obbviously). Moreover the increased range of motion in the shoulders and upper arms can cause muscle pain (I've actually done usability tests on this using a regular touch screen).

Again, I'm not saying it doesn't have limited use. Just that it won't revolutionize the UI of PCs (like it actually did for phones imho)

Radix2• 17 years ago

It's actually touch mixed with stylus handwriting that I think will become useful. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=476184 I expect it will first be put to good use by a company like Evernote. That's my interest anyway.

TomOfTTB4• 17 years ago

Just curious, what advantage to you see touch having in relation to writing recognition? I'm not saying that in a confrontational way, I'm honestly missing your point.

arien• 17 years ago

Hehe, that same graphic is the reason why I find the touch phones annoying. Small keyboards, hard to press for people with long nails like me (I'm a girl, in case you're wondering :P). I prefer stylus.

That doesn't mean there aren't instances where precision isn't an issue and we can happily use a touch interface without problems. I would say it's more than a cute trick.

markessien3• 17 years ago

"Touch is a cute trick" is a similar statement to "No Wireless. Less Space Than A Nomad. Lame.".

Touch will be the future of computing. The potential in touch and multitouch is staggering, and Windows 7 actually brings it to people. The hardware people will catch up next, then the software people will follow.

Microsoft are rich because they get where the trend is going.

TomOfTTB4• 17 years ago

You should write press releases. You'd be goood at it. But I'd be interested in some substance. Why exactly do you think it's "the future of computing"

lukifer• 17 years ago

Desktop touch is flawed in one way only, but it's a big one: that no one wants to hold their hands up to the screen for hours on end. It works much better as a table (MS Surface), and perhaps we'll see future computers at 45-degree inclines (you'll notice that Jeff Han demoed multitouch on that kind of system).

"Touch is the future" is a half-truth; the future of computing will probably include a blend of mouse, keyboard, touch, voice, and (hopefully) direct brain interfaces, depending on the task and the use case.

Daemmerung• 17 years ago

Not only are fingers very low-resolution input devices, but they're opaque and attached to a big meaty human hand, obscuring your view of whatever you're manipulating. The visibility problem worsens with multiple touch, since you may have both hands between your eyes and the screen.

When manipulating something small or fine on the screen with a coarse fingertip, it can be difficult to know if you actually have a 'grip' on it, or precisely which face/edge of it you're pushing/pulling. (In the physical world, we receive tactile feedback through our fingertips that helps us grasp things.) Frustrating, since much of the promise of multi-touch systems is in modeling physical-world manipulation.

Also, PC touch screens can quickly get greasy, worsening visibility even when your hands aren't on it. I developed for a PC-based multitouch environment last fall; by the end of a debugging session on the test system, its screen would be difficult to read. If I ever do that again I will buy silk gloves and learn to type in them (and hope that they are fine enough not to block input on a capacitive touchscreen).

jeroen• 17 years ago

I doubt there are more pc's running windows that have a touchscreen than there are iPhones.

Not that it isn't a nice development, but "bringing it to the masses" sounds like typical MS marketing BS to me.

volida3• 17 years ago

Spare me with this fanboy criticism.

How hard is it for you to consider that if new laptops are going to have have touch screen then Windows will make touch mainstream.

zimbabwe2• 17 years ago

It's not quite criticism. It's pointing out that touch screens are mainstream. My immediate family alone has three. That's mainstream. Touch was a huge deal in 2006.

Windows 7 will bring the 'touch' interface to the masses. Be prepared

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