News - Microsoft shows off Windows 7 touch functionality

[HEXUS]

It might look like good ol' Windows, but it's designed to work great at the touch of a finger, says Microsoft.

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[CrazyMonkey]

Looks good!

[TAKTAK]

I might whack the beta on my eee and see what the touchyness is like TBH...

Just a faff setting Xandros back up with all the tweaks if Win 7 is carp...

[MadduckUK]

take it or leave it tbh, doesnt help my bamboo and im certainly not rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishing money on a touch screen when a mouse is far better. seems like they should have just made a touch screen media centre style thing

only suited to tidgy pc's like taktak's eee and even then i wouldn't be totally inclined to use it

[mehmeh]

Still not convinced by "touch" for serious computer use. Works well on Phones/PDA's but its never gonna come close to the accuracy/control a mouse will give and onscreen keyboards blow, so most will probably keep a proper one around. Struggling to figure out where MS are going with the idea, as everything seems to be going wireless and home entertainment these days.. Gonna look a right muppet poking at your 50in TV from accross the room with a pointy stick.

Awesome technology though and I hope to be proved wrong with interactive coffee tables and keyboards being killed off by cool little touch sensitive panels.

[TAKTAK]

I might whack the beta on my eee and see what the touchyness is like TBH...

Just a faff setting Xandros back up with all the tweaks if Win 7 is carp...

then again mebbe not... i have 64bit and i CBA to DL 32bit, and i'm thinking it'll be too bulky to run from the SSD and i CBA to whack it on an external...

[Biscuit]

get a friggin pop-guard for your mic!

[Flibb]

If you step away from computers being things that sit at desks, and look more towards industry you will see where they are going with this. We currently use touch sensitive screens on some PCs used in labs, we also have some controlling large 2000Lt chemical reactors in our pilot plant. For many tasks in labs, factories, etc keyboards are rarely needed, and tend to get in the way.

[aidanjt]

Personally (apart from FPS gaming of course) touch screen is a much better way of pointing. If you need razor sharp pointing you're very likely to have a tablet anyway, they're more precise than a mouse. I'm looking forward to trying it out, though, even if it does take off, separate displays with built-in touch screens are going to take some time to go mainstream.

[3dcandy]

I imagine that in certain apps and systems this would be great. CarPC or carputer for one, just a click like on gps systems around now. Putting a 7" touchscreen in a double din stereo fixture would be a very easy thing...

[MadduckUK]

If you step away from computers being things that sit at desks, and look more towards industry you will see where they are going with this.

no, this looks like its for home use :/

[Biscuit]

the advert maybe but in actual practice the benefits will be more towards industry.

[Georgy291]

i still think, getting a Wii controller conected to a pc via blue tooth and set it to work as a mouse will be better (for those who dont get it, set it up same way as the chanel menu at the start, point and click)

i have done that before with my pc and i never wanted to go back to my mouse again but then my battery died

[OilSheikh]

Supercool!

But, what about hardware cost? New monitor?

[Crevan]

This will be nifty for portable devices, especially tablet PCs, and maybe some laptops. It's not always a good idea to use a mouse with your lappy when you're on the move, so this provides a decent alternative.

I don't see the touch interface replacing kb/mouse combos on the desktop, though. As pointed out earlier, this could be useful in some cases (labs, maybe media centres or information kiosks), but it's not gonna common on average workstations, at least for the time being.

[!TIMMY!]

Imagine trying to play a FPS with a touch screen lol. This will be quality for tablets, but I don't see it replacing my kb and mouse any time soon.