Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer unveiled the iPhone-like touch-screen feature at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, calling it "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009.more here
When it comes to not quite nascent interface technologies, touch is something that’s overdue in mainstream computing. So far it’s been limited to convertible notebooks like those made by Acer\Gateway, Fujutsu, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba and others. And on Palm handelds and those that run the Windows mobile operating system as well as all-in-one desktop computers ;like the HP TouchSmart IQ line.
Incorporating touch drivers in Windows could create hockey stick like growth in convertible notebooks and desktop computers alike. With current screen pricing, the price delta associated with digitizer screens could make touch-computing a mainstay feature. Touch computing interface technology could also drive innovation among software developers, making complex or feature-laden applications like image editing software much easier to use and perhaps cutting down on expensive customer service calls from users anxious to master such programs.
Touch computing (along with voice interface) is a technology that’s been percolating at Microsoft since the late Eighties. It’s about time that it came out of the shadows of research and development and was exposed to the bright light of mainstream personal computing. —Jim Forbes 05/28/2008.
