Microsoft demos 'touch Windows'
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Microsoft's next operating system (OS) will come with multi-touch features as an alternative to the mouse.
It is hoped the successor will have a better reception than the much-maligned Vista OS, released last year. Scheduled for release in 2010, the new fingertip interface lets users enlarge and shrink photos, trace routes on maps, paint pictures or play the piano. "The way you interact with the system will change dramatically," said Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. Speaking at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego, Mr Gates said Windows 7 would incorporate new forms of communication and interaction. Despite issuing more than 140 million licences for Vista worldwide, it's seen by many as a failure Darren Waters, Technology editor, BBC News website Read more on the dot.life blog "Today almost all the interaction is keyboard-mouse. Over years to come, the role of speech, vision, ink - all of those things - will be huge." Chief executive Steve Ballmer described the limited demo of the multi-touch screen at the conference as "a small snippet" of the next version of Windows after admitting he wants "to do better" than Vista. Even though Vista has suffered from a poor public image and a lukewarm welcome from many firms and users, Mr Ballmer said the company had shipped 150 million copies of the program. Touch-enabled Industry watchers say Microsoft is hoping that Windows 7 can change the way people interact with PCs in the future. "Touch is quickly becoming a common way of interacting with software and devices," writes Windows product manager Chris Flores in a blog post. |