The truth about touch in Windows 7

[heatlesssun]

Apparently another tm2 owner was thinking about this subject as well and actually made a video to actually demonstrate just how easy and intuitive touch can be in Windows 7, especially for most Windows users which number about a billion these days: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBtEhQqS1dw

Here’s a video that I did demoing Windows 7 touch features as well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH95tOAFDTQ


No this isn’t the iPad’s slick UI surely. And no Windows currently doesn’t have anywhere near the number of touch only applications and probably never will but I think these videos demonstrate well that for many common tasks like web surfing, office productivity, media playback and even e-books, Windows 7 is very touch effective. The 7 experience may not be as attractive as the iPhone OS but it is just as simple, intuitive and fast in many common scenarios.

With the HP Slate and other Windows 7 touchscreen devices coming and with the ones already here I just thought that real users with real experiences with this technology need to reach out to help others in their purchasing decisions as I have lost count of the number of erroneous statements that I’ve heard about this technology from people whose only experience with large touchscreen devices is three days with an iPad. That’s not meant as a jab, just a statement of fact.

I’m not trying to say that Windows 7’s touch experience is on par with the iPad, clearly it’s not. But many believe that 7’s touch experience is just a gimmick and doesn’t work well and that’s just blatantly false. Moreover many applications that were NEVER designed for touch can work with it if not work well. Clearly things like development tools like Eclipse and Visual Studio would not fall into this category. However something like Notepad would. Moreover touch in Windows 7 can have certain advantages as application switching and multi-tasking make it easy to navigate complex tasks. Windows touch experience isn’t the best but in combination with Windows’ strengths it can provide a compelling touch experience particularly for complex and productivity tasks.


For those interested in Windows 7 touch development here’s a link to some good tutorials: http://channel9.msdn.com/learn/courses/Windows7/Multitouch/

 

[Ryokurin]

Sure it can work. Hell look at XP based tablet computers, but the issue will be similar to how it is with windows mobile. You'll still occasionally run into something that was meant for a mouse (or in WM case a stylus) and that will mess the entire feel and flow of the UI up. Retrofitting is not the answer, or Microsoft would have succeeded with this 8 years ago.

 

[heatlesssun]

Sorry this just isn't as common as you're implying. To be honest I can't think of anything in Windows proper that I can't do with touch and the TIP. Even regedit and service manager are touch enabled. And there are even a couple of other things that can be done to improve things like increasing the thickness of the window to help with resizing. Not saying that aren't some issues, like resizing panes, that can take a little patience but once you get a feel for it even that isn't that bad.

Like I said the issues are going to be with specific apps, not really in Windows 7 itself.

 

[Zepher]

how do you get into the BIOS with a tablet? and is the BIOS touch enabled?

 

[heatlesssun]

The BIOS is not Windows proper. But if this is a serious question on a true slate device with no keyboard one would have to use an external keyboard. On a convertible TPC of course the keyboard is part of the device.

And of course the average consumer is never going to touch the BIOS anyway.

 

[Ryokurin]

Sorry this just isn't as common as you're implying. To be honest I can't think of anything in Windows proper that I can't do with touch and the TIP. Even regedit and service manager are touch enabled. And there are even a couple of other things that can be done to improve things like increasing the thickness of the window to help with resizing. Not saying that aren't some issues, like resizing panes, that can take a little patience but once you get a feel for it even that isn't that bad.

Like I said the issues are going to be with specific apps, not really in Windows 7 itself.

Increasing the size of things is what they did with Windows Mobile, and while it helped, it still didn't solve all the problems, as well as it looks dated compared to something that was designed from touch from the start. It's not a problem now but more and more as touch interfaces evolve the retrofits are going to look very outdated or intimidating.

As far as windows and touch. I would imagine that +/- links may be a little off in a touch environment, or possibly the right click. I'm not trying to say that the entire idea of using windows 7 as a touch environment is bogus just that it's not a long term solution. I think Microsoft knows this too thus the rewrite of Windows Mobile which I suspect will eventually be tailored to tablets if that business takes off.

 

[heatlesssun]

Not sure what you mean by +/- links but right clicking is simple, just press and hold or two finger tap.

The thing is that unlike any OS on the planet, Windows just has so much legacy stuff that completely rewriting it would be practically impossible. And what about hardware? An iPad can print to a Bluetooth printer but what about a your chepo ink jet? You need a separate computer to do that.

I think that people who are big iPad fans think that everyone should just dump everything they have and start over. Never going to happen far most folks without a huge ROI. Extending Windows with new features has always been the case. It just gives you a new way to use your machine while protecting your investment in what you have and not losing current functionality.

Sure a dedicated device optimized for a single experience makes sense. But a general purpose device that's extended with new features over time while being backwards compatible with your existing technology makes sense too.

Touch devices are not a zero sum game.

 

[Ryokurin]

+/- links are like the links you'll see in device manager. Some programs do use them, and unless they mod the screen so that the links are bigger it could potentially be hard to use. And as far as older parts, the thing is, I don't think anyone has claimed that these machines will replace standard computers, so that probably won't be a issue.

I think the biggest thing is that people will use these things differently. How differently we don't know yet. If I'm going to type a paper, but want something small why wouldn't I just buy a netbook instead? Same goes with a host of standard apps. legacy support may be a non issue as again, if it was Microsoft would have succeeded years ago.

 

[heatlesssun]

Device Manager works fine with touch, its the same common tree control that regedit uses. I do have my DPI at 125% and my Window borders are double the default size on a 1280x800 screen.

Not sure if I got your point at the end about Microsoft succeeding years ago. No one has really pushed large screen touch devices until now though Microsoft could have done more about it years ago true. But the hardware is just starting to get here to make these devices relatively economical.

 

[heatlesssun]

Here's an example of just how capable touch is with Windows 7 and something the iPad can only dream of:

Everything in this screenshot was launched and arranged with touch in just a minute. True telesurfing, watching "v" playing a Media Center recording right of the file system through HomeGroups through N WiFi from my sig rig. and of course surfing at [H].

This is why some people just LOVE Tablet PCs, just the awesome functionality and freedom that these devices deliver. Not a lot of glitz or glamour, just the raw power of functionality.

 

[Disposed]

how do you get into the BIOS with a tablet? and is the BIOS touch enabled?

When was the last time you saw a bios that was even compatible with a mouse?? You would use the keyboard to access and use the bios like every other machine on the planet.

 

[Zepher]

The BIOS is not Windows proper. But if this is a serious question on a true slate device with no keyboard one would have to use an external keyboard. On a convertible TPC of course the keyboard is part of the device.

And of course the average consumer is never going to touch the BIOS anyway.

It is a serious question. It just popped into my head when I was watching the video posted above.

When was the last time you saw a bios that was even compatible with a mouse?? You would use the keyboard to access and use the bios like every other machine on the planet.

Haven't seen one yet, and on the same token, I haven't seen this tablet in person either.

 

[mwarps]

When was the last time you saw a bios that was even compatible with a mouse?? You would use the keyboard to access and use the bios like every other machine on the planet.

The BIOS on my P6DBS had mouse support 11 years ago. I haven't seen mousable BIOS since.

 

[xenios]

When was the last time you saw a bios that was even compatible with a mouse?? You would use the keyboard to access and use the bios like every other machine on the planet.

all newer dell business models have a gui like bios with mouse support.

 

[xenios]

I think the HP device can work if they create their own shell. If their own shell is very simple and designed for touch only i can see it working well. But i guess we shall see in the next few weeks.

 

[heatlesssun]

It is a serious question. It just popped into my head when I was watching the video posted above.

Sorry to doubt you, didn't want to look like a fool by answering your question seriously.

But I believe my answer is correct.

 

[heatlesssun]

I think the HP device can work if they create their own shell. If their own shell is very simple and designed for touch only i can see it working well. But i guess we shall see in the next few weeks.

Oh well, I'm trying but I guess I'm not getting my point across well. Yes HP can add this shell. And the first thing I'll do is disable it.

I was hoping to show just well touch works it Windows 7 and the screen shot I hoped would reinforce just how simple things were is Windows 7 by showing something with touch that's not even possible on a iPad, window arrangement.

I could ever skip through commercials in Media Center by simply hitting the skip forward button once again all through touch. It just all works.

 

[GushpinBob]

how do you get into the BIOS with a tablet? and is the BIOS touch enabled?

External keyboard. I can understand the need to access it for initial setup, but who in their right mind carries a tablet with them and thinks, "Hmm, I really could go for changing the boot order right now."