Windows 7: More of the same?
Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7
Recently, at the D6 Conference, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer unveiled some of the new features that will be going into Windows 7. A brief demo of Windows 7 showed off some features that are obviously taken from Microsoft Surface. You remember Microsoft Surface, don’t you?
It obvious that Microsoft is clearly going after Apple. This demo is clearly Microsoft’s take on the Multi-touch interface that is evident in the iPhone. Granted, part of how this is implemented is quite new and fresh…but there’s still quite a bit that feels like a rip-off of the iPhone interface.
The problem here is that it’s unclear as to how useful a Multi-touch interface like this will be in a real-world scenario. Bells, whistles, and eye-candy are all fine and dandy…but how much of this will prove to be truly useful in allowing folks to do the things they want? If something like this can boost productivity and cut the time it takes to accomplish certain tasks then, great, Microsoft might have themselves a success. If not then it’s just another good idea that was poorly implemented, which is pretty much what I’ve come to expect from Microsoft.
When Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, he made it clear that Multi-touch was something new and exclaimed, “And, boy, have we patented it!”. What made the first iPhone demo so successful was that Jobs demonstrated how the touch interface was actually useful. In fact, Jobs was going out of his way to dissuade others into thinking they need a stylus for a touch interface saying, “We’re going to use the best pointing device in the world — our fingers.” He demonstrated an interface that was way ahead of the curve and proved that it was functional and useful in its implementation. All you have to do is pick up an iPhone and play with it and you’ll get a clear idea at just how good Multi-touch really works.
Obviously, Microsoft can’t use the same technology in Windows 7. Multi-touch is patented by Apple and it doesn’t look like Apple is too keen to license it out. Microsoft does need to be careful though. I’m not a lawyer and I don’t know how much of their interface Apple patented…but there sure does seem to be quite a bit in the Windows 7 demo that might cause alarms to go off with Apple’s legal department.
So how good is Microsoft’s touch interface? No one really knows. All we’ve seen is a flashy demo…nothing else. One thing is clear though: Until Microsoft can demonstrate real-world improvements with their touch-screen interface, much like Surface, it is still just a bogus concept. And given the Microsoft’s history with Vista, it looks like it will be a bogus concept.
