Microsoft Talks Touch in Windows 7

In a lengthy blog post filed Wednesday, Microsoft detailed many of the improvements and quality-control implementations the company is building into Windows 7, specifically for touch applications.

By now, touch has evolved from the selling point of the Tablet PC into a feature that Microsoft is attempting to push into the mainstream. As of now, however, it still has limited penetration, with just the following PCs identified as good candidates for playing with touch on the Windows 7 beta:

# HP TouchSmart All-in-One PCs (IQ500 series & IQ800 series)
# HP TouchSmart tx2 Tablet PC
# Dell Latitude XT or XT2 Tablet PC

Links to the beta drivers are available in the Microsoft blog post.

"With Windows 7 we have enriched the Windows experience with touch, making touch a first-class way to interact with your PC alongside the mouse and keyboard," the Windows Touch team wrote. "We focused on common activities and refined them thoughtfully with touch in mind. You will have the freedom of direct interaction, like being able to reach out and slowly scroll a web page then flick quickly to move through it. With new touch optimized applications from creative software developers you will be able to immerse yourself as you explore you photos, browse the globe, or go after bad guys in your favorite games."

How will you be using touch? At a basic level, touch and touch gestures will be built into the OS, in much the same way that thumbwheel mouse support is included: at the most basic level, the thumbwheel is used to scroll, while more context-aware applications give it a specialized purpose, such as adjusting pitch in a flight simulator, or scrolling through weapons in games.

Windows 7 gestures will include tap and doubletap, as you might do with a mouse button; drag; scrolling, using the main window as a touch point, instead of the scroll bar; zooming in and out by pinching; two-finger tapping, to zoom and orient on the finger; rotate, by touching two spots and then twisting; flicks, for quick shifts left and right; and press-and-hold, for a right-click.

It's also important to note that, to Microsoft, "touch" means multi-touch PCs. "A single-touch PC will have the same functionality on Windows 7 as it does on Vista, but this functionality will not be extended to the Windows 7 capabilities," Microsoft's touch team noted.

Like Apple, Microsoft has the advantage of owning its own applications, including the browser. Internet Explorer 8 has made touch-aware, with support for the touch gestures as well as an address bar that can be dragged down, and is more easily navigable with extra spacing. Windows Media Player also includes larger keys and controls to make it easier to navigate via touch. Aero Peek has been tuned to work with touch - the show desktop button is twice as wide (the only visual sign you are on a Windows Touch PC) and instead of hovering (which you can't do with touch), a press-and-hold on the button activates Aero Peek, Microsoft said.