Eee Is 1st Windows Laptop To Support Multi-Touch

An anonymous reader writes "CNET UK has just put up its review of the Asus Eee PC 900 Win running Windows XP and discovered that it's the first Windows machine to support multi-touch, 'Better still, the mouse trackpad supports multi-touch gesture inputs — even in Windows XP. A pinching motion lets you zoom in on images, stretching lets you zoom out, and a two-finger vertical stroking motion allows you to scroll up and down through documents. MacBook Air and iPod touch users have enjoyed this feature for some time, but it's the first we've ever seen it implemented on a Windows laptop.'"

Comments

Re:Pinching zooms in?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Really? Makes sense to me- you're reducing the field of view, so you move your fingers inwards (your fingers representing the field of view). The opposite sounds awkward to me.

I suppose, if you have the photographic mindset. I think most people can deal better with the idea of resizing the image, not a more abstract concept of FOV, especially when it's actually resizing an image on a display.

Then again, I think the entire deal is a little silly- just add a scroll wheel.

The two finger scrolling is pretty nice though. I really don't see the point in adding a scroll wheel. It's an unnecessary addition of a mechanical component when existing electronic components should do the job for most people. And it's easier to deal with as a scroll wheel would need to be accompanied with another keystroke to tell the computer that it's a resize and not a scrolling action.

biased bullshit

[nguy]

By using Windows XP, users can sidestep many of the software and hardware compatibility issues that plague the Linux version. We've encountered numerous devices that don't work with a Linux Eee because of driver issues, including some USB disc drives, printers and TV tuners. You simply don't get these problems with a Windows-equipped Eee PC 900.

That's biased bullshit. There are plenty of problems trying to get hardware to work on a regular Windows XP machine, and it only gets worse on an Eee PC. Imagine first time it asks you to insert the driver CD, displays its 800x800 configuration dialog, or requires "Windows Vista or better".

Re:Where's the patent???

[kripkenstein]

You can calm down with all the "?"s. Rest assured, if there is a patent, Asus has licensed it. The world won't end.

Anyhow, the most amusing part of the review was the conclusion,

We can't really recommend the Windows version of the Eee PC 900 over its Linux counterpart, primarily because you get nearly twice as much storage space in the Linux version. [...] If you really can't live without XP, then the best course of action is to buy the superior Linux version and install XP yourself. Strange times, when the Windows people are those that are going to have installation hassles...

Also, it is me or does it seem like Cnet is advocating piracy here? I mean, where do they expect you to get XP from; if you buy it yourself, it makes the Linux Eee 900 + off-the-shelf XP quite expensive. Presumably they don't mean that, so what's left...?

Re:Pinching zooms in?

[cheater512]

Put two fingers on a normal track pad and it cannot tell where your fingers actually are.
It can see a press in four places instead of two.

You could write some tricky software to emulate it but it wouldnt be as good.
E.g. Pinpoint the location of the first finger that touched and then use that information to work out where the second is.

Re:SSD ought to be detachable / pluggable

[am 2k]

I think it would be cool if Asus packaged a detachable SSD so that you could unplug it from the Eee in the kitchen, and plug it back in to the Eee in the bedroom.

I think you're missing the point of an ultra-portable subnotebook.

Re:Where's the patent???

[grm_wnr]

Well...

>two keyboards, wireless mice, an ipod
Standard equipment that would cause a riot if it wasn't supported. Yes, even the iPod.

>an external DVD drive, a pocket USB hard drive, an SD card, a USB memory stick, and my camera
All the same class of equipment, USB mass storage devices. They likely even use the same driver. Well, maybe not the DVD if it's burner.

But still, try something more challenging, like a sound card or an unusual video card.

Re:Maybe I'm Getting Old?

[TheRaven64]

Please try using a laptop with a multitouch scroll pad for a bit. After you get used to being able to scroll in two dimensions by just rotating your wrist (to move to your hand to the trackpad) put down two fingers, and slide them over the pad in the direction you want to move, everything else just seems clunky. The best UI features are the ones that you only notice when they aren't there, and this is definitely in this category.