Slashdot Mirror
Windows 7 Touchscreen Details Emerging
nandemoari writes "Microsoft has revealed more about Windows 7 and its support for touch screen technology. The system sounds impressive, however, reports suggest it appears to have a high error rate. In an early version of the system, Microsoft found some problems. For example, both the zoom and rotate functions worked less than 75% of the time, often because the computer confused the two. To rectify this, engineers redesigned the system so that it only looks out for gestures specifically relevant to the program being used. This made a significant improvement: the zoom gesture was now recognized 90% of the time.
The problem is that even a 90% success rate may be too low. If you can imagine how frustrating it would be if one in ten keystrokes or mouse movements didn't do what you intended, you can see why touch screen technology will need to be even more reliable if it's to truly improve the user experience. PC Authority has a related story about statements from HP, who don't expect such technology to replace keyboards and mice any time soon."
I'm not convinced that the touch screens can replace a keyboard and mouse on a desktop, or even a laptop, for some time. Text is the big issue, and I can't see myself being able to achieve the same typing speed on a touch screen until there's some really good haptic feedback in place. While handwriting technology could come on leaps and bounds (and has done so), I already type faster than I can write, so this wouldn't be helpful to me. For the mouse there is definitely places where touch would work better, particularly for new users, but the precision of a mouse is better for certain applications (notably gaming) compared to stubby fingers and having them block your view of the screen. Even if Microsoft can get touch working nicely in Windows 7, it's still going to be quite some time until I'll be getting rid of my keyboard and mouse.
Mattb90
Editor, allaboutgames.co.uk
I mean, letting everyone think it was a touch screen, when in reality it uses several cameras down below the glass to track motion
Yeah, it's like letting everyone think your latest electric car has an engine, when in reality it uses short-range teleportation.
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Microsoft is trying to implement touch technology across an entire operating system and all its userland components.
Apple has implemented touch technology on a specialized device with specialized hardware made specifically by Apple that, while quite impressive in what functions it can perform, is not even close to the broad range of tasks a fully fledged desktop/laptop computer and associated operating system performs.
Which do you think might be slightly more difficult to implement?