The future of touch-screen computing

Microsoft Touch Pack
Another new feature of Windows 7 is the Microsoft Touch Pack, which comprises applications that are designed to showcase the operating system’s new touch technology capabilities.

The Touch Pack includes Surface applications. Surface is a Microsoft-designed multi-touch computer that takes the form of a table top. In Windows 7, however, Microsoft has made some of this technology available to home users.

The Surface Collage program, for example, lets you arrange digital photos on a virtual table; using multi-touch gestures, it’s quick to resize, rotate and move the photos.

Surface Globe uses touch to explore Microsoft’s Virtual Earth map, making use of the pinching gesture to zoom in and out. Watch Microsoft's video of Surface Globe to find out more.

Microsoft has also been working with software developers to create applications that make full use of Windows 7’s touch features.

Corel’s recently launched Digital Studio 2010 is one such application and comprises a range of video, photo and DVD components that are all fully touch-enabled. With photos, for example, you can use flicking motions to work your way through a digital photo album, with the pages turning just as they would in a real album. Corel Digital Studio 2010 costs £59.

Touch PCs
It’s not just software developers that are tuned into touch technology. Hardware manufacturers are also busy making touch-enabled devices, and touch laptops have been around in the form of tablet PCs since the turn of the century. However, in recent years we’ve seen less expensive touch laptops such as the HP Touchsmart IQ522.

Meanwhile, Acer is looking to take advantage of Windows 7’s touch features with its forthcoming Aspire Z5600 PC. Full details haven’t been announced but it will have a 24in touch display and all its components will be located at the back of the monitor. Go to Acer's website for more.

Small laptops (sometimes called netbooks) are also ideally placed to make use of touch technology with Asus launching its touch-enabled Eee PC T91 (£499). Rumours of a touch-based mobile computer from Apple are strong, but Apple is remaining tight-lipped.

Common misgivings
There are, of course, some downsides to touch technology, particularly the screen getting covered in fingerprint marks. Thankfully, there are ways to reduce this side effect. For example, Apple’s latest iPhone 3GS comes with a special coating meaning it’s less susceptible to picking up oils that reside in your fingers.

Another major problem with touch is that those with larger fingers may find it hard to activate buttons or links, especially on smaller displays. Windows 7 helps combat this by providing taller and wider Taskbar icons. It also lets the user specify the DPI (dots per inch) setting, which will uniformly increase or decrease the size of text and graphics.

The burning question is: will touch kill off the keyboard and mouse? In the short term, the answer is no. However, what is likely is that touchscreens on desktops and laptops will become the norm, meaning that the mouse could slowly take a back seat.

Touch-sensitive screens will certainly have a tougher job when it comes to replacing the traditional keyboard. Anyone who has tried to type at speed on a touchscreen will know how difficult it can be. If anything, it’s more likely that voice control will eventually replace the keyboard.

One thing’s for sure: with Microsoft and Apple both clearly heading down the touchscreen route, there will be no shortage of touch-enabled devices to choose from.

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