Windows 7 multitouch. More hardware. More software.

Posted on 28 May 2008, Last updated on 11 November 2019 by

I don’t see encouraging information coming from the Window 7 chit-chat at All things Digital. I was hoping for hints of a slimmer system, a componentised architecture perhaps, ‘mobile Internet’ and ‘handheld’ keywords but all I can see is the word ‘Multitouch’ everywhere this morning. New hardware requirements, a complex software layer. Gates says:

There’s a lot in Windows 7, and our goal is to produce fantastic PCs with our hardware partners.

Windows 7 is not the optimised platform we are looking for in handheld land. I guess there are plenty of other options to look forward too though. I hear that the Moblin-based Ubuntu Mobile distribution for Atom and Stealey hardware (not Ubuntu Remix for netbooks – that’s something else that’s quite interesting.) is just about to move into Release Candidate status so I’m far more interested in that right now.

6 Comments For This Post

  1. Anonymous Reader says:

    DO NOT need all that Windows 7 stuff, just need better battery life and OLPC power saving tech and LINUX (not Microsoft).

    see:
    http://www.pixelqi.com/products
    Quote:
    ” *
    Sunlight Readable Screens

    The XO laptop has a low-cost, low-power and sunlight readable screen. This screen can be made in mainstream notebook computer size, or smaller for the digital cameras, cell phones and PDAs. Pixel Qi is improving these screens – to make them more readable than the existing OLPC displays, much lower power, and with vastly improved saturated color. Contact admin@pixelqi.com for more information
    *
    INTEGRATED TOUCHSCREENS

    Touch should just be an incremental cost increase to the screen and embedded directly into it. Pixel Qi is working on low-cost approachs to integrated touch with a target of a $5 -$10 pricetag
    *
    EPAPER Look – with COlor And VIdeo

    The XO screen is sunlight readable, but hard to read in dim roomlight without the backlight on. Pixel Qi has new inventions that can transform this situation. The screen with the backlight off can appear as bright and crisp as paper, but also supports full video speed playback and color. The paper-like look to the screen is desirable. We want to be able to comfortably read off of our screens – with this innovation we finally will be able to”.
    END QUOTE

    Pixel Qi is a company set up to license this tech, and with the idea to license it so that it is available in very inexpensive portable computing devices.

    The licensing for OLPC tech, and newer, is available right now!

  2. Tal says:

    Ubuntu mobile is definitely the right thing to look for! XP could have been better but MS is as usual dismissing the places where users actually want them to be. In my opinion Intel’s Moblin on its own will have a very low impact on the industry. UME on the other hand although Moblin friendly will become the platform of choice and it is almost within a hand’s reach now.
    The only thing that bothers me is that I fail to yet understand what Java support UME is going to have and the correlation between the Java UI and the Hildon framework. They don’t seem to like talking about Java much on the UME forums.

    Tal

  3. turn.self.off says:

    heh, this page have repeatedly surprised me lately ;)

  4. Anonymous Reader says:

    Remember that Moblin and Maemo are supposed to be friendly with each other… and you know what that means!

    The WOW factor, where hardware becomes a game that folks in Marketing play, and where the customer chooses the brand that they like with the service model that they desire. When is that last time that a customer cared what software was running in their digital camera, their Microwave Oven, etc… they just want it to work. The day where Microsoft ruled the OEM’s via monopoly demands are over (of course Microsoft with Silverlight, .NET, SharePoint would and software IP with the old Microsoft IP legal entanglements are what MS really wants in order to return to the days of ruling the OEMS like they were divisions of their company (the recent demand by MS that to use XP on portable devices is a NO NO if you want to put touch on the device is an example of Microsoft returning to it’s old RULE THE OEM device roots)! OEMS need to send a message to Microsoft loud and clear that the old days are over. No Silverlight. no .NET, etc… just open and free to use standards and choice for the OEMs that they can then offer to the customer.

    Software monopolies, actually cause hardware advancements to move slower. and are more costly to both the hardware manufacturer and also more expensive to the consumer.

  5. Synced says:

    Honestly I don’t think anything MS can say will satisfy most people at this point. They are taking a different approach than Vista.

    Vista: Tout all kinds of wiz bang features 3-4 years ahead of time. Like *ANY* product, not all features make it. If you promise something and don’t deliver, people get upset. Fact of business is you set yourself on a featureset and try to deliver what you can.

    Seven: Under-talk features which means under promise and over deliver model. What people don’t know you cut, they can’t complain about because you didn’t promise it.

    Almost all RnD projects follow one of those two routes.

    That being said, obviously there was not much indepth reading on what was presented. I understand they didn’t talk about a leaner Windows, but don’t conclude this means it won’t be tuned better for mobility.

    Also if you would of looked at some of the concepts, you would of noticed the updated ContextMenu which mimicks some of Windows Mobile use cases but much more rich. What does this mean? This means Seven looks to be prototyping touch/mobility friendly context menus oppose to current win 3.1 based context menus which don’t fit well on mobile devices.

    This is what I take from what I saw/read:
    1. They did not actually reveal much technical information. Under promise, over deliver model.

    2. Clearly by the UI & touch features their implementing the windows shell with further small, mobile device use cases in mind and trying to ease the pain with using windows on such devices. Current UI does *NOT* make operation useful.

    3. I see alot of Surface / Windows Mobile research influencing some of the behaviors in Seven. This is good and bad. Hopefully they balance the Mouse vs Touch properly.

  6. Bob DeLoyd says:

    Maybe at this moment it isn’t suitable, but in the near future, say two or three years from now it will be! Microsoft has to plan years in advance to keep up with technology. I believe Vista got a bad rap for not being suitable for older or underpowered PCs, and manufacturers shipping it with devices that just were not up to par for an advanced OS. Also it gets bad press from folks like Apple Inc. with their stupid Mac vs. PC ads. My friend who has Vista running on a newer laptop hasn’t had any problems with it. Remember XP got a bad reception when it came out! Would you go back to Windows 98 now? I have worked on a few new Vista laptops of folks who said, “it’s running too slow”, but once I installed more Ram they performed very well. So if we want a quick fix for our UMPCs I think XP or some form of Linux will have to do for now. So lets all just chill out!

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