Windows 7 Multitouch

Has anybody used this before? I came across this video today courtesy of TFT Central, and touch-based interaction in Windows seems quite disappointing relative to the Android/iPad experience:

YouTube - Dell ST2220T Touch Screen Operation - part 2.avi

 

IMO Windows was never designed with touch in mind. I've used Windows tablet after Windows tablet and I've never really liked any of them. My favorite by far was the tm2 from HP. Wacom support is really the best way to go.

 

windows is quite nice to use on a touchscreen (win7 that is). but most apps aren't. using win7 + special designed apps, though, that's nice.

 

I agree. Still, though, the implementation could use a thorough re-think. And another major issue is that there's only like 12 "specially designed apps". Of course I'm being sarcastic, but still the amount of touch apps for Windows is horrible. But the ones that are out there are quite nice... like the surface pack from Microsoft... they're not really productive, but they're eyecandy.

 

That video sux lol .. takes some time to get used to touch screen in windows.
And multitouch .. the firmwares just got updated on 3 year lold pc-s to be able to use it lol.
So guess why it's slow in windows/linux.

 

I don't know...both of my machines are Windows 7 Multitouch, the Libretto W105 and HP Slate 500 and I have no issues even with apps...

The issue I see is people think Tablet and they think you need one based on a phone OS that has an App Store. I use standard Windows Applications and I wouldn't go back to a regular laptop and I wouldn't buy a third screen device.

I see a common issue across all touch devices, that's clicking on Hyperlinks, all devices struggle with that...

 

So essentially, the problem is that MS is unable to provide a smooth transition for legacy software that isn't specifically designed for multitouch?

That would've been fine back in the Vista era, but nowadays with iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone 7 all providing a far better experience without any learning curve, it's a problem.

 

not a problem for me, as i write my own touch apps for the needs we have, where we put touchscreens to use. win7 is great for managing the applications (opening and closing and such), the taskbar is really great. the rest, then, is within the apps. there it's my job.

and no, didn't had any "getting used to" to use win7 touch. unlike the commenters above state.

 

Again...I don't understand the talk of "Learning Curve" on Windows using touch, it works just like the mouse and single touch has been on Windows since 3.1...

Multitouch works the same as any industry standard touch interface...if you want to make more touch friendy simple tweaks to scrollbars, menu bars, etc...

 

Learning curve .. even a monkey can touch a screen with colors on ..
It is easy to touch a 100x100 icons .. but to get used to touch a screen and
hit a 10x10 target that is hard for most ppl. Ask them to select text on a website and watch how many tries it takes.

Ps.: I found touch screen a big waste of time it is so limited .. but ad a wacom pen input and it changes everything the screen becomes 1000 times more useful.

Touch only screen = yes you can play with it.
Pen input = can start doing some work ...

Owned touch screen devices since the first palm ... in win 3.1 times could hardly afford a good basic pc so couldn't even dream of touchscreen .. was happy that had color and not bw

You can take topic there : http://forum.tabletpcreview.com/ ... it's the reason no tablet talks here.

 

I've played with Dell and HP touchscreen PC's at my local electronics stores. I like them, but I also find it to be a bit of a fad. Windows 7 is still difficult to operate with touch, simply because of the UI. Yes, you can make the UI work with touch, but you sacrifice screen space and turn the entire experience a bit ugly. I digress - it works for some people, just not for me.

What would sell me on one of these platforms is pinch-zoom mapped to Win++ for the full OS zoom. If I could zoom with that, and pan around the screen with touch......drool. I haven't been able to find out if that works on the touchscreens I've gotten to play with, simply because they are locked down so tight I can't even open control panel to look at settings. If they could do that, an HP 21 inch touchscreen would be going on my second desk in my home office.

 

as applications implement zoom on their own (for now), no it doesn't work in every app. but yes, it does work. and i hope apps support it more and more in the future.

what i love is click'n'swipe stuff (instead of rightclicking, works for the taskbar stuff for example). i try to implement click'n'swipe style controls into my own apps where appropriate (like clicking == momentary turning on and turning off on release, but click'n'swipe == clicking and leaving turned on, etc).


that is btw the real problem of windows: it's legacy means apps just don't all work the same way, with the same modern stuff. that's where an ipad or something really wins: the applications are made for it.