Opinion: Should Microsoft Risk Windows 8 on Touch?
Microsoft's decision to focus the new Windows 8 primarily on touch input is one gutsy move.
It is a reinvention of Windows following a very solid performance of Windows 7 that could boost Microsoft's image tremendously and reignite a perception of innovation and passion. However, success isn't a given, and Windows 8 could also turn into a disaster of epic proportions.
You could not have possibly escaped the blog and video coverage of Windows 8 if you are somewhat interested in what is happening around the world. Microsoft's first detailed look at what Windows 8 will be, how it will work, and how it will shift the user experience, is a much more dramatic change in the operating system than most of us can remember. It's more significant than the switch from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95 in 1994. A much more appropriate comparison to the Metro Style GUI would be the upgrade from DOS to the Windows GUI, when the surface of the operating system became mouse-centric. This time, 26 years later, Microsoft is suggesting that it is time for us to leave the mouse behind and accept touch as our primary way to interact with a PC.
Those of us who have been around long enough may remember that Windows was not an instant hit. Windows 1.0 was announced in 1985, but its window manager was severely limited. Windows 2.0 in 1987 was significantly improved, but it was held back by design shortcomings and the sheer dominance of DOS. That changed with Windows 3.0 in 1990 and then especially with Windows 3.1 in 1992, which laid the foundation for the success of Windows as we know it today. It was also the breakthrough of the mouse as the main controller device for the GUI and applications. Ninety-nine percent of users today could not imagine using a PC without a mouse or derivate devices such as trackpads or trackballs. Touch is a seismic shift that is obviously targeted at a new generation of users who are growing up with smartphones and tablets (iPads) and prefer to touch a screen rather than use a mouse cursor and a physical keyboard to control their input.
Those of us who are 30+ years old will have to rethink the way we interact with computers. Younger users are likely to be much more accepting and malleable. Children may not know anything else but touch to use computers and already feel that using a mouse is antiquated.
The upside of the touch interface is the fact that Microsoft can capitalize on an existing trend in tablets, a trend that is being adopted naturally by a new generation of users. A plethora of users have been exposed to touch computing in some way, which indicates that the shift to touch computing is not as dramatic as we may think. Smartphones are now sold in numbers above the 100 million mark every quarter. Touch gestures are becoming standard and are about as easy to understand as moving a mouse. All of us could also benefit from an innovation potential in new types of applications that could be imagined beyond the mouse. Cloud computing may add to that experience by creating a seamless user model across different platforms. However, Microsoft also has challenges ahead, and not all of its arguments make sense at this time. Here is some food for thought.
1. Touch is not for everyone and is not for every device.
Microsoft said that Windows 8 can also be used with the old keyboard and mouse input devices, but it stressed that touch is the primary input type for which Windows 8 is designed. We must be honest and admit that there is not much value in Windows 8 without touch, even if the system memory requirements are just about half of those of Windows 7. Windows 8 will be running on a greater variety of computers, including ARM devices, which dramatically expand the Windows ecosystem. Touch is a big deal in that respect, but on computing devices there is some doubt.
Apple taught us that the user experience is what counts, not the technology that enables it. As a result, Apple designed the software and hardware that creates that experience. Microsoft delivers a technology foundation lest others alter that experience by creating the hardware. A few days ago, I discussed the touch problems of software and hardware developers with an executive at a company that is developing touch applications for a high-profile tablet that is arriving soon. He trashed current tablets as being "buggy" and "desperate," which makes it difficult to come up with great applications that work well even on touch-specific tablets. He especially complained about "silly" form factors that ignore what Apple teaches. It may be even tougher to build touch applications on a PC.
One of the reasons may be that a traditional PC, or a notebook with a keyboard in front of the screen, isn't "touch-convenient." You have to reach across the keyboard and deal with a bouncing screen when interacting with your PC. Will you use the onscreen keyboard instead of your physical keyboard? No. After some time, you may use the trackpad and keyboard again, because it is much faster and more comfortable to use than the touch input method. Touch generally does not work on vertical screens, and Windows 8 is unlikely to change that.
2. Time
Another downside is processing time. Onscreen keyboards cannot be used as quickly as physical keyboards. There is recognition and processing time involved that introduces a delayed input, which we may not want all the time. In some scenarios, that may not be a big deal, but in others, you may just want to write a quick email. Fact: You will write three emails on a traditional keyboard in the time you write one on a touchscreen today.
3. Those fingerprints
Microsoft's Windows president Steven Sinofsky made an apparently unintended comment during his Windows 8 presentation that got me thinking. He stated that, after seeing and using Windows 8, you would not want to go back to mouse and keyboard – and if you do, you will notice that your non-touchscreen will get fingerprints all over the place (because touch is what you really want to do.) If I understand this right, then every touchscreen will end up with fingerprints on the screen, which is especially nasty if a screen is used by many users, some of who may have forgotten to wash their hands after lunch (or worse). Touchscreens have a fingerprint problem that may be much more serious than it is with keyboards.
We already know that the computer keyboard is the unhealthiest place in your home as far as germ count is concerned. Those germs may now live on your touchscreen, and thanks to those shiny glass surfaces, you can even see those greasy fingerprints. The industry clearly has some work to do to remedy this problem, as there are people who have concerns of hygiene when using touchscreens.
4. Kids
I will close this article with a note from a friend, who is involved in developing touch-apps. He has been involved in this for several years, and I would lie if I were to say that he is particularly excited about it. I have the impression that the initial passion has been replaced with realism. His thought is that adults will simply not adopt touch if they are not forced to and if the form factor of the hardware as well as the ecosystem are perfectly orchestrated. He is convinced that non-iPad tablets as we are seeing them introduced today are devices that target our children and their computing needs down the road. He considers tablets as learning devices for a new generation of computer users. He may be right or wrong with this assumption, but it is clearly an interesting thought, and there is no doubt that tablets, even the iPad, are much more appealing on a greater scale to our kids than to our adult general computing needs.
Touch isn't a slam dunk for Microsoft. Even if Windows 8 isn't the first touch platform and we have had time to get used to it, Microsoft will have to get the hardware right as well – or instruct other hardware manufacturers to get the hardware built properly. I am not sure how Microsoft will organize the Windows 8 certification process for touch devices, which could be a big mess. If you ask me, Microsoft has a big opportunity. I am grateful that innovation is back, even if it is merely following an existing trend; however, Microsoft has to keep tight control to make this a success.
Related articles:
- Mozilla Proposes Firefox ESR Versions for Businesses
- Lian Li's PC-TU200 Mini-ITX Looks Like a Metal Briefcase
- Willits: Industry Too "Hit-Driven," Only Getting Worse
- OnLive CEO: We Are The Next-Generation Console
- Diablo 3 Closed Beta Hands-On: Part 1
- Market Researchers Cut Chip Sales Forecast Again
- Deals September 22: 24" Dell UltraSharp 1080p $339
- Leo's Out! Meg Whitman Has Been Appointed HP CEO
- Diablo 3 May Eventually Get Gamepad Support
- Deals Sept 23: 27" Planar 1080p 2ms LCD Monitor $229
- AMD Loses Products Manager, Gains Business Manager
- Intel: We're Not Ditching The Atom Brand
- Bethesda Loses Again In Fight Against Fallout MMOG
- Windows 8 to Use Multi-Cores for Shutdown, Startup
- SW:TOR Gets Firm Release Date, Subscription Pricing
- Nvidia Releases Beta Drivers for Battlefield 3 Beta
- Deals Sept 26: 50% off Panasonic 1080p Camcorders
- AMD's Piledriver-based 'Trinity' to Arrive in Q1 2012
NOT EVERYONE HAS TOUCH SCREENS MICROSOFT! Shmucks.
Simple... in one corner, a pop up that enables/disables it..
This is the wrong direction to take with Windows as a whole. Touch screen devices lack the true utility that most PC users need in their machines. You simply can't replace a keyboard and mouse with a touchscreen, no matter how good the GUI is - the tactile feedback is critical for rapid precision and productivity!
You'd think with the forecast market saturation for tablets, everybody would know that the PC market won't be replaced by content-consumption devices. The world still needs to work, and work takes a keyboard/mouse.
When businesses start giving their secretaries and engineers touch-screen tablets instead of keyboard/mouse workstations, then I'll believe otherwise.
A PC is a commodity like a washer/dryer now, not a toy. Market saturation for toys is reached more easily, and tablets fall into that category for most people.
Apple has been given a lot of glory for being the first to release their iphone/ipad innovatations.
I don't see anything wrong with MS, for once, being the first to take a risk like this. At least no one can say they copied this from a MAC O/S.
Cell phones got a make-over thanks to the iphone. Why can't Windows get a make-over too?
Another point is that some programs simply don't work well with touch. Video editing, coding, writing papers, 3D modeling, other content creation, spreadsheets, any high productivity programs really.
The major problems with touch is that it is not fast where a keyboard is and not accurate where both keyboards and mice are. Touch's only good point that I can see is that it can be faster than a mouse so long as you don't need to be precise with where you are clicking
The easiest solution to this is the one most analyst's seem unable to Kinect.
fficial&client=firefox-a">Minority Report style computing. All we need now is a fficial&client=firefox-a#q=holographic+projector&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
fficial&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=Dcd8Ts71EJLUiAKduNSaDg&sqi=2&ved=0CIoBEK0E&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=be15d65b204cba32&biw=1102&bih=694" title="http://www.google.com/search?q=xbox+konnect&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
fficial&client=firefox-a#q=holographic+projector&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
fficial&prmd=imvns&source=univ&tbm=shop&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=Dcd8Ts71EJLUiAKduNSaDg&sqi=2&ved=0CIoBEK0E&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=be15d65b204cba32&biw=1102&bih=694">Hologram projector, and a device that can sense our movement and send the computer instructions based on that movement.
Developing the software to integrate touch gestures into the OS is the beginning of fficial&client=firefox-a" title="http://www.google.com/search?q=minority+report+computer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US
Microsoft has already created the SDK for Kinect, and they are adding touch into their next gen operating systems. It wouldn't be difficult to correlate gestures with Kinect to touch gestures. This is the next revolutionary leap I see in home computing.
Wow... Toms slaughtered my links.... Pelase vote that ugly crap down, here it is again without any links...
The easiest solution to this is the one most analyst's seem unable to Kinect.
Developing the software to integrate touch gestures into the OS is the beginning of Minority Report style computing. All we need now is a Hologram projector, and a device that can sense our movement and send the computer instructions based on that movement.
Microsoft has already created the SDK for Kinect, and they are adding touch into their next gen operating systems. It wouldn't be difficult to correlate gestures with Kinect to touch gestures. This is the next revolutionary leap I see in home computing.
I seem to be one of the few that has actually put Windows 8 on a tablet PC. And I can say, it works pretty well and is rather fast. Great improvement over touch in Windows 7.
Just need the ability for administrators like me to customize the tile layout or EASILY...(keyword there) disable it entirely.
Also, what most newbs around here fail to realize...is the OTHER things coming with Windows 8. They are too focused on the touch interface.
This is a design 101 failure on microsofts part. When you have different products, market them under different brands. What we are going to get is a single dvd (or more preferably a digital download) with all of the backend for either a desktop OS or a tablet OS on it and all the extra space consumption that comes with putting both of those on a single device.
They should have made Windows Touch and Windows Classic, not try to mash them together into an amalgam of confusion like what happened with all the versions of Vista.
The strangest thing is that trying to go so touch heavy seems to be the thing MS would not want to have happen - they have have a HUGE keyboard and mouse business and they don't manufacture lcd screens (and thus, they don't make touch screens) so they are effectively trying to kill one arm of their own company? (this is what happens when you have a huge tech giant monopoly that makes conflicting products).
The fact they had windows mobile, even if the OS sucked, was the right direction to go. They needed windows phone, windows touch, windows home user, windows business user, and windows server. 5 different operating systems for 5 very different purposes. Windows 8s prospects are looking bleak - I better be able to just install a version of windows 8 that is basically Windows 7.5, same UI, with optimizations, some of those new features for file transfers and such, support for directx 12 (if they plan on bringing that out with windows 8 and not making it backwards compatible) and none of the metro crap that is about as useful on a desktop as the OS Lion app store on a desktop.
Even better, this is just an example of corporate desire vs consumer desire - they want to make a one size fits all product so they don't have to have 5 dev teams and all the headache that comes from making different products compatible when they could just sell one middle of the way one that does everything. Too bad that is going to crash and burn next year as bad as Windows Phone has been failing.
Honestly who has a touch screen desktop? No one.. This is absolutely useless to anyone who uses a computer everyday or any kinda of serious professional. Its going to fail horribly unless they make it so you can 100% disable metro UI on desktop. I have zero interest in "live tiles" and all that garbage... It may be fine for tablets for facebook and angry birds, but useless to about 95% of desktop users. No one is going to run out and buy a touch screen monitor.. Only good thing about windows 8 ive seen so far is it has less of a footprint and they FINALLY have added a task bar for each additional monitor!!!
I think they are headed in the right direction for tablets. I have a window 7 phone and I love it. it is much better that an iPhone. It would be fantastic on a tablet like the XOOM, Galaxy Tab, or even an HP touchpad. For a table device that lets you stream media, or browse the web, or read a book, Windows 8 is perfect.
However, I am a little concerned about the new interface on a laptop or desktop PC. I have been testing the windows 8 preview, and i can say now that i would much rather have the windows 7 interface on a laptop/desktop PC. when I need to get real work done, you cant beat the good old fasioned keyboard and mouse. so they definatly need a way to turn touch on and off or give us a "Classic Interface" like they did with XP.
Microsoft is nuts.
If they want to create a tablet UI, have at it. But trying to force a tablet UI onto the desktop is stupid, just like trying to force a desktop ui onto a tablet. They are completely different. One is targeting productivity and one is targeting consumption. Touch sucks for productivity.
There'd BETTER be an option button selection laid out for idiots:
I have a touch screen but want my computer to start on the Desktop
I do not have a touch screen. (Selecting this option will remove these unnecessary features from Windows, thus may increase performance)
Damn I'd better patent that. LOL
They can just leave Windows 8 in the clouds for all I care.
by providing the simple option to turn the MetroUI on and off, Microsoft is not risking anything. I believe this is the correct solution because end users can implement any features they want based on the hardware they're installing this on. The title is an exercise in exaggeration.
And, of course, this author could not resist making another company (Apple, of course), an exemplary "teacher" that everyone has to strive to follow. I start to honestly believe that, because MSFT is the first to come up with a unifying solution ( that is also based on a successful platform), Gruener is...green with envy.
Just read through his articles, or even better, read the titles. Truth is, Win 8 is coming and there is nothing Gruener or his like-minded minions can do about it.
I remember when the movie, "Minority Report", starring Tom Cruise was released. Everyone thought the transparent touch screens were the coolest. The perception was that’s where we'll be sometime down the road. And no one could wait to see it, let alone use it.
Typically, people don’t like change. I’ve seen this many times working in IT and I think fear promotes negative comments. Right or wrong, Windows8 is not even out of Beta yet and already we are making assumptions.
Who knows where touchscreen technology takes us…
Another point is that some programs simply don't work well with touch. Video editing, coding, writing papers, 3D modeling, other content creation, spreadsheets, any high productivity programs really.The major problems with touch is that it is not fast where a keyboard is and not accurate where both keyboards and mice are. Touch's only good point that I can see is that it can be faster than a mouse so long as you don't need to be precise with where you are clicking
It's not a valid point because WINDOWS 8 DOESN'T REQUIRE or FORCE you to use TOUCH. It's there if your device supports it!!! Can you people read?
This is a bizarre question; from the looks of it Windows 8 supports both touch and a Windows 7 style UI for keyboard/mouse. Yes, it's not a huge jump from Windows 7 if you're not using the Metro UI, but that's irrelevant since the vast majority of Windows licenses are sold with new PCs, not users upgrading themselves.
What are Microsoft supposed to do exactly, just sit twiddling their thumbs while Apple and Google have have the entire tablet market to themselves? People keep missing the point with Windows 8, it's not a traditional update meant to run on the same sort of machines are it's always done, it's targeting a new form factor by extending and capitalising on their existing OS rather than releasing an entirely new one, which makes perfect sense considering the overwhelming success of Windows and the failures of every other OS they've released (Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7).
dalethepcman +1
kinect?... the hardware's already there, and its "theirs", some mouse (Razer,Cyborg R.A.T.s) are more expensive than Kinects, the mouse weren't always there in the PC's Development this kinect thing could be their mouse.
I think MS is going in the right direction for the future of their BRAND and computers. Windows itself is becoming less and less important. With web-based MS-Office, it means anyone with any computer can use MS-Office. So for consumers... who needs Windows? Games? Nope, get a console. Far more AAA games on consoles than desktops.
Metro's future is to chunk the WIn32.api It'll streamline the MS-Operating system.
But, MS MUST **MUST** make metro work correctly with mice and keyboards. The scroll wheel Must make the UI slide left to right. Quick access to a Windows Desktop... they'll do okay.
This is the right move for M$ to take. As long as they keep traditional support as well as add the new touch support, this should be win/win all around. Now if they dropped mouse/keyboard support, or compromised it to get touch to work, then they are making a huge mistake.
What about gaming? I'd rather use a controller or a keyboard/mouse any day. A RPG you can get away with, but is it possible to make an FPS without a controller of some type? Just can't see myself shooting with fingers getting in the way.
Developing the software to integrate touch gestures into the OS is the beginning of Minority Report style computing.
Why would anybody want to work by waving arms around? Also, what if you just have to watch something? You have to be completely still.
Nah, that Minority Report stuff looks cool but no professional would want to spend hours every day flapping their arms around - you get tired very quickly.
In some of the interviews I've read, this new UI is not mandatory. You can simply use a Win 7 interface if you choose. Of course most the reviews aren't focused on that because the new UI is the new and exciting feature, but for us old schoolers, we simply will turn it off.
i guess microsoft has gone all "touchy feely"
I say enable or disable option is the best deal although I don't want anyone to touch my screen
There's currently an air of The Emporor's New Clothes around MS's Win 8 plans in the tech press, so it's good to read an article that asks some questions about it. I tried the preview on a desktop and feel that although it will be great for tablets,it's a real step backwards with respect to mouse and keyboard use. And lets be realistic, the mouse and keyboard are not going away any time soon. They are the antithesis of imprecise poke-your-stubby-finger-in-the-general-direction-of-a-large-target-icon touch input. They are a precise form of input required perfectly suited for creative work on a desktop computer. I really think MS should allow Win 8 to run in two modes, Metro on top, or Win 7 type desktop with a proper Start menu and Metro completely hidden.
Hello, Windows Millennium Edition.
I am surprised to note that there has been very little mention of how games are very dependent on the keyboard and mouse. Personally I have no desire for my PC to be touch capable. I despise having marks on my screen at the best of times for one thing and having to reach up and over to a vertical screen is not my idea of efficient computing practice. However I doubt that MS will make Win 8 incapable of traditional input methods.
I can only assume that the Start Screen we are seeing is actually a means of disguising what the Start Screen will really look like at release. It is without doubt the must ugly interface I have ever seen. I would rather have Win 3.1 on my desktop.
I think MS is going in the right direction for the future of their BRAND and computers. Windows itself is becoming less and less important. With web-based MS-Office, it means anyone with any computer can use MS-Office. So for consumers... who needs Windows? Games? Nope, get a console. Far more AAA games on consoles than desktops
Get a console yourself, troll... "who needs Windows"... haven't seen a more ridiculous claim for quite a while. Where're you gonna get your cloud Office from, huh? Your console? Tablet, maybe?
No IT-literate person will ever switch to cloud based setup for their home willingly.
Fotunately Windows 8 is not touch exclusive and is only an added feature
...
The premise of the article is sensationalist tabloidism
Microsoft did not risk the Xbox 360 by giving it DVD playback as it still did what it was intended to do, play games.
So Windows 8 is the same, it will be a full blown operating system and you can use it with a keyboard & mouse and you will be able to navigate via an explorer.
Touch is an ADDED OPTIONAL EXTRA.
My short answer is NO. No as a Windows OS only option. And particularly I don't like the tiles.
My medium to long term answer is YES. MS needs a great or greatest tablet OS and strategy.