Samsung's Optimized UI And Lots Of Preloaded Apps
We covered the basic tenets of how Windows 7 enables tablet functionality in our Eee Slate review. That's is why we're skipping directly to Samsung's UI enhancements.
Samsung put in an obvious amount of effort to facilitate tablet-like usability. In addition to the standard Windows 7 Input Panel, you also have a custom Swype keyboard and shortcut toolbar.
Samsung's Touch Launcher is perhaps the most unique feature of any tablet PC that we've ever seen. You can launch it by selecting the taskbar icon or pressing the physical Home button. This program is effectively a pseudo-Android/iOS home screen. You swipe to move between panels, and while some of the apps listed are just desktop shortcuts, others (like the RSS Reader, Twitter, Social Dashboard, and Weather apps) have a simplified touch screen UI, just like Android and iOS.
Frankly, we think Samsung created a better touch screen interface than the version of Microsoft's Metro UI that shipped with the Windows 8 developer build. It's home screen operates as an interface layer that's separate from the familiar desktop environment. It's incredibly intuitive for anyone, even those who have no experience in Android or iOS, to use. If I can't find or don't want to use the digitizer pen, this is the interface I turn to for quick navigation.
