14 DAY TRIAL // Not a lot has been confirmed about Windows 7, the next iteration of the Windows client. However, Microsoft was comfortable enough with the level of integration of multi-touch technology into the successor of Windows Vista to publicly demonstrate the added capabilities, at the end of May 2008. But the fact of the matter is that end users do not have to wait for the next version of Windows in order to literally get a hands-on experience with the operating system. Via the Dell Latitude XT tablet, users of Windows Vista, now with Service Pack 1, and Windows XP, with Service Pack 3, can get a similar experience to what Windows 7 will bring to the table in terms of touch-computing.
"But, Latitude XT customers don't have to wait for Windows 7 to use multi-touch. We will introduce a software update globally via support.dell.com for the Dell tablet [Latitude XT] that will bring multi-touch to both Windows XP and Vista. With this update, customers can use the functionality in several standard apps like Google Earth, Outlook and Microsoft Office, web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, and XP's Windows Picture viewer and the Vista's Windows Photo Gallery," revealed Lionel Menchaca, Dell Chief Blogger.
A couple of months back, Christopher Flores, Director Windows Communications and Julie Larson-Green, Corporate Vice President, Windows Experience Program Management, showcased demos of the Windows 7 multi-touch capabilities. Both demonstrations featured the Dell Latitude XT tablet, at that time lacking the same technology for Vista and XP. At the bottom of this article, via the embedded videos, you will be able to see exactly just what the new software update for Latitude XT will bring for Vista and XP.
However, the Latitude XT machine running Windows 7 did not rely exclusively on Dell touch technology. What Windows 7 will feature, and Vista SP1 and XP SP3 do not, are actual multi-touch capabilities built into the operating system. This means that Windows 7 will offer an unified user experience across all forms of hardware with touch-computing support, while the Dell Latitude XT capabilities for Vista and XP are limited to just the tablet computer.