It’s not a secret anymore that Windows 8 comes with a wide range of improvements, but the touch features bundled into the new operating system are playing a key role for the future of the product.
Microsoft’s researcher Shahram Izadi told The Register that the technology industry is already looking beyond touchscreen applications and Windows 8 is just the beginning for a global revolution.
“Touch is the beginning; we are talking about natural interaction and ultimately about new modalities of interaction beyond mouse and keyboard,” the Microsoft official said.
The company will introduce Windows 8 later this month and the new operating system will be available on multiple platforms, including the traditional desktop computer, but also tablet devices.
Microsoft will also roll out its first tablet baptized Surface that will see daylight during the same Windows 8 launch event.
Windows 8 will thus comprise several new touch features, letting users access and manage their files by simply sliding, swiping or pinching the screen. That’s why the new operating system could bring a major “revolution” in the technology sector.
“Think about early work multi touch: it was in the early 1980s with people like [Microsoft’s] Bill Buxton and others. It took at least 20 years for the consumer and product world to catch up with that research. Doug Engelbart, when he invented the mouse, it took about 20 years to become commercialised,” Izadi said.
“We are seeing technologies coming to productisation more quickly because companies want to have the edge, so from a consumer point of view it’s an exciting time.”
Windows 8 is already
a very successful product, according to Microsoft, as it attracted more early adopters than any other application ever released by the company.
One billion hours of feedback have been received, Microsoft said, while the Consumer Preview flavor recorded more than one million downloads in the first day of availability.
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