Jul 18, 2011 06:58 GMT  ·  By

With Windows 8, Microsoft is blending together the natural user interface and the graphical user interface to create a new UI tailored to next-generation form factors. The next version of Windows will make possible NUI interaction models not only on future devices, but also on more traditional PCs, provided that the right “accessories” are added.

According to Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, Worldwide Partner Conference 2011, the NUI innovation at the Redmond company is driven from inside Microsoft Research, no big surprise there, I guess.

“And I want you to also understand that Microsoft Research is really hard at work in making sure that we're adopting and embracing the proper new user interfaces, because we not only want to be great at content consumption, we want to be great at content creation, and we want to be great in between. We want to be great across the array of devices.

“And to take that step back and make the leap into an application and into an operating system that runs across X86 and ARM is very, very strategic for everyone in the room, and it's going to open up a whole new array of opportunities for us to compete, not just with Apple but with every competing OS that's out there.”

If you were to ask me, I’d say that Microsoft is a tad late embracing proper new user interfaces, especially when it comes down to Windows.

Windows 7, for example, is being advertised as an NUI-ready OS. Some computer manufacturers even put it on Tablet PCs / slates which are currently available to consumers, but not exactly flying off the shelves.

And while Windows 7 might feature the right NUI APIs, it doesn’t come with a proper user interface designed for multi-touch and gesture interaction. Users still have to pretend that their finger is the mouse cursor. There’s no fun in that.

Windows 8 will be the first platform from the software giant - and I’m thinking just about its predecessors, Windows 7, Vista, XP – which seamlessly blends NUI and GUI.

This being said, I continue to see next-generation form factors focused on content consumption scenarios, at least for the immediate future.

While such devices are bound to evolve with new capabilities designed to support productivity scenarios, I don’t think it would be a wise move to put the full Windows 8 operating system on next-gen form factors.