14 DAY TRIAL // While there are few things that truly compare to a hands-on retail shopping experience, Microsoft has done its best to make sure that customers get to explore every nook and cranny of new laptops they’re looking to purchase, even online. Windows PC Scout is an online application the Redmond company has set up to help customers choose the machine that is best suited to their needs. Through its integration, powered by Seadragon technology from Microsoft Live Labs, Microsoft has created a unique online shopping experience which is bound to deliver quite an impact on shoppers.
“Today, we’re talking that interactive experience to a new level by introducing HD Zooming,” revealed Brandon LeBlanc, Windows communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team. As is the case for all online ecommerce websites, Microsoft too offers a range of images featuring the products available for sale.
However, the Redmond company has kicked the user experience up a notch with the introduction of HD Zoom. The feature allows users to seamlessly zoom in and out of images, in order to get both an overall view of the product, as well as see the smallest details. Work has been done so that all users can take advantage of HD Zoom, as the feature is not dependent on Silverlight, like Deep Zoom, also powered by Seadragon.
“Once a PC is chosen, you are given a “technical cheat sheet” for that PC, can view detailed images (12 images) of the PC, and link to buy from popular retailers,” LeBlanc added. “With HD Zooming, you can now zoom in to see the important details like ports and design styles. As you can see in the above screenshot, I am zoomed in to the left side of a Dell Studio XPS 16 where I can see the fine details of the ports. With HD Zooming, we’re allowing customers to have a much richer and interactive experience with PCs online as they search for one to buy.”