SOFTWARE TREADMILL VENDOR Microsoft says most Windows 7 touchscreen devices will work with its touchscreen Metro user interface that's coming in Windows 8.
Microsoft is heavily promoting the Metro user interface in Windows 8, claiming the interface will make Windows 8 a credible alternative to Apple's IOS and Google's Android on tablets. Now the firm claims that its testing shows that the majority of touchscreen Windows 7 devices can work with Windows 8.
Microsoft outlines what it means by Windows 7 touchscreens working by saying, "This means that touch drivers continue to load, and you can perform the basic touch interactions in Windows 8 with a reasonable degree of success." The firm says 'reasonable success' means that windows might not align perfectly when dragged by fingers or interpreting gestures such as swiping and pinch-to-zoom.
According to Microsoft, Windows 8 will understand the user's intentions in its touchscreen behaviour. Microsoft claims this will help the operating system use 'sloppy' user touch-based input, something that isn't a problem with keyboards and mice because they produce very specific inputs - a particular keypress or a right click on a particular pixel.
Although Microsoft says most Windows 7 touchscreen devices will work with Windows 8, the firm claims touchscreen devices designed for Windows 8 will provide a better experience. After all, it needs to provide something more than Windows 7, otherwise its system builders and especially its marketing and sales overhead and management won't be able to profit from yet another Windows operating system release