Windows Touch coming to a PC soon

Microsoft is optimising its touch controls for Windows

The multi-touch controls familiar to Apple iPhone users will be built-in to Microsoft’s Windows 7.

Windows Touch will be a “first class way to interact with your PC alongside mouse and keyboard,” said the firm.

Microsoft believes multi-touch PCs will become popular in retail, public spaces, on laptops and “kitchen PCs”.

Some Windows machines already feature rudimentary touch input and Apple is also reportedly adding touch for displays in its Snow Leopard OS update.

A small number of multi-touch PCs are already on the market, including the HP TouchSmart and the Dell Latitude XT, and Microsoft hopes Windows 7 will create a new ecosystem of devices that take advantage of touch.

The latest generation of Apple’s laptops also feature a glass trackpad that supports multi-touch gestures.

Microsoft has launched a Windows Touch Logo program, which will help consumers understand if a machine has been optimised for the new control system.

Windows Touch will features controls such as tap and double tap, drag, scroll, zoom, flick and rotate.

In a posting on the Windows 7 engineering blog, the team leading Touch developments said: “Quite a few folks have been a little sceptical of touch, often commenting about having fingerprints on their monitor or something along those lines.

Read more: news.bbc.co.uk