Windows 7’s touching impact on 2010 hardware sales?

CNET’s Ina Fried has recently reported on Windows 7 not being set to jolt the hardware market roaring back to life, quoting Microsoft Senior VP Bill Veghte saying: "History would tell us that generally as you ship a Windows release into the market...the bump is very modest. You will see a little bit, but it is modest."

Veghte went on to explain that people would go on to buy new PCs as the economy recovered and that no-one is using PCs any less at the moment.

Apple’s US $29 OS X upgrade for existing OS X 10.5 users to 10.6 is a clear challenge to Microsoft’s pricing policy for Windows 7 upgrades, and in likely retaliation for Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter” TV ads which saw “Lauren” proclaim she wasn’t cool enough to own a Mac.

But even if Microsoft launches Windows 7 in its two retail versions at really incredibly low pricing, which could encourage PC owners to try upgrading to postpone spending money on buying a new computer, Windows 7’s support for multi-touch technology is fantastic.

Using a Tablet PC running Windows 7 with (currently) 4 points of multi-touch enabled is really fantastic, bringing the iPhone experience to a much larger screen, with more points of multi-touch to be software enabled on HP’s TouchSmart tx2 tablet (and coming on future devices).

I’ve been able to try it on that HP tx2, with the upcoming Windows 7 Touch Pack, and unlike some earlier demos I’ve seen on the web, the experience is smooth, very iPhone-like in some programs, and brings the entire Tablet PC concept to life – especially when you retain the ability to use a proper stylus as well.

The Win 7 Touch Pack includes a Virtual Earth app as seen on the Surface PC, the “photo” corkboard also from Surface that two people can independently manipulate photos on-screen, with fingers, at the same time (up to 84 fingers simultaneously on Surface however), the Blackboard which is similar to Crayon Physics, games and more, and is but a continuing indicator of a rich touch interface future to come.

Dell’s Studio One 19 supports multi-touch, and plenty more touch and multi-touch screens, systems, notebooks, netbooks and smartphones are on the way.

Asus has its Eee PC T91 multitouch netbook tablet coming soon, and with Windows 7 the true explosion of Windows based touch products is expected to come, with Apple still yet to make its on-screen multi-touch technology a reality beyond the 3.5-inch iPhone.

But aren't touch screens too expensive? Aren't they just being called unneeded bells and whistles?

Yes, multi-touch screens are still expensive, but prices will fall as production increases, because once people try it they’ll like it, and want it – already evidenced by the iPhone phenomenon.
You can even multi-touch type on a large on-screen keyboard if you want, arguably making the Win 7 Tablet PC multi-touch interface the most advanced available.

It’s also very interesting to see that Apple has including an oil-resistant coating to the iPhone 3G S multi-touch screen. This helps you more easily remove fingerprints and any oil from your face with a soft, lint-free cloth, rather than having residue on your screen that’s not easy to clean.

Clearly more rapid developments in exploring the true touch screen interface are now arriving, with the whole concept of touch itself to be massively upgraded by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 “Project Natal” whole body interface project just unveiled at this year’s E3 Gaming Expo.

While Windows 7 might not have a massive impact on hardware sales this year, but at least it’s launching more than early enough to capture all the Christmas, end-of-year, 2010 back-to-school, holiday shopping season, and not launching a new OS at the end of January as happened with Windows Vista!

Despite the economic crisis, new computer purchases will still happen this year, and much better sales could happen than Microsoft is predicting (and clearly purposefully pre-lowering expectations).

But as new multi-touch screens, notebooks, netbooks, Tablet PCs, the expected multi-touch Apple “MacBook” netbook arrives and multi-touch versions of Linux become popular, multi-touch’s momentum will be unstoppable, and that old touch-free PC you might have upgraded won’t be the PC you’ll be using once a new multi-touch model is in your life.

Maybe 2010 is too soon, and 2011 is more realistic, but multi-touch technology has finally matured to the iPhone level for PCs, will be available at retail, and despite its sophistication is but the beginning.

Giving a PC your own personal touch won’t just be seen as changing your screensaver, desktop background or sound scheme anymore, but a great new way to interact with your computer, the Internet and all that information in a more natural and human way than ever before. About time!