Is the hoopla around Microsoft Windows 7 much ado about nothing? We won’t really know until the operating system is released in 2010.
Ever since Microsoft Vice President Julie Larson-Green demonstrated Windows 7 technology at the D: All Things Digital conference earlier this week, the technology world has been buzzing about the possibilities. But some analysts say the hype is premature.
Windows 7 will tout multi-touch technology that lets fingers draw rudimentary images. During the demo, Larson-Green drew a landscape on a Dell laptop. The demo also included navigating an online map to find a nearby Starbucks. Microsoft figures the technology is a natural for image editing and navigation.
A Cautious Approach
Of course, this isn’t the first time the industry has previewed Microsoft’s touchscreen technology. Microsoft demonstrated its tabletop and kiosk-like displays at last year’s D: All Things Digital conference. Still, some analysts are cautious.
Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, said he doesn’t count demos
done by senior executives as big news, particularly demos which are so short and in which the company will not address questions about underlying technology.
“I look at the demo as interesting, but you still aren’t showing me why I absolutely have to have it. I still don’t know what kind of hardware I might need to buy to use it. And I still don’t know if applications have to be modified to take advantage of it,” Cherry said. “So I am not prepared to sit on the edge of my seat for the entire time hoping it is something I will like.”
Microsoft ‘Excited’
Nonetheless, the buzz is building, Chris Flores, a Microsoft product director, wrote on the official Windows Vista blog, about the possibilities of touchscreen technology on a PC.
“What becomes even more compelling is when this experience is delivered to the PC — on a wide…