Win7 Touch

8/14/2019 Win7 Touch

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Windows 7: Reach Out and TouchIt!

October 29, 2008

Abstract

With Windows 7, Microsoft releases a Windows-based

environment that is more touch friendly and easier to use than everbefore. The new platform creates challenges and opportunities forhardware and device manufacturers. This paper describes areas thatenable you to build hardware that affords rich, immersive, andcaptivating experiences that make the next wave of Windows 7applications not only unique, but fun!

This information applies to the following:

Windows 7Windows Touch

References and resources discussed here are listed at the end of thispaper.

For the latest information, see:http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Win7_touch.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Win7_touch.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Win7_touch.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Win7_touch.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Win7_touch.mspx


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Disclaimer: This is a preliminary document and may be changed substantially prior to final commercialrelease of the software described herein.

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on theissues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing marketconditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannotguarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.

This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS,IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights undercopyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), orfor any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation.

Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rightscovering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written license agreementfrom Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any license to these patents, trademarks,copyrights, or other intellectual property.

Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mailaddresses, logos, people, places and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any realcompany, organization, product, domain name, email address, logo, person, place or event is intended orshould be inferred.

2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, Microsoft Active Accessibility, Win32, and Windows Vista are eitherregistered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respectiveowners.

WinHEC 2008 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


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ContentsWhy Touch?.........................................................................................4

Some Definitions: Natural and Intuitive...........................................4Touch Enhancements to Your Form Factors and Applications..........5

Touch in Windows 7............................................................................5Hardware Considerations....................................................................6Where Touch Excels............................................................................7Overall UI Considerations...................................................................7Call to Action......................................................................................8Resources...........................................................................................8



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Why Touch? - 5

natural interaction in both cases. In contrast, an intuitive gesture isbased on computer interactions rather than real world affordances.

That is, the action is consistent with the user's current understandingof computer interactions. For example, in the physical world youcan't take a photo and stretch it to enlarge it, but with computerinteraction, you can do exactly that with a multitouch zoom gesture.

By placing two fingers on the screen and "expanding" the placementof them, the user resizes the photo. Another example is performing amouse click. By using a finger to "replicate a double-click" on anobject, the user simulates the action required to open a file.

Touch Enhancements to Your Form Factors and Applications

One of the best things you can do for users is merely to think abouttheir interaction with your product: figure out exactly what users dowith your product. Determine what users do most often in anapplication-given scenario. Isolate the natural interactions. Ask whatyou can do to make your product more fun to use. For instance:

What hardware and software controls do your users use mostoften? Try to imagine them using these with touch rather thanthe mouse. How does that change the experience?

Do any of your users' actions with the mouse or otherhardware emulate touch? For example, is there a feature thatthey use with the mouse that would be a truly natural gesturewith the finger, such as erasing ink or using a tool to smudgean image?

Is there anything that your product does that would be a lotmore fun if done with the finger? For example, do users get to"fling" something across the screen?

Finally, can all of your answers be joined to make a smooth,consistent experience across your product, especially one thatis natural and intuitive?

Note We strongly advise user testingwhen feasiblebefore youdevote resources to building your enhancements. Even testing withpaper prototypes, to see how users react to your concepts, is ofgreat benefit.

Touch in Windows 7

The new Windows 7 touch features offer three layers of interaction.The following table illustrates each level that both user anddeveloper can expect.

Table 1. Windows 7 Touch ExperiencesLayer DescriptionTouch Mouse-like behavior: tap, double-tap, right-click, drag

and select.

TouchGestures

Flicks (navigational and editing)

Multitouch gestures such as zooming in, zooming out,WinHEC 2008 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Touch in Windows 7 - 6

panning, and rotating.

TouchPlatform

Platform with which you can create rich and immersiveapplications.



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Touch in Windows 7 - 7

Applications that run on Windows Vista have access to the first layer:touch. These applications can take advantage of tap, double-tap,right-click, drag, and select. With Windows 7 comes the introductionof the next two layerstouch gestures and the touch platform.Applications that use these elements are described as "touch-

optimized for Windows 7."

In Windows 7, both touch gestures and a rich platform are availableto applications. You can use flicks in your applications today. Flickgestures are quick linear pen or touch movements associated withscrolling actions and commands. The touch platform also offersWin32 and managed .NET Framework versions of APIs that enableyou to intercept touch data directly from digitizers and incorporatenatural and intuitive actions with touch-enabled UI.

For touch to be a success, it has to meet an important userrequirement: responsiveness. Users must experience a direct 1:1

reaction between what they are touching and what happens. Forexample, if the user rotates an object, not only should the rate ofrotation meet the user's movement, but more importantly, theapplication should give the user visual feedback that directlycorrelates to their intended action.

Tip It might not be a good idea to repurpose a gesture and map itto something far from user expectations. For example, if the userperforms a zoom gesture on an image, mapping this action to callinga print dialog would be confusing. You create experiences that aremore "natural" and "intuitive" for the user by remaining withinestablished expectations of behavior.

When a user performs a gesture in an application that is not touch-enabled, he or she still expects the input to be functional. As afallback, the operating system sends an equivalent system-levelmouse event to the application. For example, if the user performs apinch gesture (zoom-out), and the application does not handle thenew gesture messages sent by the platform, the application stillreceives a series of smartly timed CTRL+mousewheel events (thecurrent Windows shortcut). However, there is a tradeoff for thisfallback support, such that in some cases the experience may feelchoppy for the user, moving from one application to another, ratherthan fluid. This is a decided drawback

Hardware ConsiderationsThe OEM ecosystem prides itself on product differentiation, so yourapplication will run on touch-enabled computers of all shapes andsizes. This raises some hardwarebased issues to consider:

Devices will have at least two independently trackable touchpoints. This means you could provide multi-user interaction ina single application.

Form factors will range from Tablet PC convertibles, to desktopPCs, to stand-alone displays. Sizes will range from 12" to 30".



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Hardware Considerations - 8

You should ensure that your application scales to provide agreat experience on all of them, unless you're intentionallytargeting only one form factor.



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Hardware Considerations - 9

Users will touch your application from differing perspectives.For some, the screen will be upright, so that the user willtouch it reaching straight out. They will use the tip of theirfinger, making it easier for them to touch smaller targets.However, if the screen is lying flat, they will use the pad oftheir finger, with a larger surface area that requires a larger

target. Drivers are currently in development. To be informed of drivers

as they are finished, send mail to [email protected]

Where Touch Excels

As noted previously, touch input does not replace the keyboard andmouse. It augments them. However, we have found that for usersespecially when mobiletouch input can be more efficient forconsuming, organizing, and directly interacting with their files,photos, or data. Consumers find touch input to be highly compellingin the following scenarios:

Web browsing .

Interacting with photos.

Playing games .

Organizing music and video (playlist creation, media sorting,and content organization).

Reading and sorting e-mail.

Document consumption.

Managing a Windows workspace.

Many other applications will undoubtedly integrate beautifully withtouch. Does your product lend itself to panning, scrolling, touchingan object, rotating, zooming, and navigating? If so, there's room foryour product to shine in a world of touch.

Overall UI Considerations

The following is a high-level summary of some guidelines to consider.A program is considered touch-optimized when:

The most frequently used controls are at least 40x40 pixels(23x22 DLUs).

No tasks require the use of hover or mouse over feedback. All controls use Microsoft Active Accessibility to provide

programmatic access to the UI for assistive technologies.

The most frequently performed commands are directly on theUI, not in drop-down menus.

Tasks are forgiving, enabling users to correct mistakes easily.

Tasks are designed to avoid the need for extensive text input.

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Overall UI Considerations - 10

In addition: Do not assume that if a UI works well for mouse input, it also

works well for touch.

You can assume that if UI works well for a finger, it also workswell for a pen.

Spin controlsat 15x11 pixelsare much too small to be usedeffectively with touch.

Call to Action

Please continue to partner with us to help make great touchexperiences in Windows 7. For feedback and other interaction,contact the Windows Touch Team at [email protected]. For moreinformation about Windows Touch Technology in Windows 7, see theResources section of this white paper.

ResourcesFor more information about flick gestures:http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=129614

For more information about the Windows Touch platform inWindows 7 and Windows Touch Technology unveiled at WinHEC:http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/2008/InsideWH.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/default.mspx

For more information about Windows Touch:Input and HID page on WHDC.

mailto:[email protected]://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=129614http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/2008/InsideWH.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/default.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/default.mspxmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=129614http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/2008/InsideWH.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/winhec/default.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/default.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/default.mspxhttp://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/default.mspx

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