Posted on 10/28/2014 11:27:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Anyone who has ever used a modern-day Mac will tell you that Apple gets its trackpads right. Sure, they look nice and feel great to the touch, but, most importantly, they are also properly supported in OS X. It offers myriad gestures to help users navigate as efficiently as if they were using a mouse. In fact, the trackpad is designed to feel like an integral part of the system, not as a bolt-on, as there are lots of things that can be done faster with it, like locating a window or opening the notifications panel.
The same cannot be said about Windows PC trackpads. They truly feel like bolt-ons. And it is not because they are poorly put together, but rather because the drivers never seem to be good enough to reveal the trackpads' true potential. Microsoft, however, wants to change that in Windows 10, as the upcoming operating system will support Mac-like trackpad gestures. Finally.
Today, at TechEd Europe in Barcelona, Microsoft corporate vice president of Operating Systems Group Joe Belfiore revealed that Windows 10 will come with multi-touch gesture support, seemingly to put an end to the different approaches OEMs have when it comes to their software implementation.
Belfiore added that the new multi-touch gestures that Windows 10 will offer are designed with power-users in mind, as this is the most likely group of Windows 10 users to take advantage of them frequently. A couple of the new gestures were demoed.
A three-finger swipe down on the trackpad will minimize all windows, allowing the user to quickly see only the desktop. To see the minimized windows again, a three-finger swipe up on the trackpad will do the trick. Repeat the gesture and Windows 10 will display Task View; a three-finger swipe to the sides will allow users to select which of the active windows should be brought up to the foreground.
To give you an idea of how similar the Windows 10 gestures are to the ones offered in OS X, a three-finger swipe up on OS X will trigger Mission Control (an overview of all windows), while a three-finger swipe down will trigger Expose (an overview of all open windows of an app). On OS X, minimizing all windows is done through a four-finger pinch. As you can see, Microsoft does things somewhat differently, to better suit the character of Windows 10.
These gestures will certainly make the operating system easier to navigate for those rocking a laptop, and it may also (hopefully) come in handy for Mac users who wish to run Windows 10 under Boot Camp. Belfiore says that more new features are coming, with consumers to get more attention starting early next year.
Windows 9 isn’t even out yet, and they’re already talking about Windows 10? I’ll keep 7 forever, thanks.
Everyone “borrows” from everyone. It’s not “following” unless you slavishly copy look-and-feel (*cough* Samsung *cough*) as opposed to taking good features and incorporating them into your motif.
What a retarded headline. The fact that these people still trout out this pathetic discredited trope only reinforces the perception that Apple’s user base are crackpot cultists.
Maybe Apple fans can urge MS to follow Apple’s universal genius in chiding Alabama for not being gay-friendly enough too.
Not an Apple or MIcro fan, but please, Apple leads, Microsoft follows? Apple has been the follower of others no less or more, silly fan boy statement.
There won’t be a 9.
Apparently if they called it Windows 9, it would cause a problem since some code looks for the OS starting with “Windows 9” thinking it would be Windows 95.
What do you mean with Samsung? They overlaid their own look over Android 4.4.
“What a retarded headline. The fact that these people still trout out this pathetic discredited trope only reinforces the perception that Apple’s user base are crackpot cultists....”
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Like moths drawn to the light, Apple haters are irresistibly attracted to any thread having to do with Apple. The Apple Haters NEED to hurl insults at Apple users and Apple products—they can’t help themselves.
They’ll find a way to screw it up!
Whatever the brand, these manufacturers draw plenty of “multi-touch gestures” and “third-finger swipes” for neglecting basic user features & offering “fixes” that do anything but.
I hope they’re consistant. That makes it easier for users to move between devices and between operating systems.
That tells me it is not the hardware, it is the software. Whether that is Microsoft's fault, or the manufacturer's, I don't know.
My samsung has features apple just added to their phones.
The gui is really nice blend with the start menu /metro mix..its what 8 should of been from the start... (I detest 8's metro only gui and will not use it)
Why in the world Microsoft thought they would shove metro tiles down their desktop used base with 8 was beyond stupid
If so, how do applications distinguish between Win 95 and Win 98?
Apple haters? I guess that’s like calling people racist, bigiot, anti-gay, and misogynist because they had the nerve to disagree with a stupid statement.
Don’t put up stupid headlines that have no basis in reality, and you wont have to feel bad when people point out how dumb it is.
You might like an MacBook Air or MacBook Pro running Win7 in VM mode.
More and more people are passing on buying a Dell or HP Windows notebook/laptop and buying the Apple laptop to run Windows either natively through BootCamp or via VM in a window on the OSX desktop. Parallels is a good VM manager for Windows on Apple hardware.
A copy of Win7 running in a VM window on OSX is only about 5% ‘slower’ than running Win7 natively on the hardware. Plus, if the Win7 install gets perverted somehow, you can restore it to new in a flash by loading your backup copy of Win7 VM.
It’s all about VM these days. The reason why Hackintoshes are dwindling away is because it’s not much more expensive to get the real Apple hardware compared to a Dell/HP laptop.
Windows 95 & 98 ran on top of DOS, windows XP, 7, and 8 are the newest builds on NT. Big difference between them.
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