Microsoft has started showing off it’s next version of Windows…
Dubbed “Windows 7″, it will be built on the current Vista kernel, but add a new multi-touch based front end for it’s interface. At this year’s D:All Things Digital conference, Microsoft did a public demonstration of the new OS:
Here is a slightly better video clip (that came from the Windows Vista blog) of what was shown at D6:
Video: Multi-Touch in Windows 7
This looks very similar to the Surface technology Microsoft introduced about a year ago, and could be quite interesting. It is clearly the next interface evolution in tablet computing, a segment of the portable computing marketplace that has failed to gain any real traction. It could also have significant impact on the design of more traditional notebook and desktop systems.
I do take all of this with a grain of salt. I remember seeing some incredible demonstrations of “Longhorn” – the prereleased version of what eventually became Vista. A lot never made it into the final release – most notably WinFS.
I would love to see Microsoft have some success with this. If nothing else, it will push Apple to move more aggressively with their own platform interfaces.
Who knows – we may even see a tablet based Mac one day…
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