Microsoft Touch Pack brings Surface experience to Windows 7

Our initial experience with Windows 7's multitouch was decidedly less than stellar, but it looks like Microsoft's taking the initiative to ramp up the usability with the newly-unveiled Touch Pack. It's a software suite consisting of three games and three Surface apps, including a a globe you can pinch and twist around, the ever-popular surface collage for images, and and a zen-inspired lagoon screensaver. OEMs making touchscreen-capable Windows 7 rigs are being offered the pack to use as a pre-installed option, so look for these to arrive around the same time as the new OS, which should be sometime this holiday season. In the meantime, GottaBeMobile's gotten their hands on the app collection early, and you can view their efforts in the video after the break.

Gallery: Microsoft Touch Pack brings Surface experience to Windows 7

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Read - Windows 7 Team Blog
Read - GottaBeMobile's hands-on

[Mesonto @ May 27th 2009 9:02PM]

too cool!

[SONYEDDIE @ May 27th 2009 9:05PM]

like that map you see in CNN all the time

[Richard @ May 27th 2009 9:48PM]

Google Earth?

[Wewtaco @ May 27th 2009 10:45PM]

yeah that map is google earth...

[BeerBum @ May 27th 2009 11:58PM]

virtual earth ;)

[Dafrety @ May 27th 2009 9:05PM]

I wish I had a tablet PC now. :( It would be fun to use and would make my image editing easier.

[scott @ May 27th 2009 9:44PM]

I'll sell you mine. =P

[dmitr77 @ May 27th 2009 9:16PM]

does he not understand basic physics?
use the ripples to move the boat!!!

[Juice Daddy @ May 27th 2009 9:22PM]

heh, I was thinking the same thing...

[EGuT125 @ May 27th 2009 9:17PM]

So no way to get these until W7 is released?

[youngstunna @ May 27th 2009 9:19PM]

i want a table hockey app

[artissco @ May 27th 2009 9:27PM]

Is this in Windows 7 build 7137 ?

[webon @ May 27th 2009 11:55PM]

oh no its l337

[insky @ May 27th 2009 9:36PM]

Geez I wouldn't want to go fishing with him.

[Inect @ May 27th 2009 9:47PM]

I'm surprised he realized it's a touch screen.

[MaxSMoke @ May 27th 2009 11:06PM]

LOL, no kidding! Who couldn't figure out those simple games at a glance? He's either REALLY distracted, or very very dumb. I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say there's a hooker blowing him off camera well he's narrating.

[Marc @ May 27th 2009 9:49PM]

this man is simple

[Chad @ May 27th 2009 9:48PM]

LMAO At 6:30 - "So you don't want to get your balls spread too far apart..."

[insky @ May 27th 2009 11:50PM]

Trust me, it's no fun.

[arsix.orlando @ May 28th 2009 2:22AM]

LOL i was just about to comment on that.

[Daza @ May 28th 2009 8:34AM]

Not going to lie, I actually laughed out loud when he said that. Glad I'm not alone.

[Fanfoot @ May 27th 2009 9:49PM]

Cool stuff. Seems like supporting multitouch in the browser, a notepad application, outlook calendar, the desktop, video player, etc would be slightly more useful in normal life though.

[Joe H @ May 27th 2009 11:48PM]

Uh, there is multitouch in the browser.

[Decoy @ May 27th 2009 9:53PM]

If you're showing off games, get a gamer to do it. Bloody hell.

[Aymon F @ May 27th 2009 10:33PM]

Its hilarious to watch him fail to comprehend something so simple!

[shaunisadirty @ May 27th 2009 10:01PM]

"Our initial experience with Windows 7's multitouch was decidedly less than stellar"

If Apple had made the same exact thing I'm willing to bet that engadget wouldn't be using this sentence.

[Steveorevo @ May 27th 2009 10:12PM]

And most of engadget's readers would poo poo it (because most a Microsoft fan boys).

Tisk tisk, its just because what Apple does decide to do, it does really really well.

But Microsoft will catch up monopoly... errr, 'marketshare' wise, to deliver you a really really 'ok' experience that you'll shell out for.

[patriotsn1 @ May 27th 2009 10:13PM]

or at least mention that the version they were using was a relatively early beta...

[The Walrus @ May 27th 2009 11:51PM]

If only it would decide to get competitive prices and hardware.

Microsoft dominates for a reason: it really does just work*.

*Providing you are semi-competent and aren't memorized by brushed aluminum

[dtatgenho @ May 28th 2009 2:03AM]

I agree with shaunisadirty's post above.

OK, I was going to leave this alone, but I just can't. Sorry about the manifesto to follow, but its been festering for a while.

This post is full of omissions and side-stepping by Engadget, and is a small sample of a larger problem with Engadget's commentary/blogging over the past year or so.

When Engadget first ripped the hell out of the touch-related aspects, as they so quickly link to above, they did so quite easily. They had no problems bashing something that was in early beta form, and even while sprinkling a few Cover-Your-Ass comments in the article about how this may not be the final Win7 touch experience (ya think?), there were many more "There are about 8 minutes of semi-frustrating interaction below" statements. It’s not that I doubt their testing led to less than stellar results, it’s the eagerness with which they report the negatives that seemed slanted.

And now, as things have progressed, Win7 is at RC-stage, and things have improved, what do we get reported? Just the facts, ma'am. No comments on how things seem to have progressed quite a bit, how they may have to take a second look themselves to check it out again... nothing. Hell, the article they link to has great things to say about the Win7 touch stuff, but that is not even mentioned. Just a "hit the read link" and that's it. If things were still bad with the touch aspects of Win7, we would have gotten a "looks like things haven't gotten any better, as you can find at the read link, where they say that X stinks, Y doesn't work, and..."

So, the rule of thumb here appears to be, "If something Microsoft-related is sub-par, report the hell out of it. If it is good, then just present the facts, and play the 'measured, we'll have to wait and see' role." Even the review of the Windows 7 RC (http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/30/windows-7-release-candidate-1-impressions-insights-and-expecta/) was rather complimentary, but then had a conclusion that basically amounted to the opposite of what they said above, with snarky quotes like, "Bottom line, though? This is still Windows, and it's still got a lot of Vista in it" and "However, this is a valiant effort from Microsoft..." How condescending.

Meanwhile, the ever-growing pile of Apple mis-steps is swept under the rug or is just taken with a grain of salt. Engadget's review of the unibody Macbook Pro (http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/04/macbook-pro-17-inch-unibody-review/) complained about the glossy screen, no removable battery, the cost (base at $2,799, up to $4,899), remarking that "So, we're dealing almost four hours discrepancy with what Apple claims" for actual battery life, and on, and on... AND THEN basically concluding that these notebooks were damn near orgasmic ("Apple has cleaned up the design in all the right ways, improved the display and guts considerably, and proved that it can milk a substantial amount of time from a non-removable battery."). Everyone remembers Engadget openly questioning nearly every aspect of the ridiculous new iPod shuffle, proprietary headphone chip, no interface, etc., yet their hands-on (http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/12/new-ipod-shuffle-first-hands-on/) completely backtracks yet again. MANY readers/commenters mentioned the quite amazing backpedaling and about-face Engadget pulled with that.

I'm not saying you can't find fault with Microsoft products, or that you can't be impressed with Apple products, but good God, don't give me and every other reader this "we're not biased" crap anymore.

No one's buying it, and I don't think anyone ever has.

[Me4u2 @ May 28th 2009 2:35AM]

@dtatgenho

Thats Engadget for you, they are anti microsoft or anything without the fruit logo. The suck on apples balls, no matter what. What do you expect from a blog where the writers are paid by apple.

[Steveorevo @ May 28th 2009 2:36AM]

It's a skewed balance of the typical reader opinion where everything microsoft is great. Perhaps the writers of engadget are a generation older then the readers and actually know the industry better. Have you ever used the microsoft onscreen keyboard? Everything about it is useless crap, an inexecusable step behind what should be industry leaders. Those that were born before 1984 remember how they've been on the cutting edge of average; missed the Internet entirely, video for windows -late and shitty, directx vs opengl -only their monopoly made it succeed, they broke java on purpose which was way more secure to promote activex (at the cost of billions lost in virus infection), as thy've missed multitouch, app store, etc. Etc. It's hard to get excited when you're a developer or a columnist that has seen better, know better, and understand firmly that microsoft is simply 'ok'. How do you get excited about 'ok'? Micrisoft does just enough to earn your bucks from the masses but never ever prevails as cool. Broken, dated yes (not talking hardware, !!! it's the software stupid !!!) But 'cool' never.

Shouldn't live care (virus protect. backup) be built into the os?
Can it be a fraction as easy as timemachime?
Shouldn't a spell checker be built into the os?

[Mark Anderson @ May 28th 2009 7:49AM]

@dtatgenho

Excellent post. Pretty much sums up my thoughts along with a substantal portion of Engadget's readership.

That said, if you're aware of the bias and take these articles with a pinch of salt then Engadget remains better than the competition, particularly Gizmodo who've just given up all pretence of being impartial.

@Steve

Since in previous discussions your knowledge of your alleged profession has been proven to be sketchy at best you'll forgive me if I don't take anything you say that seriously.

You see, I am old enough to remember those days - I'm 40 - and I do recognise that MS had a lot of faults and nasty business practices but then so did everyone else. MS used shady tactics to become the primary computer OS supplier but like it or not that's what we were crying out for. Having separate OS for Apple, IBM, Commodore, Atari, Sinclair, Archimedes and all the rest was just becoming unworkable. Someone needed to step up and unify it all and MS did. Apple had the chance and blew it by focusing on their own little world and releasing expensive disasters like the Apple III whilst totally failing to realise that software was the key.

Those who therefore claim that MS have held back development are woefully, woefully naive because prior to the emergence of DOS and Windows it was all just a patched together mess. That's just the reality of it all.

So when you go on about 'shitty' this and 'crappy' that all it means to me is that you just don't have a clue what you're talking about. Sure, MS have made errors on the way but could anyone else have done better considering the scale of the task? I doubt it.

Things have changed now and we have more choice and that's good but I do get tired of the mindless idots who chant the usual anti-MS mantra when they just weren't there when computing was basically a messy bedroom hobby. I have my own reasons for disliking some things MS have done but I also realise the world would be very different - and not in a good way - without them.

Sorry for the rant but that's just the way it is. Those of us who were around in the 70's and 80's realise that.

[Dillinger @ May 28th 2009 10:42AM]

Wow, just fucking wow. So much ridiculous unbridled uninformed hate. So how much does MS pay you guys to comment on engadget?

Yes im sure they are getting billion dollar checks from apple for pointing out the shittyness of windows software. Of course you could look around the Internet and pretty much have to accept that almost EVERY blog in the world must be getting checks from apple, i mean all these people having problems with windows and talking about it on the Internet must be pulling a check from apple. It cant the the fact that people get sick of dealing with bullshit like the windows "Ultimate" extras, where are those huh, did engadget sneak into MS and steal them and are now holding them for ransom?

Zomg apple pays the Internet to give MS a bad name. Poor MS cant they ever catch a break?

Or you could be realistic and accept the fact that MS has for years now put out subpar user experiences coupled with even shittier software built on top of 10 year old shitty software and user experience, and people are fucking sick of it.

Get over yourselves and don't read the fucking blog if your that paranoid, go fucking read some MSDN crap.

[LongshotX @ May 27th 2009 10:09PM]

Eat that Steve Jobs.

[Boards of Canada @ May 27th 2009 10:12PM]

Touch me, touch me
I want to feel your body...
Touch me, touch me now!

[Zach @ May 27th 2009 10:55PM]

that's what she said

[webon @ May 28th 2009 12:02AM]

@zach, actually it is, and it was said by a babe called Samantha, you proly was not born when she was popular

[burnblue @ May 27th 2009 10:13PM]

Wow. This was a pretty weak report. How is it possible for Microsoft to come out with something cool and Engadget still manages to sound biased against it? My mind is blown.

[Stereotype @ May 27th 2009 10:18PM]

That "airplane" was a propeller/fan thing...it blows the balloon toward the lightbulb, which presumeably, finishes the level.

C'mon seriously? This is the first level of the game...basically tells you what to do and you have no idea what to do? And you use a PC? Have you ever played a game before? lol! :)

I want one. :) Or 50.

[macserv @ May 27th 2009 10:21PM]

In my experience, computer screens fall into an awkward size that people don't want to touch. Users don't seem to mind fingerprints and smudges on smaller touch devices (think iPhone) or larger panels (like Surface), but they don't want them on their desktop and laptop displays.

I think it may have to do with ease of cleaning... you can wipe your iPhone on a sleeve/pant leg, and you can take Windex and paper towels to Surface without worry, but cleaning a desktop or laptop screen is usually less convenient.

[Russell @ May 27th 2009 10:38PM]

I've been playing with my latitude xt with windows 7 and all the multitouch and 7 is definitely a step above vista for tablet pc's/touch.

the on screen keyboard being multitouch is great, can press shift+a letter just fine (4 touches at once actually) and the IE features for scrolling are really nice but the zoom doesn't reflow right and looks kind of crappy.

I'll probably still end up using the pen most of the time, but it's a pretty decent touch experience and if added to more with third party support could end up being awesome.

[Michael @ May 27th 2009 10:54PM]

What OS is Surface running? Why doesn't Microsoft release that if different? I honestly believe the future of desktop computers will be the whole desk.

[WixosTrix @ May 28th 2009 2:02AM]

brace yourself for this answer...Windows Vista.

check Wikipedia

[MaxSMoke @ May 27th 2009 11:14PM]

This would be really cool on a 40+" touchscreen LCD TV, I believe there's at least a couple in the works, as well as overlay kits to make any TV into a touchscreen. But this kind of software seems best used on a TV that is on it's back. I wonder if anybody will make a hinged LCD TV mount for a table that lays the TV down, or tilts it up, depending on whether you want to use it as a MS Surface, or as a regular TV.

[Jack @ Aug 15th 2009 1:23AM]

3M makes a rear-projection film that can be had as a touchscreen and connects to your computer via USB, so you have a virtually unlimited-size touchwall. It's not multitouch...yet...

[digitallysick @ May 27th 2009 11:22PM]

So where is this app at? is it built in? or an extra download , or is it released yet? need more info

[Gregorian @ May 27th 2009 11:27PM]

Surface is a whole lot more than merely a big multitouch screen.
It's got cameras that literally see objects on the table, or even held slightly off the table.
That's why it comes built into these big $15K tables.

So this will be a trimmed down, touch-only version of the software.

[Joe @ May 27th 2009 11:33PM]

This dude is just plain embarrassing.

[Mike @ May 27th 2009 11:49PM]

WTF happened to Canada? Do we not even deserve a label now? :(