Windows 7: NextWindow's Logo Certification for Touch

Microsoft's new operating system, along with its logo certification program for touch screens, will help bring standardization to touch-enabled products and spur new ISV and OEM development.

Windows With the launch of Windows 7, many industry observers expect that touch screen computing will finally take off, with both independent software vendors (ISVs) and hardware manufacturers developing products incorporating a wide range of touch functionality for home and business users. This fall, PC manufacturers will have a number of touch screen platforms to choose from, and will need to base their decisions upon several factors including price, performance, reliability, and durability.

To that end, Microsoft has developed a logo certification specifically for touch screens, based on a rigorous set of performance standards for the Windows 7 environment. Windows 7 logo certification is based on extensive analysis and input from domain experts and feedback from Microsoft’s OEM, ISV and independent hardware vendor (IHV) partners on the challenges they and their customers face. In June 2009, NextWindow was the first optical touch screen manufacturer to announce Windows 7 logo certification for Microsoft. This gives major PC manufacturers a high level of confidence that NextWindow touch screens are optimized for the new Microsoft OS, which offers multi-touch functionality.

The biggest market initially for touch screen computing, predicts NextWindow CEO Al Monro, is the all-in-one desktop computer segment. “The adoption will occur first in all-in-one computers rather than in monitors because the incremental cost of touch has a smaller percentage impact on the total product price,” he explains. Currently, NextWindow technology is present in leading all-in-one desktops from HP and Dell; the New Zealand-based optical touch screen manufacturer has contracts underway for several new products which are expected to hit the market throughout the fall of 2009.

Analyst firm DisplaySearch is forecasting that the touch screen market will grow to $9 billion by 2015, and that multi-touch functionality will be a key market driver. The problem to date, has been that there aren't enough PC and monitor products incorporating touch to drive ISV interest, and conversely, OEMs won’t heavily invest in the space until the applications are there, says Monro. "Windows 7 will change that stalemate and make a base set of really useful touch functionality available to all applications," he says. "I believe that ISVs will soon start to take advantage of this functionality in their applications."

Microsoft Explains the Windows 7 Touch Logo Program

Excerpt from the MSDN Engineering Windows 7 blog

“We’ve specified requirements for the quantitative aspects of the device, such as accuracy, sample rate, and resolution, based on the requirements to successfully enable touch features. For example, we have determined the necessary accuracy values for a device so people can successfully target common UI elements like close boxes, or what sample rate and resolution are required to ensure quality gesture recognition.
The requirements form the basis for the Windows Touch logo program. For consumers, the logo tells you that the PC and all of its components are optimized for Windows. Component level logo, which….helps the OEMs choose a device that will deliver a great touch experience.”