Используется windows 8 touch

Nov 30, 2012 16:46 EST

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Sid Meier’s Civilization V was released over two years ago, but the development team at Firaxis Games is still continuing to update the latest title in the turn-based strategy game series. Recently, the game got an update on Steam that added a rather interesting new feature: Windows 8 touch screen support.

As shown in a video on the YouTube channel of the game’s publisher 2K Games, Civilization V’s lead producer Dennis Shirk demonstrates the new touch enabled UI of Civilization V. Firaxis worked with Intel to not only get the game running on a Windows 8 touch screen, but also to optimize its graphics to run on an Intel-based Ultrabook design, which normally would not be able to handle the the graphics of a game like Civilization V.

The video show how easy it is to do things like move units on the map in Civilization V by just touching the screen running on the Windows 8 laptop, along with zooming in and out of the map by pinching or spreading two fingers on the screen. As Shirk notes, this will make Civilization V much earlier to play for gamers on the go, without them having to get out a mouse or access a small trackpad.

We think that other strategy games would certainly benefit from touch screen support in Windows 8 and hopefully more will follow in the footsteps of Civilization V.

Source: 2K Games on YouTube

The Windows 8 Touch Interface: What You Need to Know

Perhaps Microsoft should have called Windows 8’s New UI, the Metro TI.  This article explains the workings of this radical replacement for the Aero desktop.

• Introduction to the Metro TI
• Pinches, Zooms, and Swipes
• Avoiding Touch Command Confusion
• Ensuring That All Apps Are Supported

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Introduction to the Metro-style TI

Jerry Koh and Jeff Pirra from Microsoft recently gave the world new insight into the touch capabilities of the new Windows 8 operating system.  We’ve known for a long time that this new instalment of the OS would be heavily focused on touch (in fact, the same was said about Windows 7 too), but only recently have Microsoft spoken out about exactly how it will work. Don’t worry, if you’re a fan of the mouse and keyboard, you can still use them as you do now via the desktop option in the Metro interface, but for those with touch-enabled PCs, Windows 8 should have a lot to offer. 

The OS aims to be great for all users – from those who do complex home design to people who simply want to check their email.  Microsoft also announced the minimum requirements for touchscreens: they’ll need to recognise at least five simultaneous touch points, be able to register at least 95% of all touch input, and have a high level of edge detection.

Pinches, Zooms, and Swipes

At the core of the Windows 8 touch experience is the tap.  Much like other touchscreen devices and interfaces, the tap is the primary action for selecting and confirming choices within the OS.  Alongside the tap, Windows 8 also recognises a whole host of other inputs. These include the more well-known gestures (from devices like the iPhone and iMac) such as pinch to zoom, swipe to pan images, turn with two fingers to rotate and of course tapping and double-tapping. 

There are also some more original gestures that users are able to use, such as swiping up from the bottom edge to open app-sensitive commands and options, and swiping sideways from either edge to open OS-sensitive options. Because some of the touch commands in Windows 8 require a high level of edge detection, the OS has a buffer of 20 pixels all the way around which can be activated to help detect those commands.  This area, though, cannot then be used to carry out any other commands – so it’s best to use a touchscreen with good edge detection.

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Avoiding Touch Command Confusion

So why have Microsoft released a list of hardware requirements for touchscreens?  Well, the main reason is that they want to offer users the very best experience possible.  With ‘inferior’ hardware, such as touchscreens that don’t detect more than a couple of touches at a time, Windows 8 users may activate a different function from the one they wanted. For example, you may want to tap to launch an app but instead end up swiping to rearrange tiles on the Metro interface.  With hardware that meets the requirements, the Windows 8 user experience is much more seamless and enjoyable.

Ensuring That All Apps Are Supported

There is another reason that Microsoft are making five-finger support the bare minimum for touchscreens on Windows 8, and that is to make app development much more streamlined for developers.  Take a piano app, for example.  On a five-finger touch interface, the user would be able to play everything from melodies to chords, with up to five fingers in use at any one time – just like a real piano. On a system which has only two-finger support, the app will not function correctly.  This will inevitably result in a lower user experience for the person using the OS.

It’s obviously in Microsoft’s best interests to make doubly sure that everything works as seamlessly as possible, and by introducing guidelines and requirements for touch displays, they can be sure that the user experience will live up to expectations every time.

Will the Touch Interface Become the New Windows Standard?

There are many people who still feel that a touch-based Windows OS is a step in the wrong direction.  The reasoning is presumably that, for a system that’s worked very well for many years with a keyboard and mouse, the question is do they really need to go to touch technology? The assumption then has to be that Windows 8 is simply attempting to keep up with consumer trends.  And let’s not forget, Windows 8 will also fully support keyboard and mouse – the touch interface is optional. But it’s still good to know that Microsoft have taken the time and effort to ensure that the user experience is the absolute best it can be.

See more on Windows Metro UI

• An in-depth appraisal of the Metro concept in computer screen design.
• How to Create a Windows Metro Tile
• Windows 8 Metro -v- Desktop
• Windows 8 PC settings.

»

Summary of Windows 8 Touch Interface

We’ve known for a long time that Windows 8 would be heavily focused on touch,  but only recently have Microsoft explained exactly how the interface will work.  The Metro UI benefits most those with touch-enabled PCs, but those like me how use a desktop computer still have plenty of interesting new ways of working.

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Microsoft Windows 8 Metro-style User Interface

• Windows 8 Metro UI  • Windows 8 Metro-style Tile  • Windows New UI  • Windows 8 Desktop

• Windows 8 Configuration  • Windows 8 Charms  • Name a Metro Group  • Windows 8 Jump List

• Windows 8 Metro -v- Desktop   • Windows 8 -v- Apple iPad3  • Windows 8 Touch Interface

Well, Microsoft took the wraps off their touch tablet strategy yesterday and if I had to describe the effort in one word, it would be “impressive”. They addressed several key problems with touch in Windows, including my main one. But there’s a rub that we old schoolers may not like and still unknown is how far they intend to go with it.

First, outstanding job by both Adam and Chuong for the coverage yesterday. If you haven’t already checked it out, please read Adam’s report on the software and Chuong’s of the new hardware requirements. Both ends of the story are vital to understanding how the interface comes together. Really great info from both.

Something called “Fuzzy Hit Targeting”

My biggest gripe about touch in Windows has been cursor control. Others have disagreed, but I have long insisted that controlling a pinpoint cursor with a wide finger is highly ineffective. Thus, I am quite pleased to read that Windows 8 will implement “fuzzy hit targeting” to bridge that gap. With this key obstacle overcome, I feel confident that everything else can fall into place.

It’s an overlay but an integrated one

A complaint I have about supposed touch-optimized Windows systems is the typical overlay approach in which an interface layer is slapped over the standard Windows one. On the surface, the touch interface in Windows 8 is an overlay. However, the way it is woven into the whole gives it a level of integration third-parties cannot provide. The way you can switch between the touch layer and pull parts of it in makes it part of the Windows experience, not a shroud that covers it. It really seems to exist side-by-side with the standard interface. This is a dual interface done right.

A Post-PC PC?

While Windows will forever be part of the PC era, just as Mac is, the new touch interface is definitely born of the post-PC era. It’s not tied down to the WIMP (window, icon, menu, pointer) interface. It doesn’t try to do everything at the expense of greatness at some things. It drops programming legacy entirely by starting fresh with current web languages. The approach is post-PC in every way. On the touch interface, Microsoft gave it a clean install. While Apple’s approach to making Macs more post-PC by bringing in iPad interface elements may be smoother and more seamless to the user, Microsoft’s dual interface approach allows the best of both worlds immediately and at once. I don’t know which is better, but I think the latter is much more daring.

Touch optimized doesn’t mean tablet optimized

As excited as I am about the touch optimization, my core loyalty is to the tablet form factor, and I’m not convinced what we’re seeing is truly designed for tablets. The landscape-only orientation is unmistakable. It’s apparent in the photos and video demo that the touch interface was designed for landscape use. Microsoft is pushing for the 16:9 screen ratio, which is as wide as can be. If you agree with Android advocate Tim Bray that tablets should be held upright, then the landscape-only approach means you have to hold your Windows 8 tablet the wrong way. Definitely touch optimized, but with equal application to both touch tablets and touchscreen monitors.

No sign of the pen

Touch optimization also is not the same as pen optimization, and it seems Microsoft is not leveraging their advanced pen technology here. That’s unavoidable to an extent since, as I know from experience and as we’ve seen elsewhere, optimizing for touch can come at the expense of pen. I’m sure pen will work the same in the standard Windows interface as it does now, but expect no magical effects in the touch interface. Interestingly, this comes as I find myself greatly appreciating the special pen features of the HTC Flyer I just received for review (realtime reviewing via my public Evernote folder). It would be a real shame if Microsoft gave up their pen advantage as Android pen tablets started taking off.

Is HTML5 and Javascript good enough?

One thing that unpleasantly surprised me was learning that application development for the touch interface will be done entirely in HTML5 and Javascript. It’s good that they’re keeping it simple, but to exclude even their own Silverlight framework is baffling. A quick check of reaction shows feelings of betrayal among Silverlight developers. Things can, of course, change in the future, but Microsoft did themselves no favors by not even mentioning that.

Not that Silverlight is necessarily the answer, but web languages alone makes it akin to a widget environment. Josh Einstein tweets: “Funny to see all the HTML/JavaScript fanboys ecstatic over Active Desktop 2.0.” (presumably referring to Windows 8 unless there was an announcement on Active Desktop 2.0 I missed.) I’m willing to see how it all works out, but clearly some developers are unimpressed.

Ultimately, my take on the whole thing is Microsoft bought themselves a second chance at a first impression. Not that most people knew anything about their previous tablet efforts anyway. But I did and I’m all too aware of the strangled advancement we saw the first time. Don’t think the lack of Microsoft Office for tablets in any of the preview stuff escaped my notice either. Seven years I’ve been waiting for real progress on that and instead I see Apple reworking their office suite for iPad and recently iPhone. There’s still a lot more work to be done by Microsoft on tablets. Windows 8 is a fresh start for Microsoft and tablets with an emphasis on “start”. Don’t let it be the end too.