Bill Gates: Multi-touch is coming to Windows

The next-generation of Windows will pack multi-touch abilities, says Bill Gates, putting Microsoft toe to toe with Apple in a battle for the attention of our finger tips.

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal’s “D: All Things Digital” conference, Gates joined Microsoft’s Chief Executive Officer in revealing that Windows 7 will employ multi-touch as standard.

It’ll let users move pictures around the screen, rotating and resizing them with a simple pinch. It’ll also open up maps and graphics applications to much more intuitive controls.

The thing is, we’re fairly sure Apple will have launched this across all their products by the time Windows 7 arrives. It’s not due for launch until 2010, while Apple’s multi-touch capable iPhone and iPod touch have been kicking ‘round for almost a year already. What’s the betting Apple will make mincemeat of Windows’ touch ambitions?

Take a look at the video below to see Windows 7 in action, and feel free to drop us a comment.

TBC | £TBC
D: All things Digital

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