Microsoft is just behind everyone  with tablets for Win 7, right ??

Wrong ! If you listen to a lot of Google Android and Apple pundits they will tell you that Windows 7 is a CLUNKY interface for tablets and that it’s slow and is a dog compared to Apple’s iPad and Google’s Android tablets right ?  Well the reality of this is that this may not actually be true. Please keep an open mind while I bring some evidence to light on this subject that you may not know about. This will enlighten you further, hopefully..

The user interface the pundits will tell you, you will be forced use with a Windows 7 Tablet

“One of the things that really turn off people to Microsoft’s Windows 7 Tablets, is the Windows 7 UI which wasn’t designed to be touch friendly”… I hear that in the press I hear this everywhere.. It couldn’t be even further than the truth, it offers a  features not really available on Android or Apple iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone..

Facts the press conveniently forget all of the time:

1. Multi-touch was not invented at Apple.. In fact it was there way back at Xerox PARC, and you' can ask Bill Buxton of both Xerox Parc and Microsoft (who is considered “the father of multi-touch” by many about the origins of Multi-touch, which first started appearing in Microsoft’s Surface tables way before it was every on the iPod Touch and later the iPad..
2. Microsoft’s on-screen touch keyboard is the only keyboard that is resizable and works well with fat fingers. Just click the bottom right corner of the keyboard and drag and it gets bigger or smaller. You can also move it around anywhere and hide it..
   
   
3. Microsoft supports digital ink and handwriting recognition as well as voice recognition and other accessibility options.. Apple hasn’t supported handwriting recognition on devices since it’s original Newton MessagePad product. Why it’s there and the lack of writing and stylus support is beyond me on these platforms. It’s all right there in Windows 7..

This obviously shows you that Microsoft has developed a seriously accessible and usable OS from any system. But what about those small menu items and the start menu.. What can I do there (well besides the fact that they are resizable you can also add in a specially designed UI for tablets that has been around longer than the iPad has..,

It was called Origami and developed for the UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) and gives you all of the touch friendly capability you’d want and even gives you access to the Microsoft Windows Marketplace “App” Store.. Guess what it’s not gone either. You can download it and use it on your Windows 7 Tablet right now..

Original Origami, UMPC Video (Circa 2006 way before Apple released the iPad)

The Origami Experience 2.0

They called it Origami back in 2006, and released a 2.0 version in 2008, which predicted much of the features we expected in smart phones and slate/tablet devices today including location-aware applications (yes Origami has some location aware features built-in).

The freely downloadable user interface you will want use with a Windows 7 Tablet

As you can see the interface is very finger and application friendly as well..

Here’s a live look at the interface running on my machine right now…

It sits as a layer atop the Windows 7 UI that can replace the UI for on the go work. It works with the latest Internet Explorer version as well and plays nice with HTML 5 although it does launch the browser in “compatibility” mode.. Since HTML 5 isn’t quite everywhere yet this makes it very easy to use. All of the controls are happy and finger friendly..

It integrates with your Microsoft Outlook schedule, offers “web clips” and access to everything you’d normally access for music and video.. The app launcher lets you setup icons for any program on your machine and is really easy to use..

Don’t wait use Origami today!

The best news of all is you can install this on ANY Windows 7 capable machine including your PC right now. It responds to touch or use of the mouse should no touchscreen be available..

DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=B0EDD346-75BA-4185-B6AA-0A49940AFBDE&displaylang=en

Updated Info: (thanks Gerardo for this info)

You might also check out InkSeine designed to compliment the inking functionality.. It also integrates with OneNote very well..

http://www.gottabemobile.com/2008/01/22/gbm-inkshow-inkseine/

Note:   InkSeine is not a Microsoft product.
InkSeine has been developed by a small team in Microsoft Research.
Our goal is to innovate the Tablet PC, advance the field, and explore
potential Microsoft product enhancements in this space. Although
we strive to answer questions and patch reported bugs,
InkSeine is not a fully staffed or supported product.