The latest news out of Microsoft and Apple should put to rest any doubts that tech companies are going all-in with touch-based interfaces. Microsoft recently offered a preview of Windows 8, which features customizable “tiles” instead of the traditional desktop environment. The “tiles” are part of Microsoft’s strategy to market Windows 8 as a tablet-friendly operating system. Instead of pointing and clicking, the demo emphasizes swiping and “snapping”. And then there’s Apple, which unveiled Lion, the next version of its desktop operating system. Lion features plenty of gesture-based commands that mimic the gestures used on iPhones and iPads.
I’m sure plenty of people will find these interfaces intuitive and useful, but I worry that these companies will start incorporating touch-based functions that have no keyboard or mouse equivalent. Right now, I can perform almost any Windows function that anyone else can. Will that still be true when I upgrade to Windows 8 or 9? Both Apple and Microsoft have been great advocates and enablers of computer accessibility. I don’t expect that to change overnight, but they may need a gentle reminder that user interfaces should be flexible enough to meet the needs and preferences of the user. Plenty of consumers, gimp and able-bodied alike, simply have no use for a gesture-based and are quite happy with the mouse cursor. Don’t take it away from us.
