To really appreciate
the Windows 8 touch interface, you need input devices that allow you to
perform gestures. For a phone or a tablet, the input device is the
screen. Touch monitors already exist, and Windows 8 will undoubtedly
make them more popular. It is also highly likely that we will see a new
generation of touchpads in the form of graphics tablets, which have been
popular with engineers and digital artists for years now.
To lead the way, Microsoft is releasing a new
generation of touch mice and touch keyboards. The company has three
different models of touch mice that have built-in drivers in Windows 8:
• Microsoft Touch Mouse
• Microsoft Explorer Mouse, which is similar in function to the Touch Mouse
• Microsoft Wedge Mouse, which is small and looks a lot like a doorstop
A new set of gestures has been developed that
emphasizes the tile-based interface’s qualities and removes some of the
touch gestures that were aimed at controlling Desktop features in
Windows 7.
An application called Device Center allows you to customize a touch mouse . In Device Center, you can control the rate of movement, turn the thumb gesture on or off, and assign app-specific actions.
Touch gestures with basic settings
To shift content with one-finger gestures
• Slide your finger in any direction to scroll your screen in that direction.
• Flick your finger to scroll quickly in the direction of the flick.
• Move your thumb right or left to move
forward or backward, respectively, through open applications (this is
the same as pressing Alt+
and Alt+Shift+).
To manage applications with two-finger gestures
• Swipe two fingers to the right to toggle between open applications, as you would do by pressing +Tab.
• Swipe two fingers to the left to open the Charms bar, which is the equivalent of pressing +C.
• Swipe two fingers upward to perform an
application-specific action, such as opening a browser to show the
address bar or toggling a window state from full to restore.
To perform a zoom with three-finger gestures on a touch mouse
• To zoom in, slide three fingers forward on the top of the mouse.
• To zoom out, slide three fingers backward on the top of the mouse.
Since Windows users will expect third-party
mice to perform the same gestures, you should expect to see these touch
semantics widely used in the industry.
To modify a touch mouse’s gestures
1. Press +Q to open Search.
2. Enter Device Center in the Search field, then tap or click the Microsoft Device Center icon.
3. In the Device Center screen, tap or click the Touch Gestures link.
4. Modify the basic settings as desired, altering or disabling any one-, two-, or three-finger gestures .
5. Tap or click the app-specific settings link to assign a mouse button or gesture to a program .
You can assign buttons and gestures to specific applications.
Tip
Device Center provides access to the Healthy Computing Guide, which contains tips on how to work more comfortably with your computer.
