New Microsoft video continues to showcase a desktop-less future


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A new "future vision" video from Microsoft continues to showcase a desktop GUI-less future, and a world where touch, motion, and mobility reign supreme.

I don't see this happening in the "next 5-10 years", but I do agree this is where we're headed. Windows 8 and Surface are just the start down this path. Many here say the desktop GUI isn't going away, but if I was a betting man, I'd say Microsoft has no interest in developing it much farther beyond the next few years.

I'd love to have a computer system like this in my house someday.

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It's a cool concept, but for me I don't really see any use for it. I will still require a keyboard and mouse to do what I do (programming), until I can write software with my brain and not physically touching anything something like this would be useless.

Thing is with the way computers are evolving, Windows isn't the ONLY Visable OS. Now, I don't think Linux in a desktop sense will be as mainsteam as windows, but it does have a place and I think that as MS goes away from the desktop and more mobile/pickup and go linux will find it's market with desktop users more so than it currently does.

So in the end if MS does continue how they are going, that's fine with me I just wont be using any MS Windows products.

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It's a cool concept, but for me I don't really see any use for it. I will still require a keyboard and mouse to do what I do (programming), until I can write software with my brain and not physically touching anything something like this would be useless.

I am sure they will include the virtual keyboard that way you can type the messages, code your scripts, etc.

And they might or might not add the voice commands in the devices which you can do something with your voice commands.

If they do not have virtual keyboard, then you can download it from the store like you did on your phone if you hate the default keyboard.

I would love to have that device that looks like "drafting table" that was shown in the video before you hit play...

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It's a cool concept, but for me I don't really see any use for it. I will still require a keyboard and mouse to do what I do (programming), until I can write software with my brain and not physically touching anything something like this would be useless.

Thing is with the way computers are evolving, Windows isn't the ONLY Visable OS. Now, I don't think Linux in a desktop sense will be as mainsteam as windows, but it does have a place and I think that as MS goes away from the desktop and more mobile/pickup and go linux will find it's market with desktop users more so than it currently does.

So in the end if MS does continue how they are going, that's fine with me I just wont be using any MS Windows products.

Great points. I use software that does what I need it to do, regardless of who makes it. The software adapts to me. I won't adapt to the software.

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I am sure they will include the virtual keyboard that way you can type the messages, code your scripts, etc.

And they might or might not add the voice commands in the devices which you can do something with your voice commands.

If they do not have virtual keyboard, then you can download it from the store like you did on your phone if you hate the default keyboard.

I would love to have that device that looks like "drafting table" that was shown in the video before you hit play...

Virtual Keyboard or not, there is a big difference between tapping on something flat and solid, than physically pressing buttons. while I am okay typing on my phones touch screen, I much prefer typing with a real keyboard.

And programming with voice commands:

-> "Cow tuh Left Pointing Arrow Left Pointing Arrow Double Quote H E L L O SPACE W O R L D Double Quote Semi Colon"

<- cuh out left pointing arrow left pointing arrow "hello world";

-> "Delete that"

<- "Unrecognized command"

I guess outside of a fun for kids environment or where you have to look at charts/presentations I don't see a use for something this large of a scale.

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Virtual Keyboard or not, there is a big difference between tapping on something flat and solid, than physically pressing buttons. while I am okay typing on my phones touch screen, I much prefer typing with a real keyboard.

And programming with voice commands:

-> "Cow tuh Left Pointing Arrow Left Pointing Arrow Double Quote H E L L O SPACE W O R L D Double Quote Semi Colon"

<- cuh out left pointing arrow left pointing arrow "hello world";

-> "Delete that"

<- "Unrecognized command"

I guess outside of a fun for kids environment or where you have to look at charts/presentations I don't see a use for something this large of a scale.

Why would a decent speech recognition software ever work like that? Youre being too narrow minded. Imagine just being able to say: echo hello world and it will write the correct syntax (with spaces - no one ever says space lol).

Editing may be a bit tricky but you could make brief changes with a touch screen keyboard.

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/11/08/microsoft-demos-amazing-english-to-mandarin-translation-allowing-for-real-time-audible-translations/

^Just check out this video for how the power of speech recog could be used. For programming you could set speech snippets for common commands so you could write lines and lines of code with a single word.

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Why would a decent speech recognition software ever work like that? Youre being too narrow minded. Imagine just being able to say: echo hello world and it will write the correct syntax (with spaces - no one ever says space lol).

Editing may be a bit tricky but you could make brief changes with a touch screen keyboard.

Fair enough, but I can see larger programs with debugging and adding comments and special things being a pain. To each their own, I would never use a system like shown above, but that's just me.

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Virtual Keyboard or not, there is a big difference between tapping on something flat and solid, than physically pressing buttons. while I am okay typing on my phones touch screen, I much prefer typing with a real keyboard.

And programming with voice commands:

-> "Cow tuh Left Pointing Arrow Left Pointing Arrow Double Quote H E L L O SPACE W O R L D Double Quote Semi Colon"

<- cuh out left pointing arrow left pointing arrow "hello world";

-> "Delete that"

<- "Unrecognized command"

I guess outside of a fun for kids environment or where you have to look at charts/presentations I don't see a use for something this large of a scale.

Nothing is wrong with voice commands.. all you do is save your scripts and then use voice commands and it will place the snippet onto the new document. Simple. If it shows any errors, you simply use onscreen keyboard to fix it.

Plus if you are okay with your phone keyboard, then you should be fine with onscreen keyboard on other devices no matter big or small... If you want physical keyboard, then you should have gotten a phone with physical keyboard.

By the way, modern computers and other devices are included with bluetooth... so you can use any bluetooth device such as keyboard, headset, etc.

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Imagine just being able to say: echo hello world and it will write the correct syntax

Here's the result of this command at work.

Me - echo "hello world"

Result on screen - echo "hello world Hey john lol did you see that youtube video of the girl dancing lol"

Me - Damn erase the last command

Computer - Damn command unknown please specify

Me - Stupid computer **&**(*(#

Computer - Stupid command unknown please specify

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Nothing is wrong with voice commands.. all you do is save your scripts and then use voice commands and it will place the snippet onto the new document. Simple. If it shows any errors, you simply use onscreen keyboard to fix it.

How do you create the script in the first place?

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How do you create the script in the first place?

I said:

all you do is save your scripts and then use voice commands

which means you create scripts with physical or onscreen keyboard and save them..then next time you use voice command. Tell it to place a snippet of yours onto the document.

Get it?

And of course, there will be a cloud service that time which you can share your snippets with all of your devices. Such as Skydrive...

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My issue here, one of the key factors with design is to solve real world problems

With these concepts, it sometimes seems like Microsoft is inventing a world where we need these devices. Sure all of this can look more helpful, like a digital picture space in the home, but what it really comes down to is: is it all really a necessity?

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Get it?

Oh, I get it. My point is that what you're proposing still requires a keyboard in the first place. If it requires a keyboard in the first place then what is the point of voice when I can just copy and paste the code?

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Oh, I get it. My point is that what you're proposing still requires a keyboard in the first place. If it requires a keyboard in the first place then what is the point of voice when I can just copy and paste the code?

Not me, feiry wants a physical keyboard... not me. I told him that it may have virtual keyboard that way he could code his scripts but he still wants physical keyboard for his work. Right now, tablets/phones have virtual keyboard.

I was saying, the user can use anything to the device, such as, voice commands, physical/onscreen keyboard, touch...

You can much do anything with it... as you see other users have made stuff for iPad such as camera lens...

I have photoshop and autocad, I don't need keyboard much for these programs... I used to be a programmer back in 90's but not anymore.

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How do you create the script in the first place?

Keyboards aren't going away.

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So in the end if MS does continue how they are going, that's fine with me I just wont be using any MS Windows products.

This is one MS will lose. They will not be able to force this upon the masses with their OS dominance, they do not dominate that space or the tablet or phone space yet have not adjusted their business practices for conducting business in a non-dominant position.

There's a reason touch, which is not knew, is not the primary interface. Even KIOSKS didn't proliferate that much. The success of the iPad and now cheap Android tablets have MS confused IMO. They have overestimated the impact of the "touch" UI. It's the devices usability and ecosystem as a whole and of course, the apps.

I also think they underestimated the impact of desktop computing among consumers. Microcenter is the most packed place every weekend in a very large mall area here. Fathers taking their sons to buy "cables" and building big rigs, still. Women as well, I'm kind of shocked. And there's not a Windows 8 promo anywhere.

There is room for touch, but I think MS just doesn't get it.

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Can you imagine standing at the screen for 5 hours waving your arms around. :s

Those big screens, how do people reach the top of them?? Those small "family" screens, how would kids be able to reach them?? if you put them lower then everyone else would have to bend down, you couldn't even pull up a chair to sit because your legs wouldn't be able to fit, and if you built an alcove(??) then you would be sat with your face right up against the screen.

in my opinion, it looks good but in the real world you would have problems.

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its amaze me, that Microsoft deliberately avoid mentioning Glasses,

well probaby with Glasses & gestures, the so called 'touchscreen' no longer reign supreme.

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