http://www.microsofttranslator.com/Widget/

“After general availability of Windows 7, we will look at making the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7 even more broadly available based on feedback from customers and partners. ”

So it might not only be available for OEMs right?

Seriously though, Im always suprised that I dont see more of this great technology being used in more places, my only regular exposure to touch technology is the my local ATM and the self-checkouts at Fresh and Easy and Home Depot. The technology has more potential than that, the Microsoft Surface Lagoon sounds like something my kids would really like.

Media Center was the worst/best example of this and it’s great that it was made available at retail in Vista and Win 7. But MS still did the same with the Media Center TV Pack update (though part of the reason for that seems to be that the update is full of bugs and they seem to want to hide it from people who don’t really need it, heh).

I wouldn’t say everything has to be integrated into Windows or delivered via Windows Update, nor that all extra features should be free. What I do say is that you shouldn’t have to (re-)buy particular hardware from particular vendors after a particular time just to get certain OS features. If MS don’t want to give them away free then that’s fine, sell the add-ons via the web like every other software company these days.

Making features hard for people to obtain is also a sure-fire way to make them less likely to reach a critical mass of adoption, not to mention developer support (though devs can usually get stuff through MSDN/TechNet). Touch already has those problems since it requires unusual hardware. Making people jump through hoops to get the OS components only seems to make things worse.

OTOH it is a bit of a balancing act as some crappy hardware could make people think that the touch support in Windows is awful when it’s the hardware’s fault, but I don’t really see the difference between that and some of the awful TV tuners (and drivers for them) on the market. MS could always make the OS features refuse to run unless a known-good device is detected. They still get certification and control of which devices are allowed, without making it a royal pain for people who have such a device to install the features. (Keeping in mind that OEM are *absolutely useless* as providing this stuff and keeping it updated on their websites when it’s left up to them.)