Point, swipe and scroll easily added to Windows 7 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Logitech Wireless Touchpad (image Logitech)

By Stephen Pate – The Logitech Wireless Touchpad is one of the best and easiest ways to add multi-touch computing to Windows 8 (Win8CP) and Windows 7.

Win8CP is still a beta release so not all applications support full multi-touch. Using the Apple TrackPad, I assumed swipe hadn’t been implemented by Microsoft. Not so, the Logitech Touchpad swipes almost all screens.

Within a half an hour, I disconnected the mouse to give the Logitech Touchpad full control of mouse/touch. It works like a charm, including the login sequence which includes swiping the background image up.

The surface is 5″ by 3.5″ and the effective touch area is about 3.75″ and 2.75″. It feels more than adequate. In any event, we get used to any surface in a short time. The Logitech Touchpad is also small enough not to clutter the workspace.

Gestures supported

One- and two-finger gestures control the cursor. Two fingers easily move through a document or web page.

The left and right-click buttons are comfortable under the palm of your hand. You can also tap to select.

A three-finger horizontal swipe moves you back and forth on Metro app pages. A three-finger vertical swipe moves page-up or page down.

Four-finger swipe switches between applications.

After only a day, it feels comfortable to use the Logitech Wireless Touchpad. On some screens there was a slight hesitation to respond but I couldn’t tell if that was the Touchpad or the Win8CP.

I will revisit the subject after more extended use.

Where to buy USA

Where to buy Canada

Thanks Logitech for supplying the equipment for this First Look.

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