Mac OS 10.6 = MultiTouch

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Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
For some reason, I have this feeling that Mac OS 10.6 will be MultiTouch. With the new job postings Apple has published, along with the latest patents they are requesting, it just makes sense.



I see it like this:



Apple talks about a few tidbits at WWDC about 10.6 but nothing major.



WWDC 2009 - they anounce the details of 10.6, shipping in October, giving developers four months to get their applications updated with the new framework. Explaining that writing for iPhone/iPod Touch is a near seamless experience.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,464member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feynman View Post


    For some reason, I have this feeling that Mac OS 10.6 will be MultiTouch. With the new job postings Apple has published, along with the latest patents they are requesting, it just makes sense.



    I see it like this:



    Apple talks about a few tidbits at WWDC about 10.6 but nothing major.



    WWDC 2009 - they anounce the details of 10.6, shipping in October, giving developers four months to get their applications updated with the new framework. Explaining that writing for iPhone/iPod Touch is a near seamless experience.





    Probably what's going to happen and we'll have to deal with the inevitable 10.6.1, 10.6.2 and 10.6.3 updates. Leopard was NOT handled well from a developers perspective.



    I agree I think MultiTouch expands. Not at the desktop level but rather further evolution starting with Macbook/Macbook Pro



    I envision that the Trackpad will grow larger to enable more Touch functionality and when soon when OLED displays become cheaper Multi-touch will integrate with a graphics display touchpad and it'll be contextual. For instance the you may be manipulating some data and upon clicking "save" you'll get the normal dialogue box but there will always be some touch options on the Touch trackpad display.



    For quick and easy management the Touch trackpads will enable a new level of efficiency
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  • Reply 2 of 13
    I am going to predict that multitouvh wont happen until OS 11. I think OS 10.6 will be called Lion and be the last of the OS X's.
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  • Reply 3 of 13
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Obi-Wan Kubrick View Post


    I am going to predict that multitouvh wont happen until OS 11. ....



    You do understand that the iPhone and the iPod touch run OS X 10.5, don't you? Perhaps not.
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  • Reply 4 of 13
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Obi-Wan Kubrick View Post


    I am going to predict that multitouvh wont happen until OS 11. I think OS 10.6 will be called Lion and be the last of the OS X's.



    OS X is so modular that if 10.6 is the last OS X it will be so by name only...I predict that the OS foundation will remain for at least another decade or more.
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  • Reply 5 of 13
    feynmanfeynman Posts: 1,087member
    The more Microsoft touts Windows 7 as a Multi-Touch OS, the more I believe Mac OS 10.6 will be Multi-Touch as well. I think Apple could very easily provide a "reverse SDK" of sorts that basically will be claiming "if you've written app's for the iPhone, a few simple lines will bring those app's over to Mac OS 10.6" obviously with some changes to the UI.



    Things are going to get very interesting in the next couple years. Apple does not want to let Microsoft come first with their Multi-Touch OS.
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  • Reply 6 of 13
    amoryaamorya Posts: 1,103member
    I don't think having the same codebase for iphone and mac apps would be a good thing.



    Desktop computer apps require vastly different UI, data storage, complexity &c than mobile apps do.



    Amorya
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  • Reply 7 of 13
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    "In" the OS? Certainly.



    But keep in mind that touch screens aren't an optimal input method for too many tasks. So while it will likely be "in" the OS, it won't make too much of a difference. Multitouch is great, but it doesn't really change the usability tradeoffs involved with present input technologies.



    Is the hardware cost of a touch screen worth it (yet) just to resize pictures?
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  • Reply 8 of 13
    jensonbjensonb Posts: 533member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dfiler View Post


    "In" the OS? Certainly.



    But keep in mind that touch screens aren't an optimal input method for too many tasks. So while it will likely be "in" the OS, it won't make too much of a difference. Multitouch is great, but it doesn't really change the usability tradeoffs involved with present input technologies.



    Is the hardware cost of a touch screen worth it (yet) just to resize pictures?



    I'm sure Apple will find some justification for it.
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  • Reply 9 of 13
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Handwriting and speech recognition are "in" the OS as well.



    By justification, do mean something along those lines?
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  • Reply 10 of 13
    SpamSandwichspamsandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I agree that multi-touch would be helpful for certain limited uses AS LONG AS the other methods of input are also still available. I can imagine a number of times when it would be so useful to simply grab and move something on the screen instead of hunting for the tool that enables me to do that. Then I could go back to my pen input, keyboard or mouse to continue my tasks.
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  • Reply 11 of 13
    kim kap solkim kap sol Posts: 2,987member
    As many have said, multitouch is limited to specific apps. I'm sure the support will be there (somewhat like Windows 7) but won't supplant the existing mouse/keyboard input.



    One thing that I hope multitouch will do though is resurrect adventure games. For 10 years I've had to deal with the game market interest shifting towards FPS and 3D games...this is fine but things in life are cyclic so I have great hopes that adventure games (or 2D gaming in general) will make a triumphant return with multitouch.



    For controlling a FPS, multitouch devices are subobtimal. For controlling a "point-and-click"-type adventure game ala Sierra or LucasArts though multitouch is perfect...for kids especially. I don't own an iPhone or iPod touch yet but I have a feeling that's how the ScummVM interpreter works on them. I'm guessing you can just touch to where you want your LucasArts game character to move and touch the 'action' buttons.



    Hell...modern adventure games could make full use of multitouch gesturing to control some elements on the screen. Pinch in to close doors, pinch out to open them. Make a circle with your finger around an object to pick it up or use it. Multitouch gaming makes some sense but there's still the problem of doing this on a large screen...people will not like spending more than 5 minutes with their arms extended to the screen. And smudging up your 24" with bodily greases is dumb.
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  • Reply 12 of 13
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Introducing Multi-touch system wide will be such a paradigm shift that Apple should call it OS 11, or Mac OS Touch (or something).



    It's too big a jump to call it 10.6...
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  • Reply 13 of 13
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Messiah View Post


    Introducing Multi-touch system wide will be such a paradigm shift that Apple should call it OS 11, or Mac OS Touch (or something). ...



    Um-m-m, no. As I said above, multi-touch is already in the OS because it is required for the iPhone and the iPod touch. The public version of MacOS X 10.4 went from PPC-only to PPC+Intel, all within a point release. MacOS X 10.5 is Universal Binary. Under the skin, it is supported by a certified UNIX 03 version of Darwin. The MacBook now supports gestures. In the grand scheme of things, multi-touch is really not that big a deal. We may have it before the end of the year.
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