EXOPC – Giving Windows a Tablet-centric User Interface Design before Microsoft

Thus far Microsoft’s tablet strategy has been to cram the desktop version of Windows into a tablet. This has not proven to be successful as Apple, and Android to a lesser extent, have released tablets with a tailored user interface design that befits the smaller screens. Naturally the user interface design of Windows is optimized for use with a mouse and keyboard whereas  tablets like the iPad are optimized for touch input.  Take for example how right click is used to open further menu options, how exactly does one right click with one’s fingers? And speaking of fingers, ever notice how much fatter they are than a mouse point?! MS Paint would be a pain to use with a finger unless it was optimized for it. Early previews of Windows 8 reveal a user interface design that does have tablets in mind, but in the mean time one company has decided to take things into their own hands.

In order to solve usability and user interface design conundrums such as these the EXOPC tablet has taken a similar route as the likes of HTC and Motorola with Android. What those firms did was to create a custom UI design on top of Android to make it more appealing and usable. The EXOPC gives users the best of both worlds. On one hand users can run Windows 7 as is or they can switch to the EXOPC custom user interface design that is optimized for touch input. The custom user interface design combines the ease-of-use of touch with the true multitasking of Windows 7, not to mention full on Adobe Flash. The device is on the pricey side but considering that the iPad cannot run heavyweight programs such as Adobe Master Collection then the price becomes more palatable. Furthermore there’s an EXOPC app store where you can download a ton of content that is optimized for the custom UI design. Despite doing a great job in terms of hardware (i.e. USB ports etc.) and user interface design my main fear for the EXOPC is that Windows 8 will render it somewhat redundant.