SAN FRANCISCO ― Incoming features seen in the latest version of Windows 11 for developers include a series of new touchscreen gestures, not unlike those we already use on smartphones.
These new touch gestures are supposed to facilitate navigation within the operating system.
For example, the Windows Start menu can be displayed by simply swiping your finger from the bottom to the top of the screen. Swiping in the other direction closes it.
In the Start menu, swiping right or left navigates between the user’s pinned applications and all apps. The same goes for scrolling through recommendations.
To show the Quick Settings menu, simply swipe your finger from the bottom right corner of the taskbar, then swipe down to close it.
The Notification Centre opens and closes from the right edge of the screen.
Note that all these gestures are systematically reversed in languages that read from right to left.
These new touch gestures are intended to be particularly intuitive, largely echoing everyday smartphone usage.
As such, the new gestures should feel relatively familiar to users of touchscreen PCs.
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