Touch is deeply improved in Windows 11

Windows 11 Touch

Deep. Windows 11 is coming in hot, and the new operating system brings along a host of improvements. Most of these are on the software side of things, but there is a lot of good stuff on the hardware front too.

Even if, not every hardware device may get access to the final bits — certainly not all Surface devices.

Regardless, the machines Windows 11 touches on (pun always intended) are in line to get a few good improvements centered around performance, usability, and even touch. Yes, one of the biggest enhancements due come in terms of touch input.

Microsoft explains that these types of computers will feel more responsive on the new OS thanks to massive improvements made in terms of touch input. And not just touch input, but also better voice recognition that allows users to interact with certain features hands-free.

As the company puts it:

“When you use Windows 11 on a tablet without a keyboard, we’ve improved the experience for touch, creating more space between the icons in the taskbar, adding bigger touch targets and subtle visual cues to make resizing and moving windows easier, as well as adding gestures.

We’re also enabling haptics to make using your pen even more engaging and immersive – allowing you to hear and feel the vibrations as you click through and edit or sketch. Lastly, we’ve brought forward enhancements in voice typing. Windows 11 is incredible at recognizing what you say; it can automatically punctuate for you, and comes with voice commands. This is a fantastic feature for when you want to take a break from typing and speak your ideas instead.”

While the tablet mode is no longer available in the new operating system, Windows 11 will still remain the best choice for touch enabled devices due to the fact that it now better adapts to such input.

So, when you disconnect the keyboard on, say the Surface Pro X for example, you will see the same familiar UI of Windows with small changes here and there that make sense for touch. Certain menus are now larger, making it easier to tap them, and so are touch targets.

Surface Pen input also received additional improvements in Windows 11, according to Microsoft.