Microsoft Surface is a software platform that is ideal for any scenario in which multiple users want to interact with a single large form-factor device, similar to a wide-screen TV. The focus of Surface is on creating real connections—whether it's connecting customers with information and each other, or connecting a device made for Surface to other devices. Using only their fingers or objects, such as loyalty cards or game pieces like checkers, users interact with a high-end graphical display that can be used as a table, on the wall, or embedded in other fixtures or furniture.
The following documentation provides more information about core administration tasks that you can perform with Surface software.
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Gestures: Touch and Multitouch
Microsoft Surface is designed to respond to contact and touch. For many applications, Microsoft Surface responds to multiple touches (multitouch), such as a few fingers on one hand, two hands, or multiple people all touching the Microsoft Surface screen at the same time.
This article describes the basic finger gestures that users can use with a Microsoft Surface unit.
Basic Finger Gestures
Users can use fingers for most interactions with a Microsoft Surface unit. Contact visualizations enable users to quickly and instinctively learn how to use the multitouch system by providing instant visual feedback on user touch points and gestures.
Different applications might use different types of gestures. Encourage people to experiment with gestures. The following illustrations show how gestures work in Launcher and the Photos and Music applications. But the same gestures work in all Microsoft Surface touch-enabled applications.
For more information about the Photos and Music applications, see Microsoft Surface Applications.
Touch-and-release
Touch a preview image to start an application from Launcher.
Drag to move ... and then finish with a flick
Touch-and-hold a finger on an object...
... and then drag to move the object.
Users can even flick some objects, like they’d use a finger to brush a crumb off a table. To flick, touch and hold a finger on an object and then quickly move the object in any direction just like brushing a crumb off a table or flick a marble. The object continues to move and slows down on its own, unless it hits the edge of the screen.
Resize
To change the size of an object, put a finger on two diagonal corners and then...
To enlarge the object, move the fingers away from each other.
Or, to shrink the object, move the fingers closer together.
Single-finger rotate
To rotate an object by using only one finger, touch one corner...
... and drag the finger in the direction that you want to turn the object.
Multi-finger rotate
To rotate an object by using multiple fingers, rotate the fingers in the same direction. (Users can also resize some objects by using multiple fingers on one hand.)
Applications might include different controls that users can interact with. Some controls look familiar, such as Stop, Play, or Next buttons in the Music application. Also, users can scroll up and down or right and left in most lists. Some lists have visual clues that they can be scrolled, but others might not. Lists can also be objects; they do not have to be text.
Gestures in Music
The volume control in Music is a slider. Press the button...
... and drag it. Notice that it glows when it moves.
Users can drag some elements, such as the songs in a playlist, even though they don’t have a visual clue that they move. For example, users can drag the song list down...
... to expose other songs that are in the playlist.
Gestures in Photos
The Photos applications opens to show a bunch of photos in a circular object called a stack. Users can drag photos out of the stack, or tap the top photo to send it to the bottom of the stack. Users can also move and resize the stack.
Touch the control at the bottom of the stack...
...and the stack changes to a bar called the scroller.
Users can enlarge or shrink the scroller...
...or move or turn the scroller.
Users can also use two fingers to move or turn the scroller.
Use a finger on the strip of photos and drag right or left to scroll through the photos in the scroller.
Each collection of photos has a name that displays on the top of the scroller. Press, hold, and drag up or down to show a menu of the categories of all the photos that are available.
Touch the control at the bottom of the scroller to go back to the stack.
