In what looks to be a shot across Apple’s bow, Microsoft is bringing touchscreen to laptops and PCs via its new Windows operating system, cleverly code-named Windows 8. The company unveiled the user interface at the D9 Conference and anticipates the same positive response that Windows Phone 7 elicited at its debut.

Windows 8 will bring several key features to laptops and desktops, including “tiles,” a more intuitive, user-friendly replacement for icons; traditional apps as well as touchscreen apps built on Javascript and HTML; and a “thumbs layout” for a virtual keyboard, says ReadWriteWeb’s Richard MacManus. Microsoft’s announcement is exciting to some; but critics view touch as the province of smartphones and tablets—and not PCs. That has certainly been Apple’s position. The key question, however, is whether consumers will buy.

Read more at ReadWriteWeb ^[1].