In this post I want to look at some of the trends we can expect to see over the next year from Microsoft and the wider tech world.

2010: The Year Of Touch

We all know that Microsoft added Windows Touch to Windows 7 to bring touch computing mainstream and it will be this year that we start to see the benefits of Microsoft having added support for touch interface. Increasingly there will be more all-in-one-desktops, notebooks, netbooks and monitors that are touch enabled and because of this more developers will look to add innovative ways to use touch which will increase sales and complete the cycle.

Then, of course, there is the ever present rumour of the Apple tablet, or iSlate, which will bring touch interface to the very front of the consumers’ attention. It seems that some companies are planning to combat the rumour of the iSlate before anything is confirmed with rumours of a Google/HTC partnership for a Chrome OS tablet. It remains to be seen if there will be anything new to touch control added by Apple or if it will just be a large iPhone.

Talking of phones there will be an increasing number of touch only smart phones coming from the likes of HTC and Sony. There will probably be some interesting apps appearing for Android and I hope for Windows Mobile. Although no one seems interested in writing apps for Windows Mobile 6.X maybe 7 will inspire developers to create some, much needed, useful apps for the platform.

Microsoft may have another trick up its sleeve with the Courier concept that I hope will come in to fruition sometime this year and then there is the plan to bring the Microsoft Surface to our homes, not something I expect to see soon but maybe some aspects of the interface will work its way into new platforms.

However by the end of the year we may have already gone beyond touch and have entered the realm of touch-less control when Microsoft release their Project Natal which, to begin with, will only be for Xbox but I would hope an expansion of the technologies involved.

2010: The Year Of The Cloud

I know one of the most popular buzzwords for 2009 was the Cloud but I think 2010 will be the year it really comes to the masses. Microsoft will be launching its Windows Azure platform properly in February followed by Office 2010 and the Office Web Apps which will see Microsoft embrace the Cloud like it has never done before. I am also expecting Windows Live Wave 4 to contain much more Cloud based content with new services, improved storage and ways to access programs online. It is also possible that Windows Mobile 7 will be more cloud orientated, we know there plans to be a high level of social networking incorporated with the mobile OS.

Apple will be looking to take more services to the Cloud or face being left behind as Google forces all tech companies to focus more on the internet. With regards to Google we will see the first browser OS which really can’t be any more Cloud focussed and I expect many more Cloud services and greater integration of those services with its Mobile OS.

2010: The Year Of The Ribbon

Windows 7 uses it in its standard applications, we know that Office 2010 will be featuring it in all the applications and from the leaked screenshots it appears that Windows Live Wave 4 will use the Ribbon interface.

It seems to me that Microsoft are finally beginning to agree to use a more coherent design approach to their applications where the Ribbon interface is used in content creation applications such as Paint, Word and Movie Marker. Those three suits of applications will be the most used from Microsoft and it will be great to have the Ribbon mainstream but I would hope that work on the next versions of Visual Studio and Expression Studio.

Another type of application Microsoft is content browsers such as the Zune Software which seems to be the inspiration for the unreleased version of Windows Live Messenger which could also be described as a content browser. Microsoft seem very keen on the linear interface for their entertainment devices, Zune HD and Xbox, and I would expect that any new entertainment devices would follow a similar approach.

Lets hope Microsoft can continue the good design and interfaces of 2009 in their new products of 2010 and that other software developers will use the Ribbon interface and create new and exciting interfaces.

I have many questions and hopes about what we will see this year and I am looking forward to playing with the new applications and devices that will come out over the year, maybe some of which we will see as early as next week at CES.