Microsoft gives us a peek at the future

What does the future look like? Craig Mundie, one of two men who replaced Bill Gates at Microsoft, kicked off his first-ever college tour at Princeton University this week to show off cutting-edge software and some of Microsoft's newest gadgets. This included a touch-screen computer the size of a table, software that shows 3D images and a working prototype of a flexible computer monitor no thicker than a piece of paper.

Mundie demonstrated Microsoft's new table size "surface computer." When several laptops are placed on the table's touch-screen surface, the computer instantly links all of the devices together.

Information from each computer can be displayed on the large tabletop screen for all to see. Mundie said he envisions a day when tabletop surface computers are in every dorm at Princeton, allowing students to gather around, collaborate and instantly share information from their personal computers.

Mundie also showed off a tablet computer the size of a notebook that Microsoft hopes will one day replace laptops. It uses touch-screen technology, instead of a mouse or keyboard.

"Giving people these tools is unleashing a whole class of applications we haven't thought of before," Mundie said.

To take a look at the future:
- see this nj.com article