Touch Pack is one of the key differentiators of UMPC category created to optimize the touch screen user interface for smaller form factor. Focused on simplifying user input and navigation it is meant to be used in a handheld mode and in places and situations where standard notebooks and Tablet PCs are not usable.

According to it’ s developers Microsoft Touch Pack “…is a new set of software built exclusively for UMPCs… made up of five main applications/features…” :

Program Launcher - a place where shortcuts to your applications are stored and organized. The software programs are into put into categories, and uses large buttons and icons to make it easy to find and open favorite applications.

Touch improvements - “…a little utility that a user can run that makes Windows more useable on a small, touch enabled computer. It makes about 10 setting changes to Windows such as widening the scroll bars, enlarging the minimize and maximize buttons, shows folders in thumbnail view, etc.” Nothing new or groundbreaking, but makes the task of optimizing Windows XP for UMPC form factor automatic.

New skin for Windows Media player, optimized for UMPC. Called Brilliant Black, it fills the whole screen of UMPC and makes it look, feel and function like any portable media player. All necessary media controls are transformed into large buttons allowing you to easily access digital media stored on UMPC, adjust volume, play stop and navigate playing media files.

Dial Keys - software that splits standard QWERTY keyboard layout int to halves aon diffrent sides of screen. “…the basic idea is that you hold the device in two hands and use your thumbs on the screen to type in text. It takes a little getting used to, but people are always amazed once they use it a day or two how good they get at typing with it…”

Sudoku - it’s an adaptation of a currently popular logic game by Microsoft. According to the people who tried it this game is very addictive and rapidly gaining in popularity around the world. From I could understand it looks like another incarnation of fifteen puzzle or Rubic’s cube and if popularity of these two is anything to go by, has a very bright future.

Touchpack is available exclusively for UMPCs right now. It takes pen based interface developed for Tablet PCs one step further and significantly enhances Ultra Mobile PC usability.