Windows 7 will probably support Windows Touch, but only if your monitor supports touch-screen capabilities. Whether that would spur new monitor upgrades and convince manufacturers remain to be seen.

T&A: DigiTimes.com published a report where Taiwan-based PC vendors and motherboard manufacturers expressed doubt on whether Microsoft’s Windows 7 would really help stimulate demand for replacement PC parts and upgrades.

As a follow-up to Vista, Windows 7 aims to keep hardware demands low so that adoption rates for the operating system would go up when it is launched (targeted sometime late this year or early next year). This would mean a lesser need for consumers and corporate customers to spend on hardware upgrades, a situation worsened further by the current crisis as customers tighten their belts.

While there is widespread belief that Microsoft might be bringing forward the launch of Windows 7, several key people interviewed by the site believed that the economy needs to recover first with appropriate assimilation of both hardware and software before Windows 7 can jumpstart the much needed PC replacement economy. (Editor opinions: 2)

Navin Danapal, Technical Editor, HWM Malaysia

Navin (HWM MY): If Taiwanese computer hardware makers are hoping Windows 7 will encourage customers to upgrade their PCs and thereby increase product sales, then they’re in for a rough ride. Windows 7 is Microsoft’s attempt to convert older Windows XP users who didn’t upgrade to Windows Vista, positioning it as an optimized ‘Windows Vista’, which in essence, is what Windows 7 really is.

Microsoft cannot afford to make Windows 7 more demanding, systems-wise, than Windows Vista, for the simple reason that a majority of its targeted consumers avoided Windows Vista based on its high hardware demands.

There is still a large number of Windows XP users out there which did not jump on Windows Vista. Would Windows 7 do the trick for them sans hardware upgrades?

Taiwan PC makers, or in fact, just about any hardware manufacturer reliant on the Windows operating system platform, probably need to move beyond the perception that every new Windows operating system will drive the demand for new hardware. This is because unlike the technologically savvy who understands the tinniest benchmark improvements and heat dissipation technologies, the general, or mass consumers will not as easily lean towards an upgrade path as their hardcore cousins would.

What might work in Windows 7 favor however, and for Taiwan PC makers, is to build hardware around potential applications that the new Windows 7 might bring out from the consumer. Touchscreen technology is one such example. Touch is intuitive and Windows 7 supports it. Even LCD monitor manufacturers like Albatron has touchscreen-based displays. The mass consumer is now weaned on touch, especially with the rising interest in the Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile devices and other Symbian and Palm-based devices.

Perhaps manufacturers can also explore ways to utilize Web 2.0 applications? Integrate them with their hardware? ASUS and Intel are working on a design-your-own notebook concept. Why not have hardware design contests? Fuse engineering with art. With social media now generating a lot of attention, letting people design, or at least come up with some concepts, would definitely propel greater innovation (and hopefully eventual sales)  within practical limits.

Vijay Anand, Editor, HardwareZone.com

Vijay (HardwareZone.com): As shown in our Windows 7 Preview articles, this new OS is very tolerant of system hardware specs - so much so that you can even revive machines that have long been decommissioned! While this might drive Windows operating system sales, it certainly wouldn’t drive consumers to spend on new hardware.

Windows 7 is what Windows Vista should have been from the very beginning, hence this update is really more of a giant fix than a new OS. This is not the resource-hungry Vista, nor does it bring anything revolutionary – key factors which would compel buying consumers to upgrade their PCs.

But unlike the days of Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows XP, the newer Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows 7 don’t really invoke any need to upgrade. This is yet the biggest challenge Microsoft faces.

For Windows 7 to become an upgrade enabler, it has to first drive consumers to want to take advantage of the full capabilities within the operating system. Besides being lean and efficient, the OS has Touch-screen support.

Once there are more applications that are designed with touch-screen functionality, that should bring about new opportunities in work processes and the way we interact with our PC and software.