The next version of Windows will be made for touch-screen applications, an alternative to the computer mouse.

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer told the Wall Street Journal that the news was "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009.

The technology could be used to enlarging and shrink photos and navigating a map of San Diego, California. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates claimed that the new feature is an evolution away from the mouse.  He said that speech technology was another mouse slayer.