Last week at the, “D: All Things Digital” conference, sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, Microsoft introduced its latest project, a touch-screen computer that will effectively rid of the mouse. While it was first introduced last year at the same conference in a coffee table form, the computer giant has changed its product to service the business world more appropriately. Features of the new system, which will release sometime in 2009, include all functions that a mouse would typically perform transferred to your fingertips. The change may come as a shock to faithful Microsoft users who have become accustomed to their more practical, rather than user friendly, approach to software.

It is rumored that Microsoft is borrowing the idea from its competitor, Apple, who introduced the touch screen iPhone last summer. If the movement of this technology to a computer proves successful, this could mean much easier usage in the future for all computers. Not only will the basic frustrations from a mouse be eliminated, but other technology may also be produced from its inception. An example of what may be to come includes uploading and downloading pictures simply by touching the device to the screen. No estimates yet on what the system will cost but the end result, easier navigation and extra time, might just be worth the means.