So the blogosphere doesn’t seem all that impressed with the Windows 7 preview at the All Things D conference, to which I would say: of course not, it’s basically shaping up to be “Vista 2.” However, that doesn’t mean I’m not impressed with certain general directions Microsoft appears to be heading more towards. That namely being its work with actual new technology.

Since I gushed about Surface computing almost exactly a year ago, I really haven’t seen or heard anything from Microsoft that excites me. That’s a year, that’s a long time. Sure, Scoble cried about the Worldwide Telescope, and that seems pretty cool, but come on Microsoft, you spend billions of dollars every year on R&D – wow me.

Today’s example of Windows 7 utilizing Multi-touch does excite me. It was a bit clunky, a bit gimmicky, and as Paul Buchheit pointed out in a FriendFeed comment, my arms probably would get tired trying to use that on a regular laptop, but still, it’s something pretty new. It’s not Microsoft chasing someone else (though I guess you could stretch it to say the iPhone), as Tim O’Reilly perfectly pointed out in a question to Bill Gates today.

As I said, Microsoft spends billions of dollars a year on R&D, so where has all the cool stuff been? Microsoft is still making a ton of money, but it’s losing stature and gaining detractors daily as Vista continues to stumble along and Google continues to eat their lunch on just about everything on the Internet.

Just forget what Google is doing Microsoft. Do something new that’s cool.

As I said in my VentureBeat piece, the article in FastCompany about Microsoft’s new advertising agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, actually gave me some hope for the company. They have a bad image problem. An edgy firm may help that a little, but at the end of the day it’s going to be the products.

I don’t want to see a ZunePhone, I don’t a new social bookmarking tool. I want something new.

Also, please dump those lame bulbous avatar characters, get rid of that translucent color scheme. Your products are ugly. I’m just sayin.

More thoughts:

• Apple continues to kick ass, Microsoft content to take names
• We’ve Already Entered the “Age of Apple”
• Why Does Vista Get No Fanboys?
• Vista Usage Massively Higher Than Its Initial 0%…And Other Ridiculous Statements
• Microsoft’s Answer to Vista Issues – Forget About Those, Here’s Windows 7!
• Apple Kills Microsoft Going Forward (With An Assist From Google), An Opus
• The Best Article Yet About Why Windows 7 Will Be the Best Windows Yet
• Microsoft Is In Much More Trouble Than I Ever Imagined…