No invention stands alone. Without equivalent prior art, this is new. The assertion that it is merely "better software" is invalid, as this is new end-user functionality; that this functionality is implemented in software has no bearing (in the U.S., at any rate - per the Supreme Court. the idea is that whether implemented as software or hardware, the resulting object is essentially the same when taken as a whole).
The 2x4 comparison leads nowhere as a 2x4 is not a "new and novel invention" (and never was), and because existing touch software is not simply "multipled", as an earlier poster described it - that is, multitouch functionality is not simply 10 or 12 instances of a single-touch implementation (and, even if it were, the end result is the patentable object, not the implementation).
(As an aside re: wildwell's comment, as everyone else knows Xerox was compensated for and assisted with Apple's efforts.)