Microsoft Touch Mouse

Last week a couple of us in the office decided to treat ourselves to a Microsoft Touch Mouse each – mostly because they were on special offer on Amazon.

So far, I really like it. Like the last few Microsoft mice I’ve had, it’s optical, wireless and uses BlueTrack optical technology. The difference is that this time the whole front of the mouse is touch sensitive.

Scrolling content in Windows 8 is just as smooth as you’d expect, and there are additional gestures to make using the touch-centric operating system faster to use with a mouse:

  • Two fingers up and down – show and hide the app bar
  • Two fingers from the left – switch application
  • Two fingers from the right – show the charms
  • Three fingers up and down – zoom in and out
  • Thumb up and down – backwards and forwards

It’s a little larger than the Arc Touch Mouse that I used up until now, which is probably a good thing for everyday use in the office but it is not quite as compact in my work bag.

The extra weight means there is no chance of accidentally moving the cursor while using it like a touchpad for scrolling through content. Overall I’m quite pleased with the results, and I’ve even got used to the (optional) reverse scrolling.

Pros

  • Great size and weight
  • High build quality
  • Fantastic gestures on Windows 8

Cons

  • Horrible Exposé-like interface on Windows 7
  • You have to lift your left finger to right click (like a Magic Mouse)
  • No middle click at all (like a Magic Mouse)