My "Mice" Background
I have always used a basic mouse with a wheel. When we bought my wife an Apple Macbook Pro last Christmas, we also bought for her an Apple Magic Mouse. I like using the Apple Magic Mouse on the Macbook with all of the gestures, but the touch pad was so nice that basically it was not necessary. Since we were not using the Magic Mouse, I started using it on my work Lenovo PC, sans horizontal scrolling, accelerated scrolling and pinch zooming functionality. My only two beefs with the Magic Mouse on the Lenovo were just that (1) right clicking was very difficult (I had to move my hand to the very top-right of the mouse for the right-click to work) and (2) there was not any place to rest the base of my palm because the mouse is one big button. Otherwise, it functioned like a normal, standard mouse without gesturing.
My Environment for Using Microsoft Magic Mouse
I work a lot in Microsoft Excel, and some of my spreadsheets are very large. Because of this, I really wanted horizontal scrolling. I also work in PowerPoint doing presentations. As far as zooming, on my computer, I don't really care that much about pinch zooming gesturing. On a smartphone, or iPad (or a comparable tablet - wait, there are none!), this would obviously be much more important to me. The lack of this on the Microsoft Touch Mouse is not important to me. If I want to zoom using my mouse, I simply hold down the control button while doing vertical up-down scrolling. Not as cool as pinch zooming, but good enough for me.
Performance
Working in Excel and PowerPoint, so far, has been very easy for me. In Excel, horizonal scrolling is an absolute breeze after practicing for a minute or two. I feel like I am about 95% comfortable with the vertical scrolling. I do get a delay sometimes when I initiate vertical scrolling, but if I just do shorter vertical strokes at first like I am using a mouse wheel it works fine. Once vertical scrolling starts, you can then lengthen the vertical stroke to keep the screen moving. I think I have this criticism, though, because the Apple Magic Mouse does not have this "issue" (I put issue in quotes because I am not sure if this is really an issue or not). If I did not have the experience with the Apple Magic Mouse, I would probably not even see this as something bad. In Internet Explorer, vertical scrolling is much more seamless for me and I have not really had the delay issue. In PowerPoint, I really love the forward and back flip feature with the thumb gesture. At any time, all two and three finger gestures work easily for me. Much better than my Lenovo track pad gesturing, which requires your fingers to be aligned perfectly to do anything. I can resize and move windows around with ease, and the Microsoft Touch Mouse detects two and three fingers accurately 99.9% of the time. Finally, as for clicking, I have not had any issue with left and right clicking. Absolutely none. In fact, I rate the Microsoft ahead of the Magic Mouse on this based on my Magic Mouse right-clicking issues. I have not had any phantom scrolling, or any other issues others have reported. I will update if this does happen.
Ergonomics
This mouse is not heavy at all for me. It navigates fine, and smoothly. Unless your fingers are 1-inch stubs, I frankly do not understand the criticism about needing to move your hand to the top of the mouse for any click to register. I have not had any issues exerting extra pressure to click the mouse either. Overall, I think that the ergonomics are fine for me, based on my experiences. I am a man, and I have been told I have "heavy" hands and big hands, so perhaps this affects my review?
Overall
I think this mouse is great. Frankly, who cares if Microsoft copied Apple. As a PC user most of the time, I am happy Microsoft released a mouse that has this level of functionality in my day-to-day programs. I would not have purchased this mouse if the Magic Mouse worked on PC with gesturing...too bad for Apple I guess. As someone who has now used both the Magic Mouse and the Microsoft Touch Mouse, I think both devices have their pros and cons. They are both different devices and so both require a little practice and getting used to. In my opinion, the Microsoft Touch Mouse is very intuitive to pick-up, and once you understand it is not a Magic Mouse, and not intended work exactly like a Magic Mouse, then you can fairly evaluate the product. This mouse makes using Excel, Powerpoint, and even Internet Explorer easier. Don't let some of the bad reviews and comparisons to the Apple Magic Mouse sway you from giving the Microsoft Touch Mouse a try. I was very nervous after placing my order and reading some of the reviews, but as of now I am 100% happy with my choice. So hooray for the Apple Magic Mouse, and hooray for the Microsoft Touch Mouse. Both are great products.
UPDATE - 8/31/11
Well, I really think the mouse works well. Scrolling works fine, but I am now having an issue with my wrist. I guess I did not realize it, but the mouse is heavier than a traditional mouse, and it took awhile for it to finally affect my wrist. This afternoon and evening my wrist has been in a lot of pain (out of nowhere). I am not sure what to do now, because otherwise I love the control and the feel...
UPDATE - 9/13/11
The wrist thing only happened 8/31/11, so I have been happily using the mouse since...
| Brand | Microsoft |
|---|---|
| Item model number | 3KJ-00012 |
| Hardware Platform | PC |
| Operating System | Windows 8, Windows 7 |
| Item Weight | 12.3 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 6.26 x 3.86 x 3.15 inches |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 6.26 x 3.86 x 3.15 inches |
| Color | Cheuk (Artist) |
| Power Source | Battery Powered |
| Batteries | 2 AA batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacturer | Microsoft |
| ASIN | B005ZG0IME |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | October 25, 2011 |
