Windows touch mouse review

It's a little subtle, but you can play each video with the little blue play button on the left they look like bullet points. Instant Viewer is what you get with a three finger swipe. It looks like this. The idea is, swipe, click to task switch, and it works great, it just is a little awkward to three finger swipe. Fortunately, 4 fingers or basically the whole hand works too, so a big swipe up is much more comfortable.

Here's the part I'm having trouble getting past. Sometimes the scrolling just doesn't register. Often it registers on the second or third flick. I can't tell if this is hardware or software, but it's not cool. Maybe it's me. Things that you touch, whether they are phones, touchpads or mice should always work, every time, exactly.

I think that one of the reasons that iPhones and capacitive screens are so successful is because of their responsiveness. Early PDAs suffered from that, tap, tap, tap, react cycle. Sometimes unresponsiveness is perceived unconsciously and other times it finds its way into your conscious brain.

I suspect there is some kind of scrolling driver bug going on here as the hardware seems very reliable. I'd love to hear from someone on the team if there is a known scrolling issue. I think this is to make the mouse not be too jittery.

If it scrolled every time you moved at all, I suspect that would be irritating. That said, this should absolutely be a setting I can control. This might very well be "be design.

I want to casually touch and scroll without thinking. Perhaps even a few pixels. The illusion is broken when a touch has to be a half-flick. The scrolling also has built in inertia. If you flick it fast, it'll scroll fast and then slow down. This is nice because it feels like a tablet device where you can "throw" a browser page and it'll accelerate and decelerate in a natural way.

This "inertial scroll" could really be the killer feature if the actual first touch that starts the scroll was more reliable. I assumed that the middle area of the mouse would register as a Middle Click.

It doesn't, so this is a 2 button mouse. This is almost a deal breaker for me because I use the middle click all the time when browsing to open new tabs in the background or to close a tab without switching to it. If you rely on the middle mouse button not everyone does then be aware. You may not miss it until it's gone. This is a multitasker's mouse. If you have a great mouse that you like, should you switch? But if you are in the market for a mouse AND you are a person with MANY windows open or a person with multiple monitors I can see how the window management features would be really useful.

However, for me, I'm on the fence if this scrolling issue is a deal breaker or not. If there's an upcoming driver update that really nails the scrolling sensitivity down then I'll recommend this mouse wholeheartedly.

Until then, I think I'll alternate between this one and my trusty and wonderful Microsoft Arc Mouse, which rocks completely. Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee.

He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way. Sponsored By. About Scott Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee.

About Newsletter. Hosting By. Share on Twitter or Facebook or use the Permalink. August 03, It's a shame about the unreliable scrolling and lack of middle button. I don't think I could use a two-button mouse on my dev machine. Something like Apple's big fat PC trackpad would be a dream. Hopefully in Windows 8 touch is really a part of the OS and hardware like this can shine. Owen Pellegrin. The middle button is a bummer, but I'm sure that a software update could fix the scrolling.

It totally seems like a software thing. I'm impressed with the hardware. Scott Hanselman. If you're looking for inertia scrolling you can get the Arc Touch Mouse which has very good scrolling and inertia scrolling.

It also has three button support. We tried it with a single display, a dual monitor setup in extended desktop mode, and with an all-in-one with its own built-in touch support. The Touch Mouse worked without a problem in all cases.

The primary competitors to the Touch Mouse are the Apple Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad , and the two implementations are very different. Apple's touch devices heartily embrace touch, the Magic Trackpad in particular with its pinch-to-zoom function and its entirely touch-based navigation.

The touch input options of Microsoft's Touch Mouse are more limited, but they feel as if they complement the familiar mousing experience, rather than attempt to replace it entirely.

Conclusion Whether one approach is better than the other is moot, not least because it involves larger questions about operating system preferences we've never liked the Apple Magic Mouse in general. We expect that most Windows 7 users will find that the Microsoft Touch Mouse speeds navigation in an intuitive manner.

Regarding the heavily touch-focused Windows 8, Microsoft would only confirm that we should expect that the Touch Mouse will be compatible. Rich Brown.

We like the Microsoft Touch Mouse for its thoughtful, complementary gestures that simplify the experience of moving in and around Windows 7 applications.

Three-finger swiping lets you navigate among all currently open applications. This mouse is everything I hoped it would be; responsive, comfortable and mostly effortless to use. The three-finger zoom-out gesture is a huge improvement over Windows' awkward win-tab carousel which I've always found to be useless.

Sure, this is an expose rip off but who cares? The only one that has a bit of a learning curve is the thumb-swipe to go forward or back. Some quirks that may bother you but I can do without:-There is no middle click useful for closing tabs -When you right click you must have the left finger off of the mouse or it will register as a left click because it's all one button under the surface.

Some things that do bother me:-Some programs don't play well with scrolling, especially Adobe Air apps. Just aesthetic but still. On the hardware end, it is flawless. Feels very high-quality and the dimples on the multitouch areas increase comfort greatly. Click action is satisfying. Runs on 2 AAs- I put in two high-capacity rechargeables and will report back if battery life is an issue.

Overall, highly recommended as a complement to Windows. Makes interacting with the OS much more fluid. April 12, The best in its category. We highly recommend it. April 9, April 5, Great mouse. I like the default touch motions so much that I find myself trying use them on laptops all the time.

I love this mouse. March 17, Inadditional to the functional gesture, it still retain the precision of traditional mouse. That is Functional magic, working on most surface with Bluetrack technology. However right side near a right hander thumb is prone to accidental touch. I feel that it affect scrolling at times. So that user have a better feel when scrolling. Current surface feel too smooth.

Nevertheless it is a cool mouse to have, if it can drop its price further. From my perspective, in the this mouse defintely looks n feel way better than Apple's magic mouse. March 10, A dependable product that doesn't really stand out from the competition.

It could be a very good mouse but I prefer real buttons which has higher accuracy. The design is great but the comfort is a bit lacking. February 20, December 1, I was initially concerned about the touch accuracy based on Amazon reviews, but don't be fooled: the mouse is smooth. Scrolling responds instantly and does smooth, pixel-by-pixel movement. The gestures are easy to remember and really accurate. I've done a few I didnt mean to, but those times are few and far-between.

In theory - the best mouse can be! Some features are very cool and even useful. I'm using it for about one week and honestly can't tell that I'm happy with it. The first thought is that you can get used to it, but before that mouse I used "Magic Mouse" from Apple and can definitely say that you don't need to get used to it.

After playing with it for couple of minutes it start to feels natural to use, what I can't say about MS mouse that I still having problems with. Its build is high quality and has a strong Bluetooth connection.

Be prepared to replace batteries every six months, nor use it for long sessions. Your email address will not be published. Is this a review? No Yes. Review Headline. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly recommendations about seasonal and trending products. Reader Rating 8 Votes.