I have for the last few weeks had the pleasure of using the Microsoft Touch Mouse. One thing that is worth to note about this mouse is that it is specifically designed for Windows 7. If you are a Mac user there are better alternatives out there for you. After testing it with Windows XP I could say that that it is somewhat supported. Though the only supported scrolling is center scrolling.

What is in the package

Included in the box with the Touch Mouse are two AA alkaline batteries, the USB receiver and a USB extension cord for anyone using this mouse with a large computer tower and for some reason you can’t just use the USB receiver by itself.

Setting it up

Setting up the Microsoft Touch Mouse is a straight forward process. This is the part of the process where you get the mouse to work with your computer. It’s a plug and play operation where I connected the reciever to an empty USB port on the back of computer, where a message popped up saying that new hardware is ready to be installed. According to the user manual there is supposed to be an auto prompt that tells me that I have need to download new drivers. Unfortunately that one did not pop up for me. Instead I had to head to the Microsoft Software Downloads and download the drivers that I needed. This was done in a matter of seconds.

Using it

After I started using the mouse I noticed that I had to read the manual to fully understand the different gestures. Some of these gestures I found  to be really intuitive, everything went really smothly. I really recommend that you read the user manual if you decide to get this mouse.  With the USB reciever the mouse can work up to 10 feet range. This gives users the extra flexibility when they are using it in different scenarios, e.g. presentations.

Conclusion

This is a great mouse and it really feels like Microsofts response to Apples Magic Mouse.  If you are using the different multitouch gestures you will not be dissapointed with this mouse.