Over the past couple of years, there have been a lot of mice released by Microsoft that seem to be tailored towards using touch gestures. These gestures are a big part of Windows 8, which when complimented by the Touch Mouse adds a very welcome productivity boost. How much you ask? Is it worth the price tag? Let’s find out.
Pros
- Feels very nice in the hand.
- Solid, well-built construction.
- Gestures make Windows 8 much easier to navigate.
- BlueTrack technology allows tracking on almost any surface.
Cons
- Gestures require an additional software download.
- Limited hardware buttons.
- Not as useful on older versions of Windows.
- Scrolling can be erratic.
UNBOXING the Microsoft touch mouse
They say "don’t judge a book by its cover", but with packaging of such high quality it's hard not to do just that with Microsoft's Touch Mouse. You will find no vacuum-packed plastic demanding your biggest pair of scissors and the force of a crocodile's jaw to cut it open, instead what you get is an elegant box with a sticky seal the size of a two pence. Once the seal is broken, the box opens along a hinge down the centre to reveal the Touch Mouse in all its glory.
The box has a very clean look, borrowing shamelessly from Apple’s minimalist design, and puts all focus and emphasis on the device itself. Removing the Touch Mouse from the tray reveals a compartment underneath where you can find the USB receiver extension wire and the device's manual. The actual USB receiver fits in a slot on the underside of the mouse making it very handy for travel, and the mouse comes with two double AA batteries already installed.
DESIGN
One of the first things you notice about the Touch Mouse when you pick it up is the weight – it seems perfect. While this is very subjective to the user, almost every Agent who has picked it up has commented on how the weight feels just right for them. The weight is quoted as 80g without batteries, so adding on another 30-60g depending on the batteries you put it, it sits somewhere between 110g – 140g.
The shape of the Touch Mouse follows Microsoft’s ergonomic push and its size is very average, at 62mm wide and 120mm long it will fit neatly into almost anyone's palm. It’s also ambidextrous, a neat touch that seems missing from a lot of other high-end mice with most of them designed purely to be used in a right-handed fashion.
Immediately upon using the mouse you’ll notice its smooth finish on top, most of which is taken up by a one-piece multi-touch surface. You can easily tell apart the touch sensitive area as it is marked by a map of dots and crosses . It’s a very nice design, and is definitely stylised after the capacitive sensors underneath it that do all the multi-touch detection.
There are only two buttons, split in the middle by what I assumed to be a small dedicated scrolling zone though in testing I found that the entire top surface can be used for scrolling, so it seems to be more of visual cue between the right and left click buttons. Other than that, all control is done through the gestures so if you’re looking to replace your 8-button gaming mouse I’d suggest looking elsewhere! There is also a very small LED on the top of the mouse that lights up to indicate if the batteries are running low, and a Microsoft logo adorning the heel. The underside is where you’ll find the small compartment for snugly housing the USB receiver as well as the on/off switch. You’ll also see the BlueTrack sensor and the mouse’s two feet – one at the front and one at the back with both stretching the width of the mouse.
Overall, the mouse has a very sturdy feel and seems like it could withstand the heavy demands of an everyday mouse. It's well-constructed and the plastic material does not feel flimsy or likely to break easily.
HARDWARE
The multi-touch surface natively supports four different types of gesture:-
- Using one finger for scrolling.
- Two fingers for switching apps and using the charms menu.
- Three fingers can be used for zooming.
- Thumb Gestures, which can be used for navigating back and forward.
It is possible that third party software could add to this feature set, but I found the inbuilt software to be just enough for a good amount of productivity. One quite major problem I found is that the mouse would often detect even the slightest movement or adjustment of finger position as an attempt to scroll. This is particularly annoying if you do a lot of clicking as it has a tendency to start scrolling through the page when you attempt to click on something. Whether this is a hardware problem such as over-sensitivity or something that can be resolved through a software update remains to be seen, but my hope is on the latter as this is a major annoyance and detrimental to productivity.
The tracking uses a proprietary technology developed by Microsoft called BlueTrack. This type of tracking is becoming quite commonplace on Microsoft’s mice and is designed to allow tracking on virtually any surface, including tables, carpet and even trouser legs. This is a vast improvement over older optical and even some laser mice that were simply unable to work on uneven or patterned surfaces. BlueTrack still can't operate properly on glass or mirrors, but should work on any other type of surface you can think of.
As for powering the mouse there is no in-built charging option here, so some double AA batteries are your only option for powering the device. Strangely, Microsoft do not give details on how long the batteries are expected to last however with the included Duracells I got around five months of use before having to replace them, which is not too bad. The only way to save battery life is to manually power off the device using the switch underneath. While this is OK, I would have also liked something similar to Logitech’s 'Smart Sleep' or Microsoft’s 'Backpack' mode that detects when the computer isn’t being used and puts the mouse to sleep. Manually turning off the mouse isn't too much of a problem but I constantly forget to switch the Touch Mouse off, which does cut heavily in to the battery life.
The mouse connects to your computer via a USB receiver which can be plugged into any available USB port. It appears to your computer as a standard mouse so you can begin to use it straight away in its basic form . The receiver is very small, only protruding about 7-10mm from the PC, which is ideal if you want to leave it plugged into a laptop when transporting it around. If you use it a desktop PC, then Microsoft also provide an extension cord. This is useful as it means the actual receiver can be strategically placed on top of your desk for the best signal range, while the extension goes into the back of your computer.
SOFTWARE
In order to use everything this mouse has to offer, you need to download the Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center. This already rules out the mouse’s usefulness on OS X, as the software is for Windows only. Without the accompanying software you only have the option of left click, right click and scrolling. On an ordinary mouse this would be ok, but this is a £69.99 mouse, so being limited to very basic functionality is not a very good option! If you did have an idea to replace your Apple Magic Mouse with the Touch Mouse on your Mac, I’d very much recommend against it. We can’t be too harsh on Microsoft for not releasing OS X compatible software though; after all Apple doesn’t provide software for their Magic Mouse to be used on Windows either, the only way is through Bootcamp which again limits you to left click, right click and scrolling.
So to get the best from it, you’ll want to be using a Windows machine. The software is compatible with Windows 7 and Windows 8, and you’ll get different features depending on which you use it with. With Windows 7, most features are geared towards window management. You can use two fingers to snap two windows side by side, minimise or maximise, or use three fingers to open a view similar to Apple's Exposé where you can see all of your open applications on screen at once. While these gestures are useful they are not quite as smooth as I would like, and I honestly didn’t find myself using them very often.
With Windows 8 however, the gestures do come in a lot handier. The gestures you can use with Windows 8 are pretty much a replacement for the gestures you would get if you were running Windows 8 with a touch screen. These include revealing the Charms Bar by sliding two fingers right-to-left, app switching by swiping two fingers left-to-right and revealing app commands by sliding forward or hiding them by sliding back. You can also zoom in by using three fingers and lastly use your thumb to go back and forth in your browser.
There’s a big difference between the Windows 7 and 8 gestures. Windows 7 simply allow Window management and nothing more. With Windows 8 however, they actually make the entire OS much easier and quicker to use. If you’ve tried to use Windows 8 without a touch screen, you will know that accessing the features above can sometimes be a little frustrating. With Charms, you have to move the mouse into the top or bottom right corner, then slide it up. App commands require you to right click on an empty area on the screen, and app switching requires moving the mouse to the top left corner and click to switch through apps. All of these, while not being hard, can be cumbersome and when you’re trying to do them quickly can end up being a hindrance. All of this is made a lot easier with the Touch Mouse.
I had hoped that Microsoft could make this mouse work seamlessly with Windows 8 seeing as it uses the existing in-built Windows 8 gestures rather than adding gestures like it does with Windows 7. Unfortunately this is not the case; the software is still needed as an additional download which means there is a small delay upon booting whilst the necessary software is loaded. While this again isn’t too much of an issue, the fact that the gestures aren’t ready and working the instant you start up your PC is a little disappointing.
WHAT’S IT UP AGAINST?
The most obvious comparison to the Touch Mouse is Apple’s own Magic Mouse, but seeing as these are for differing operating systems and they can’t be used fully outside their native OS, it’s very hard to compare. It may be better to describe them as equivalents, they’re both very useful and provide a lot of gesture-based productivity to their respective OS, and so as long as the Touch Mouse is used with Windows 8 you’ll certainly get the most from it.
On Windows the nearest competition is most likely to be the Logitech T620, which takes a very similar approach to the Magic Mouse in that the entire top surface is a glossy, touch sensitive area. Construction wise, it is very flat like the Magic Mouse so may not suit all hands, and the glossy capacitive surface means it’s quite slippery whereas the Touch Mouse’s design on top actually adds a slight amount of friction, giving a better feel and tactile feedback. The T620 still needs a download of Logitech’s software to run so when it comes to choosing between the two, the main difference would be in how the mouse feels in your hand.
WHO IS THE MOUSE FOR?
As we’ve established, if you have a Mac, you’re better off sticking to the Magic Mouse/Trackpad or a mouse that fully supports OS X. On Windows 7, you get some added functions, but they’re only useful if you already use window management a lot. With Windows 8 however, gestures are an integral part of using the OS and these are made much easier with the Touch Mouse, as a simple swipe is much quicker and easier than moving the mouse to the corners of the screen and can be done without breaking your work flow.
Verdict
The Touch Mouse is a perfect companion for Windows 8 as it makes the operating system's gestures easier to use, which in turn makes the entire OS more joyous to use. The construction is spot on, it feels great to hold, and seems perfectly weighted. However it is let down by perhaps an oversensitive surface which often mistakes touches for scrolling, and this can become quite bothersome after a while. Overall though, a few niggles do not take much away from a pretty decent mouse experience.