Let’s imagine Microsoft two years ago, gazing longingly at Apple’s just-released Magic Mouse and wondering how Microsoft might jump into the buttonless mouse game. Cut to the present day, and the Redmond giant has released Touchmouse, specifically created for Windows 7. How does it measure up? We have one in our hands and put it through its paces.
After plugging in Touchmouse’s thumbnail-sized wireless dongle and inserting its batteries, it was ready to go, its software installed automatically. Following a beautifully produced introductory practice session, in a few minutes I had learned the intuitive multi-touch gestures that make Touchmouse work.
It’s so easy to use, there’s hardly anything to learn. Swipe down with three fingers, and all your windows are minimized; do the opposite and they’re all laid out so you can choose one. Swipe down with two fingers and the window you’re working on is minimized, and vice versa. You can also scroll left or right, say, on an Excel spreadsheet, by moving your finger in the direction desired.
An elegant addition: When you perform any of these multi-touch swipe moves, they’re accompanied by an attractive mini-animation next to your cursor, showing little blue representations of your fingertips moving, complete with misty blue trails that fade away. It’s a hint of how well-integrated the drivers are with Windows 7.
Those gestures are all useful, but the Touchmouse’s best trick is its scrolling, giving you iPhone-like smooth slides up and down long webpages. You can smoothly scroll in tiny precision increments, and with a quick flick of one finger, zip through multiple pages in an instant. This is as good as scroll control gets.
The hardest thing for me to get used to was clicking on the left or right mouse areas without any actual buttons involved. When you click with this Touchmouse, the entire front of the mouse leans forward. It feels slightly awkward at first, but I noticed that awkward feeling going away after a few minutes.
Easier to get used to are the thumb gestures, where a quick swipe of your thumb toward the right jumps forward on a webpage (or does whatever you’d like to configure it to do), and a similar gesture toward the left with your thumb can let you jump backward to a previous page. This can be configured for lefties, too. If your thumb naturally wanders around your mouse from time to time, you might have slight difficulty with accidental activations of this, but that was not a big issue for me.
Perhaps the most important attribute of the Touchmouse is the way it feels in your hand. Accustomed to Logitech devices that are designed to be a bit taller in the palm, I think this low-slung Microsoft mouse is just the right shape. Microsoft is a longtime expert in mouse ergonomics, and continues its tradition with this product. However, all hands are different, so I’d suggest putting your mitts on one in the real world before you commit to spending your hard-earned $67.
Finally, just look at the mysterious sculptural allure of the Microsoft Touchmouse. Its beauty goes much more than skin deep. Unlike Apple’s Magic Mouse, the magic in Microsoft’s Touchmouse is embodied in how perfectly it fits your hand and how well its gestural software works with Windows 7. Its aesthetics are a matter of taste, but I found its voluptuous shape and the embossed “X” motif of its sensor area quite captivating. Take a look at our gallery below and see if you agree:
No Buttons
The small X markers are slightly raised, showing you where the sensor area is.
Blue Track
It works on a variety of surfaces.
Front View
The dividing line shows you where the border is between left-click and right-click.
Rear View
The Microsoft logo is appropriately unobtrusive.
Ambidextrous Shape
Configurable for left- or right-handed users
Ergonomic Profile
This turns out to be the perfect shape for a mouse in my hand -- your results may vary.
More About: microsoft, review, touchmouse, trendingFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:51:44 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/tvE7_SRiyS8/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/13/microsoft-touchmouse-revie/#comments
After plugging in Touchmouse’s thumbnail-sized wireless dongle and inserting its batteries, it was ready to go, its software installed automatically. Following a beautifully produced introductory practice session, in a few minutes I had learned the intuitive multi-touch gestures that make Touchmouse work.
It’s so easy to use, there’s hardly anything to learn. Swipe down with three fingers, and all your windows are minimized; do the opposite and they’re all laid out so you can choose one. Swipe down with two fingers and the window you’re working on is minimized, and vice versa. You can also scroll left or right, say, on an Excel spreadsheet, by moving your finger in the direction desired.
An elegant addition: When you perform any of these multi-touch swipe moves, they’re accompanied by an attractive mini-animation next to your cursor, showing little blue representations of your fingertips moving, complete with misty blue trails that fade away. It’s a hint of how well-integrated the drivers are with Windows 7.
Those gestures are all useful, but the Touchmouse’s best trick is its scrolling, giving you iPhone-like smooth slides up and down long webpages. You can smoothly scroll in tiny precision increments, and with a quick flick of one finger, zip through multiple pages in an instant. This is as good as scroll control gets.
The hardest thing for me to get used to was clicking on the left or right mouse areas without any actual buttons involved. When you click with this Touchmouse, the entire front of the mouse leans forward. It feels slightly awkward at first, but I noticed that awkward feeling going away after a few minutes.
Easier to get used to are the thumb gestures, where a quick swipe of your thumb toward the right jumps forward on a webpage (or does whatever you’d like to configure it to do), and a similar gesture toward the left with your thumb can let you jump backward to a previous page. This can be configured for lefties, too. If your thumb naturally wanders around your mouse from time to time, you might have slight difficulty with accidental activations of this, but that was not a big issue for me.
Perhaps the most important attribute of the Touchmouse is the way it feels in your hand. Accustomed to Logitech devices that are designed to be a bit taller in the palm, I think this low-slung Microsoft mouse is just the right shape. Microsoft is a longtime expert in mouse ergonomics, and continues its tradition with this product. However, all hands are different, so I’d suggest putting your mitts on one in the real world before you commit to spending your hard-earned $67.
Finally, just look at the mysterious sculptural allure of the Microsoft Touchmouse. Its beauty goes much more than skin deep. Unlike Apple’s Magic Mouse, the magic in Microsoft’s Touchmouse is embodied in how perfectly it fits your hand and how well its gestural software works with Windows 7. Its aesthetics are a matter of taste, but I found its voluptuous shape and the embossed “X” motif of its sensor area quite captivating. Take a look at our gallery below and see if you agree:
No Buttons
The small X markers are slightly raised, showing you where the sensor area is.
Blue Track
It works on a variety of surfaces.
Front View
The dividing line shows you where the border is between left-click and right-click.
Rear View
The Microsoft logo is appropriately unobtrusive.
Ambidextrous Shape
Configurable for left- or right-handed users
Ergonomic Profile
This turns out to be the perfect shape for a mouse in my hand -- your results may vary.
More About: microsoft, review, touchmouse, trendingFor more Tech & Gadgets coverage:Follow Mashable Tech & Gadgets on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech & Gadgets channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:51:44 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/tvE7_SRiyS8/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/13/microsoft-touchmouse-revie/#comments