If you've never used a wireless mouse before you'll likely find the experience a real revolution--no more wires to get tangled up in and freedom from the frustrations of having a cable that's inevitably either much too short or way too long.

The mouse itself is powered by two AA batteries, which, according to the packaging, give many users an impressive average of more than six months operation. It uses low-power radio signals to connect via a small oval receiver plugged into the computer via either USB or PS/2. We found this receiver had a range of over 10 feet and worked quite happy tucked tidily away behind the computer's monitor.

Unlike older mice, this model uses optical technology meaning that no mouse mat is required and there are no moving parts underneath to get gummed up. An optical sensor underneath the mouse (using a tiny camera to analyse movement) provides greater precision and smoother movement than was ever possible with an old-fashioned mouse ball.

Comfort and ease of use are very important with any mouse and the Microsoft Wireless Optical performs particularly well in this respect. With a sleek, ergonomic design, as pleasing to the eye as it is to the hand, the unit very quickly becomes a natural extension of your arm. Particular mention is also due to the inclusion of Microsoft's tilt wheel--a new feature that allows the scroll wheel to move from side-to-side, as well as forwards and backwards, for both horizontal and vertical scrolling. When pressed down the wheel also allows you to switch between open windows.

As with all Microsoft mice, the supplied software is very flexible and allows you to redefine exactly how the mouse behaves to suit your own requirements--a particularly useful feature for gamers. Supported operating systems for this model are Windows 2000 and XP plus Mac OS X. --Adi Himpson

Installation is no problem at all. The batteries last 4/5 months roughly, based on 4 hrs use on average each day. The annoying thing is that the red light on the mouse flashes even when not in use sometimes, which at night, is distracting.

Siganl is excellent, good even at 2 metres away, when I can use the mouse in bed as a remote when playing dvds on my laptop.

The only downside is that the scroll wheel can feel slightly loose when rolling it forwards and backwards. It is too smooth, there is no click to let you know you have scrolled one step forward/backward. That is very annoying when playing FPSs, when you can't tell if you have switched to the next/last weapon just by rolling the wheel. The wheel on my 10 generic pc mouse is better.


Do You get Tired Of Having to Clean out Your Mouse?   September 15, 2004
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Then Look No Further. The Microsoft Optical Mouse will save you heaps of time and stop that frustration of the mouse moving and the cursor stops where it is, the optical mouse has no ball to get jammed up with fluff or food or the other flotsam and jetsam that clags up a normal workstation. I would recommend this mouse to any one who is looking for clean crisp mouse action and is very comfortable to the hand.


Very good but not perfect   June 27, 2004
 18 out of 18 found this review helpful

I've recently replaced my Logitech Mouseman Optical with the red version of the Wireless Optical Mouse 2.

The main reason for replacing my previous wireless optical mouse was its bad battery life & right-hand only design. This MS mouse is symetrical & has the best feel of any mouse I've used. Being left-handed, I was more than willing to forgo the extra button the Right-handed Explorer version has. I tend to use my index finger for all buttons which is very easy with this mouse or occasionally use both index & middle finger. MS appear to have solved high battery comsumption, with a quoted 6 month life from 2 AA alkalines. I've used this mouse heavily for 2 months & the battery indicator is still showing about 80%. The response time seems fine so gamers should be happy. As has been mentioned by others, the range this mouse works over is very good & the use of mobile & DECT phones or Bluetooth devices near it causing no problems to any device.

The main new functions (to me) are to the scroll wheel which now sports left/right scrolling who's linear rate can be adjusted. This function works well in most MS apps like Office & Windows Explorer but is far too slow at panning in PaintShop Pro for example. Vertical scrolling now has adjustable acceleration as well as speed which can be disabled for linear scrolling. The only disadvantage I can think off is that vertical scrolling doesn't have any indent at all - probably by design rather than oversight due to the acceleration capability rendering indents less predictable. I would prefer the indent action to be re-introduced on future models with linear tracking at low speeds. Be careful not to set either vertical scrolling speed nor acceleration too high or you will find using so-called Spinbox controls overshoot.

MS always seem to keep the general amount of tweaking the same from version to version of their software so new functionality pushes out the old. If you hold a mouse at a skewed angle, there's no longer adjustment to correct it. Strangely, there's no adjustment of accelration of the mouse itself - just on or off but not really a major issue (now called Enhance pointer precision). The Snap To function remains which I use with Windows set to single click. The software includes a tab for wireless that shows both battery level & signal strength.

Button assignment could be better - eg, F keys are missing. I find clicking the wheel easy & have no issues on the physical useablity of using left/right scrolling. Due to vertical acceration, moving from top to bottom of web pages, documents & Explorer views far quicker with this mouse.

So not quite perfect but the best mouse this left-handed user has encountered. I have connected via USB but use the PS/2 port which is easier to bring WinXP out of Standby mode without tweaking motherboard settings or jumpers. The receiver is bigger than really needed, not particularly pretty & sports a green LED & is made of the same translucent plastic that the concave sides of the mouse have. Good construction, price & the plastic stands up to my acidic fingers without marking - almost a piece of sculpture :) The blue version of this mouse looked boring, so I waited for the red version - also available in grey for you roughy-toughy guys :)