• Recommend:
• 0 Comments

Microsoft Sets Your Mouse Loose

Cordless Wheel Mouse frees the IntelliMouse scrolling wheel.

By Liane Gouthro, PCWorld   

If your mouse is tying you down, maybe it's time to check out the new Cordless Wheel Mouse from Microsoft.

The new mouse combines the freedom of a cordless mouse with the features of the IntelliMouse scrolling wheel. The scrolling wheel lets you scroll down Web pages and other applications without moving the entire mouse, just the wheel between the buttons. You can also zoom to greater magnification within certain documents and Web pages.

The mouse is expected to be available on October 1 at a retail price of $44.95.

The new Cordless Wheel Mouse also features three programmable buttons. You can reverse the right- and left-click functions, assign double-click functions to the wheel, or program the wheel to give you direct access to either the Start menu, Windows Explorer, or the Help function.

Using digital two-channel radio technology, the mouse can be operated as far as 5 feet away from its receiver, even without a clear line of sight. The receiver attaches to your PC through a round (PS/2-compatible) mouse port.

The Cordless Wheel Mouse is compatible with Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4.0. The IntelliPoint 3.0 software is included; system requirements include 25MB of hard drive space, a CD-ROM drive, and two AAA batteries.

Logitech, Microsoft's key competitor in this field, already has a similar wireless mouse product. The Cordless MouseMan Wheel offers similar features, including customizable buttons and a scrolling wheel. Logitech's product works on standard AAA batteries. The Cordless MouseMan Wheel was announced in June and has been available since July at a price of $59.95.