News - Microsoft reveals mice with Windows 8 Start Buttons built-in

[HEXUS]

Do you need a Windows key grafted onto your mouse?

Read more.

[Roobubba]

Let me get this straight, instead of a software start button, they're proposing instead that we should have hardware buttons on our mouse to do the same thing?

Yeah, I still haven't tried win8 and am not inclined to now I hear about this kind of ridiculous thing... I'll stick with Win7 until my favourite games are ported to Linux, thanks very much.

[cameronlite]

Roobubba, the start screen really isn't a big deal. It's so much faster to use than the start menu. Seriously, try it for a few days - bigger squares are significantly faster to click than menu items.

The mouse offers some interesting features - it's obviously not intended to be a 'fix' for Windows 8.

[simonpreston]

Yeah, I still haven't tried win8 and am not inclined to now I hear about this kind of ridiculous thing... I'll stick with Win7 until my favourite games are ported to Linux, thanks very much.

A slight OTT reaction I feel. The Start button gets heavy usage from me on a daily basis. I either move the mouse over to its location or hit the start key on the keyboard. This mouse option would get me to what I need faster.

[crossy]

Let me get this straight, instead of a software start button, they're proposing instead that we should have hardware buttons on our mouse to do the same thing?

Cynic!

Mouse looks quite nice, although they could have made it a little more appealing by putting a second touch/swipe pad on the other side for left-handed folks. Quite like the combination of touch and swipe - seems like a positive innovation.

Although - personally speaking - I'm more than happy with my current Logitech combination. Plus I'm banned from using Bluetooth mice and keyboards (for security reasons).

Like Roo' I'm looking at the possibilities in Linux gaming, then I could ditch my one remaining Windows PC.

[Tunnah]

i use toolbars for quick links to drives apps and games on my taskbar, as i rarely if ever see my desktop - browser, email, whatever app is always fullscreened so the thought of having to minimise everything just to start something else sounds like a ballache

I'll stick to my nicely arranged toolbars

[cameronlite]

i use toolbars for quick links to drives apps and games on my taskbar, as i rarely if ever see my desktop - browser, email, whatever app is always fullscreened so the thought of having to minimise everything just to start something else sounds like a ballache

I'll stick to my nicely arranged toolbars

Are you saying in Windows 8, you have to minimise all your programs to get to the start screen?

[aidanjt]

No. No I don't. I really don't. What on Earth are they thinking? The natural place for a hardware window button is on the keyboard. Especially these days since most of my start menu interaction is by typing what I'm after.

[OilSheikh]

Can we also have a button for Clippit ? One for the FlipWindows feature in Vista ?

[Omabytes]

@ Roobubba They've already said the start button will be coming back (which as said previously isn't really necessary, it's perfectly easy to use). You say you haven't even tried it, yet give such a highly opinionated view, how about trying something before you slate it?
On another note, as a gamer I won't be getting the mouse, but I can see that it may be useful for people using this for working.

[Roobubba]

@ Roobubba They've already said the start button will be coming back (which as said previously isn't really necessary, it's perfectly easy to use). You say you haven't even tried it, yet give such a highly opinionated view, how about trying something before you slate it?
On another note, as a gamer I won't be getting the mouse, but I can see that it may be useful for people using this for working.

I have no need to spend mt time trying it, or money buying it! Largely because I already bought Win7, which works just fine and gives me everything I need at home. There is no need to spend money on windows 8, none of whose features gives me anything I don't have already.

Besides, I intend to minimise any further spending on microsoft (I'm really hoping Natural Selection 2 gets ported over to Linux soon!), after their recent smear ads of google and Apple. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending google or apple - google is the horrendous big brother nightmare company, and apple is a tight-fisted litigating cretin-fest who make substandard hardware and price it ridiculously high (I have to use Macs at work, and they are universally crap, slower, and massively more expensive compared to my home built PCs running *nix/win7).
I think any kind of smear advertising is wrong, as my local MP found out when they ran a similar thing a couple of elections ago.

I'm really coming round to the idea of fully open-source computing these days!

[McEwin]

My girlfriend got a laptop with Windows 8 no it. She had a couple of problems with connecting to networks and the like. It took me more time trying to find out how to get to the relevant windows settings than actually fixing the problem. In time I might get used to it but right now I want nothing to do with it - it's just badly done.

[Pleiades]

I've got used to Win 8 now and it's (mostly) fine in my experience; and that experience includes absolutely no use whatsoever of Modern UI so far (when Leap Motion comes along that might change)...

OTOH I'm glad they've included BluTack as it will stick securely to all surfaces (not sure about mud tho).

[NitrousX]

Gotta say those mice looks nice, i wouldn't mind buying one if i did'nt have a decent mouse already. At least the start button is more accessible on the mice though

[Neostar]

meh

I think a gaming mouse like the ShogunBros Ballista MK-1 is soo much better

[zap117]

*rebinds deathadder side key to windows button.* I made the Microsoft mouse!