Your choice of mouse, keyboard, or other input device is a very personal thing. Some people love Apple mice. Others, myself included, hate Apple mice. I encourage you to take this review with however many grains of salt you like.
I love my Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000. Iive preferred trackballs over mice for years and this is the first mouse that has even come close to making me give up my beloved trackball. Itis very precise and works perfectly on the wood grain top of my desk. It has five buttons; mine are programmed as follows:
- Top Left Button: Click
- Top Right Button: Control-Click (contextual menu)
- Left Front Button: Command-[ (back command in the Finder, Safari, Apple Help, Etc.)
- Left Rear Button: Command-[ (forward command in the Finder, Safari, Apple Help, Etc.)
- Scroll Wheel Button: Option-Click (hide current application/windows)
The scroll wheel does double duty. Of course it works the usual way, for vertical scrolling. But it also lets you scroll horizontally (left to right/right to left), which is very convenient once you get used to it.
Unlike some wireless mice, the batteries in this one seem to last a good, long time. I have been using the same batteries for three or four months yet they still register as “good” in the Microsoft Intellipoint System Preference pane.
Interestingly, Microsoft implies that this mouse is for Windows only, but I canit find a single thing that doesnit work flawlessly on my Mac.
The Bottom Line
Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 6000 is a big, beefy mouse that feels custom-made for my admittedly large paw. It does everything I want my mouse to do and I will use it as my main input device until something I like better comes along.