Get blue! Microsoft Explorer Mouse

By Sean Carruthers

Until recently, even top-of-the-line optical mice haven’t worked properly on extremely uniform surfaces (a jet-black desktop) or anything reflective (a marble countertop).

Microsoft’s Explorer Mouse, which lights up the desktop with a small blue light and scans it through a re-engineered lens, has improved performance and works on more surfaces.

The result: while I still wasn’t able to get the Explorer to work on glass or mirror, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it worked just fine on surfaces that used to confuse older optical mice, such as a glossy book cover, a smooth black tabletop and, for a slightly extreme touch, the darkened screen of a flat panel monitor.

The Explorer Mouse is wireless, and the tiny USB transceiver can be stored in a slot under the mouse when not in use. The mouse comes with a single AA rechargeable battery, and at the end of the day the mouse docks on a small recharging plate.

The Explorer also comes with Intellipoint software to help users configure the mouse’s four buttons and scroll wheel for more than 30 actions (including cut and paste, Flip 3D, undo, exit program, precision booster and — my favourite — a magnification window).

As a user of multiple computers, I found one other thing especially nice: both mouse and software are compatible with Windows and Mac.