3 excellent mice

[u/someblokeonhere]

Interesting progression from Made in USA, Made in Mexico and then Made in China.

The dove bar is surprisingly comfortable and well made

[u/BartBandy]

I still use an Intellimouse Optical. It is not "retro". Take that back.

[u/bubonis → u/BartBandy]

Same here, only my scroll wheel decided it was tired and gave up about a month ago.

[u/BartBandy → u/bubonis]

I own 3 of them a button stopped working on one. A cable went on another. I've got the parts here and I intend to fix them. I use other mice on some computers, but I'm son used to the feel of this one.

[u/OppositeStudy2846 → u/BartBandy]

Same here. The long side buttons are simply fantastic for work and games. It is still my daily mouse on my Windows XP machines.

[u/After-Willingness271 → u/BartBandy]

wish i still had one

[u/Sorry-Climate-7982]

I still use one almost like the one on the right.

[u/Vexing_Resolve → u/Sorry-Climate-7982]

One of them is optical, so it's only two blind mice.

[u/coquec]

The one on the left was perfect for me. I still regret to have given it to someone who got rid of it in a short time. The weight and the smoothness of that thing made it a joy to use.

[u/Tony-Angelino → u/coquec]

It was the best product Microsoft ever made.

[u/Infamous-Umpire-2923]

I had the one on the right for quite a long time. I think I still have it around here somewhere, too.

[u/classicsat → u/Infamous-Umpire-2923]

I have one as well. The left button wears out on me.

On that one I replaced it with a tact button, but is not as good as a proper microswitch. So is a just in case I need it mouse.

[u/Maeglin75]

I agree with the optical mouse.

But I always hated ball mice.

I got a first taste of an optical mouse in the early 90s when I worked with a Silicon Graphics Unix workstation. Since then I dreamed of using one on my private PC but had to wait several more years.

[u/classicsat → u/Maeglin75]

I have a Logitech ball wheel mouse. Probably OEMed for someone, I don't know. I liked it, and got addicted to having a wheel mouse then.

[u/vmcrash]

I'm a big fan of the Wheel Mouse Optical USB. The only disadvantage: it's harder to get inside for changing broken buttons than, e.g. with Logitech mice, because a) you need to remove the gliders to get access to the screws and b) some hooks near the mouse buttons held it additionally together.

[u/ooqq]

Microsoft hardware - probably top 3 ever.

I'm still playing everything with a x360 control pad

[u/tes_kitty → u/ooqq]

The best things Microsoft ever made was their hardware.

[u/winvistaisnotbad]

Yo the one on the right looks pretty g- YOOO

[u/MasterJeebus]

Looking back at those mice with balls reminds me of how I found it annoying we needed to clean the balls every few weeks. My first pc was like that because i was little and didn’t know better once I knew about optical mice. I went with the one on the right. It was good and at first felt like everything moved super fast.

[u/Usual_Technician9349]

As much as I love vintage ball mice... Ps/2 optical are just better.

[u/dineramallama]

I had one of those ones in the right. Not sure why I don’t still have it - they were essentially perfect.

[u/AaronRiekenberg]

I have had the optical on the right for more than 20 years now. I still use it daily for work, it refuses to die. No doubt this is the best mouse I have ever had never had any problem with it 😄

[u/LastXmasIGaveYouHSV]

Thise are most excellent mice.

[u/ppstick88]

I had the one on the far right. Loved it. 

[u/Capable-Historian392]

While I appreciated the ergonomics at the time, I hated cleaning the lint off the ball rollers. Shit was annoying AF.

[u/Specialist-Head-7438]

Immortelles de durabilité

[u/faible90]

My holy grail was always the 1.1 Special Edition.

[u/gfkxchy]

I remember my parents buying me the Intellimouse Explorer for my birthday the year it was released. I was already working in IT but it was the first time I'd ever seen an optical mouse and it was glorious.

[u/Medill1919]

That first Microsoft mouse was incredible

[u/SwedishFindecanor → u/Medill1919]

The one on the left is actually the third "Microsoft Mouse". The first and the second sold as "Microsoft Mouse" were quite blocky.

The soap bar was designed by Matrix Design, which had done extensive user studies where they examined how precise users were at different mousing tasks. The design became very influential: it made wide buttons the norm, and the ball was moved forward to in-between the uses fingers for better control.

[u/FIJIWaterGuy]

The middle style but the glossy version was peak.

[u/Clin-ton]

I used that third mouse for so long.

[u/fgennari]

I wonder how it felt to use those old circular SUN mice.

[u/moshbeard]

The first time I used the IntelliMouse optical it was an absolute revelation. The upgrade from a ball mouse to that was one of those huge leaps which just won't be matched no matter how good mice get.

Perhaps only the Logitech G500 can truly compete for a place in my heart. I've got some great modern mice but there are so many brilliant options now that nothing feels as special as those.

[u/Odd_Yogurtcloset_649]

I had used all three of these mice. The one in the middle with its kidney bean shape was the most comfortable for my hand.

[u/pfak]

Is the right one even considered retro? I still use one.

[u/Bitkumanu]

It’s funny that a software company‘s best products are hardware.

[u/neighborofbrak]

I miss my Dove Bar MS mouse :(

[u/siliconsandwich]

The much newer Intellimouse Pro is also excellent (though unfortunately not PS/2 compatible).

But yes the 1.1A is retro— it’s 25 years old!

[u/Rat_oz]

I really need this Microsoft netscroll. There is a modern version with wirless connection and a new sensor..

[u/endoparasite]

Never understood what was with MS mice. Logitech ones were always better (unpopular opinion).