Tired of touch-pads, touch-screens and old-school mice? Looking for a new way to navigate through your favorite Windows operating system? Then look no further than Microsoft’s new SideWinder X3 mouse, dubbed by Microsoft as a gaming mouse.
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The SideWinder X3 contains eight buttons, 2000 dots per inch laser tracking with an on-mouse switch to alternate between high, medium and low sensitivity (for extreme mouse precision when needed, and normal tracking other times).
It has a wide glide footprint, which flares out at the bottom for additional stability during high-speed gaming mouse operations. Despite its slight right-foot shape bend, it is not available in right- and left-hand models, and Microsoft bills the unit as ambidextrous.
The scroll wheel comes with grooves for better traction, and its associated IntelliPoint software allows for mouse macros — the equivalent of mouse gestures in many software applications. Five of its buttons are also customizable through the mouse driver software. The device has an estimated lifespan of 10 million clicks. Note: If you clicked it 5 times per second continuously, that would equate to only 23.15 days of continuous use … so be careful not to wear it out!
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“Our research shows that in-game comfort continues to be the main consideration for PC gamers,” said Microsoft’s Bill Jukes, Hardware product marketing manager. “We designed this mouse to be ambidextrous and small in size, providing comfort to a wider variety of people and making it ideal for gaming as well as everyday use.”
{ad}Windows 7 will come with built-in touch-screen functionality, removing the bulk of need for a mouse when touch-screen monitors are used. However, the mouse will probably always be with us in one form or another as there are some actions which it handles expertly.
