Why does a Microsoft wheel mouse require software installation ?

[wylbur37]

I was looking for a new mouse at a computer store recently.

There was a wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by Microsoft,
and the box said that software (included in the package) has to be run
to install it.

There was another wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by
Logitech, and the box said that *NO* software has to be run to install
it.

Why does the Microsoft mouse require running software for
installation and another brand does not?
(After all, it's not an optical mouse and it's not a wireless mouse).

Perhaps someone out there has purchased such a Microsoft mouse and can
tell us what the installation software does.

 

[David Hollway [MVP]]

<crossposting trimmed>

I was looking for a new mouse at a computer store recently.

There was a wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by Microsoft,
and the box said that software (included in the package) has to be run
to install it.

There was another wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by
Logitech, and the box said that *NO* software has to be run to install
it.

Why does the Microsoft mouse require running software for
installation and another brand does not?
(After all, it's not an optical mouse and it's not a wireless mouse).

Well, if it's like the various Microsoft mice I've bought in the past:

-it will work without any software being installed, regardless of whether
it's USB or PS/2 type;
-the Intellimouse software is usually there to provide additional features,
for example the ability to re-program the additional buttons.
-the "basic" buttons - left, right, centre/wheel - should work without any
software, but sometimes the software has to be installed in order for
"additional" buttons to work, for example the buttons on the sides of
certain MS mice.

Hope this helps..

 

[Skeleton Man]

Why does the Microsoft mouse require running software for

installation and another brand does not?
(After all, it's not an optical mouse and it's not a wireless mouse).

The software just allows you to configure things like scrolling speed, custom
buttons, etc.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Paul - xxx]

wylbur37 composed the following;:

I was looking for a new mouse at a computer store recently.

There was a wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by Microsoft,
and the box said that software (included in the package) has to be run
to install it.

There was another wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by
Logitech, and the box said that *NO* software has to be run to install
it.

Why does the Microsoft mouse require running software for
installation and another brand does not?
(After all, it's not an optical mouse and it's not a wireless mouse).

Perhaps someone out there has purchased such a Microsoft mouse and can
tell us what the installation software does.

The software doesn't need to be installed to use an MS wheel mouse.

The software is for enhancements, so you can make the wheel, for
instance, scroll complete pages, or change the number of lines it
scrolls etc etc

 

[Mike Scott]

wylbur37 composed the following;:



The software doesn't need to be installed to use an MS wheel mouse.

The software is for enhancements, so you can make the wheel, for
instance, scroll complete pages, or change the number of lines it
scrolls etc etc

There can be something "odd" about some mice. I've a machine that
dual-boots win98 and FreeBSD. It has an A4Tech infrared mouse, that had
s/ware to install for windows; I can't see that an infrared link (or
wireless for that matter) should affect mouse operations; it just plugs
into the usual mouse port. But the mouse works fine on windows, while
FreeBSD/X11 doesn't seem to detect mouse operations. A real pain! (Oh,
both work correctly with another mouse)

 

[soup]

wylbur37 popped their head over the parapet saw what was going on and
said

I was looking for a new mouse at a computer store recently.

There was a wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by Microsoft,
and the box said that software (included in the package) has to be run
to install it.

There was another wheel mouse (not an optical mouse) packaged by
Logitech, and the box said that *NO* software has to be run to install
it.

Why does the Microsoft mouse require running software for
installation and another brand does not?
(After all, it's not an optical mouse and it's not a wireless mouse).

Perhaps someone out there has purchased such a Microsoft mouse and can
tell us what the installation software does.

I have a Microsoft optical mouse that came with a CD
have never installed this software just plugged in the
mouse and away it went there are options to change
how much the wheel scrolls,what the mouse pointer
looks like, whether the butons are reversed etc.in in
the mouse section of control panel (WinXP home).

 

[Skeleton Man]

There can be something "odd" about some mice. I've a machine that

dual-boots win98 and FreeBSD. It has an A4Tech infrared mouse, that had
s/ware to install for windows; I can't see that an infrared link (or
wireless for that matter) should affect mouse operations; it just plugs
into the usual mouse port. But the mouse works fine on windows, while
FreeBSD/X11 doesn't seem to detect mouse operations. A real pain! (Oh,
both work correctly with another mouse)

I've seen that myself.. had just a plain old PS/2 mouse which worked fine under
windows, but went crazy under FreeBSD !

Regards,
Chris