Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse Rips Off The Magic Mouse To No Avail

John Brownlee ()

Microsoft’s Arc Touch Mouse Rips Off The Magic Mouse To No Avail

I’ve long been mystified by both Apple and Microsoft’s inability to put together a useable mouse. Consider my experiences with each company’s showcase mice. On the one hand, Microsoft’s Arc Mouse was a pleasant-to-use and attractive foldable travel mouse, which — like every wireless Microsoft mouse I’ve tried — mysteriously gave up the ghost and experienced catastrophic hardware failure within the first couple of months. On the other hand, Apple’s Magic Mouse is a reliable piece of kit, but it’s ergonomically terrible and nearly unusable for things like gaming.

If only these two mice could come together somehow. Unfortunately, what I want is the hardware reliability of Apple and the conventional feature set of Microsoft’s mice, not the other way around. Microsoft’s forthcoming Arc Touch Mouse is the latter sort of abomination, offering the Magic Mouse’s touch capability as re-imagined by one of the most inept hardware manufacturers on earth.

Even worse? Early rumors pegged Microsoft’s Arc Touch as not launching with the Magic Mouse’s robust multitouch gesture set, but being single-touch only. So what the heck’s the point? It doesn’t even look as good as the original Arc. Forget it. I’ll stick with my Magic Trackpad.

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About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in Hardware, News |

  • JDS

    What else is new? When was the last time Microshit created a product? Everything they “produce” is a rip off copied or stolen from someone else. Then the buffoon in charge of microcrap tries to cover it up. Morons.

  • IcyFog

    I can’t imagine the Magic Trackpad being good for gaming, but in my limited experience it’s awful for photo editing and layout and design. However, while I’ve only had my Magic Mouse for a week, it’s great for photos and design editing. I’m not a gamer so I can’t comment on that. Ergonomically it hasn’t affected me negatively yet.
    Lastly, Microsoft has screwed me enough in the past, so I won’t be buying anything it produces or markets, including this Arc Touch mouse.

  • http://huh.com Huh?

    Huh? The author of this article is a freaking retard. How the hell has Microsoft ‘ripped off’ Magic Mouse with this? Just because it’s a fucking mouse? You’re crazy.

  • Darcy McGee

    Arc is a pretty unique mouse, and not really a rip off of anything.

    I’ve never used one, but I’ll assume that any ergonomic comments weren’t made by an author with a photo that makes him look like a douchebag and a resume that mistakes “masturbating to” with “writing for” Playboy.

    All that dialog you made up for those playmates doesn’t actually count as writing.

  • http://www.causticmango.com caustic

    I guess it’s all very subjective. I use an expensive wirelss MS mouse at work (Laser Mouse 6000) and I find that is is too large, uncomfortable, has too many buttons, and even has connectivity glitches.

    I use a Magic Mouse at home and I feel it is the most comfortable, useful mouse I’ve ever had. It is ergonomically perfect. It is light weight, very responsive, never looses connection, and is generally a joy to use. The touch is superior to the hardware buttons and wheels on the MS mouse.

  • http://elottito.com crazyotto

    I’ve used Microsoft mice exclusively for the past 8 years with all my macs and there has never been a connectivity issue. Ergonomics are way better than any mouse Apple has ever designed (except for the Magic Mouse). Although the Magic Mouse is great at everything, it eats batteries like there is no tomorrow, even with Apple´s update, my batteries don’t last more than a month, with Microsoft mice, I had batteries last me more than 8 months.

  • John

    Let me get this straight…. you havent used the mouse, you havent even been within 100 miles of the mouse, but you are bashing it ?

    How about you stop whining like a little b$tch. all the comments above are correct in that this is completely subjective. Subjective is too nice of a word… this is completely BS. You are the essence of scum that fills the net with incorrect facts and information. Thanks for wasting all our time with yet another brainless article. Waste of a life.

  • http://www.johnsucks.com BrainFreeze

    LOL. How about this for a replacement headline “Cult of Mac author John Brownlee rips off reader’s to no avail”.

    Garbage read. Don’t quit your day job.

  • Sarah

    JDs more than likely a crApple fan and so his thoughts are invalid.
    He probably had to use an app just to think of things to type.

  • Sarah

    Oh crap, I just realized that I’m on a Mac fan site.
    I think I just died a little inside.
    Now I shall block this site so, I never get back to this site…….

  • ged

    “I’ve long been mystified by both Apple and Microsoft’s inability to put together a useable mouse.”

    I have been using Apple computers for 28 years and I have to agree that prob since 1987 or so Apple mice are not very good, mainly because Mr Jobs refused to have right click.

    In contrast, I have been using microsoft mice for at 12 years and have given them to many Mac-users who continue to use them in place of their Apple supplied mice. Almost any 5-button mircosoft mouse is better than any apple mouse.

  • John S

    I have used the Magic Mouse. Let me tell you its not Magic. But it is a pain in my hand to use. Talk about the opposite of egronomically correct. That’s the Magic mouse. But in all honesty I don’t see this new Microsoft one being much better.
    Why do companies feel the need to go outside of a design that has been proven effective? I mean the Mouse is something that has done very well in its current design. I have never found anybody complain about the basic USB Logitech/Microsoft Mice? Apple just tries to be different and sometimes its at the expense of being practical.

  • Matt

    Quality of the mouse itself aside, it’s not a rip off. Microsoft Research came up with the idea back in 2008. The Magic Mouse is a ripoff of Microsoft’s research.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_Y4JZ27OUIBMFN6JGM7SJ2Q27CQ Hacker

    “Magic Mouse rips off every other mouse on the the planet to no avail.”

    First of all, I’m confused what part of the Magic Mouse the Microsoft Arc Mouse has ripped off?
    is it the fact that it is arch shaped? Well then why would every mouse manufacturer preemptively pilfer the intellectual property of Apple by stealing the “arch shape” and test the waters of of Apple’s team of lawyers who believe they’ve invented multi-touch, the word “pod”, or an apple in general.

    Second, If the blog accepted html tags, this would be in a tag to emphasize my bashful side of this argument. Yes, as a Microsoft customer, I am highly embarrassed by their lack of hardware capability. Their Xbox 360 design is not really their crowning jewel, however their support of every known piece of hardware ever made certainly makes up for it. I mean Lamborghini isn’t the best tractor maker on the planet, but they sure make some damn good cars.

    Long story short, Microsoft made a fairly innovative mouse here (in design with a flatten=off arch=on, and functionality with haptic feedback scroll touch “wheel”) and your only response is RAWR RAWR APPLE RIPOFF! Then I’m glad that I’ve never patronized Apple.

    Enjoy your iPad2 and the new BJ app, Hope there is some nice hardware to go with that.

    P.S. not surprised you’ve written for Gizmodo.

  • Reader

    So, you didn’t even test the arc touch and yet you don’t like it? Makes a lot of sense. Did you even try the arc mouse? Maybe it’s not necessary to test anything anymore and you can just throw crap at anything. That’s the beauty of freedom: to have an opinion regardless of anything.

  • MotorMouth

    My experience is the polar opposite of that expressed in the article. I think Microsoft make better peripherals than anyone else. I have a 10 year old Intellimouse Explorer that is still going strong, a 2 year old Arc Mouse that has never given me a moment’s trouble and a new Arc Touch mouse that has so far been equally reliable. OTOH, I had a Magic Mouse for an hour before I was on the phone to IT for something that didn’t give me cramps in my hand (now using my old Arc Mouse).
    I don’t think the Arc Touch is quite as good as the original Arc Mouse in terms of ergonomics but it is still comfortable and makes up for any shortcomings by being too cool for school.

    As for any ripping off, I had a Logitech mouse with a touch-strip instead of a scroll wheel 5 years ago (it was awful). What Microsoft have come up with is an order of magnitude better than that and very different overall. Unlike the Magic Mouse, though, it retains proper left and right buttons and includes brilliant haptic feedback. The only way they are alike is that both extend the traditional functionality of a mouse but they do it in very different ways.

    One final point – anyone who would rather use a trackpad than a mouse obviously doesn’t use their computer for anything demanding and would be able to make do with any old mouse. I think trackpads are the absolute worst way to interact with a computer.

  • Anonymous

    Hah! You’re such a Mac fanboy.

    I enjoy my Macbook Pro, and I also enjoy my PC desktop. 

    Learn to write an article that isn’t biased based on brand-names, and actually review the product at hand.

    Also, Microsoft didn’t rip anything off from Apple. Oh, touch sensitivity… such a revolutionary idea that Apple must own? I mean come on.

  • Anonymous

    Hah! You’re such a Mac fanboy.

    I enjoy my Macbook Pro, and I also enjoy my PC desktop. 

    Learn to write an article that isn’t biased based on brand-names, and actually review the product at hand.

    Also, Microsoft didn’t rip anything off from Apple. Oh, touch sensitivity… such a revolutionary idea that Apple must own? I mean come on.