我从来都不是触控板的粉丝。我想找一个好鼠标连接到我的上网本上，这样我就可以关闭触控板并安静地打字(trackpad and type)。我一直在尝试使用Microsoft 鼠标(Microsoft mice)（计算机鼠标(computer mouse)的复数形式是“mice”还是“mouses”或什么？），这是关于寻找完美鼠标的系列文章中的第一篇。首先(First)，我决定试用Microsoft Wedge 触控鼠标(Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse)，它看起来既是上网本的好、紧凑的伴侣，也是我的台式PC 和 Mac Mini(PC and Mac Mini)的好通用鼠标。它达到了我的期望吗？让我们(Let)来了解一下。
芝麻开门 -包装和规格(Packaging and specifications)
首先让我说我对输入设备非常挑剔。大约 20 年前，我做了手术，切除了右手食指上的(index finger)骨刺(bone spur)，外科医生告诉我在它愈合期间尽可能少用那只手。即使在那时我也是一个网络成瘾者，所以我愚蠢地尝试只用那只手的外侧两个(outer two)手指打字，并且在我使用电脑时不得不戴上护腕之后永远。(wrist brace)这些年来，我花了很多时间检查各种设备（鼠标、轨迹球，最后是Wacom Bamboo数位板），试图找到一种可以长时间使用而不会感到痛苦的设备。所以我特别有兴趣看看Wedge Touch Mouse我用起来会很舒服。
由于上网本和我的台式电脑没有蓝牙功能(Bluetooth capability)，我得到了一个Kinivo BTD-400 蓝牙 4.0 USB 适配器(Kinivo BTD-400 Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter)。这个小设备是我开始所需要的。
我将适配器插入上网本，它立即被识别。设置(Setup)很简单。上网本上的Windows 8(Windows 8)和后来的台式 PC 上的Windows 7都自动下载并安装了驱动程序。
然后是时候设置并试用Wedge Touch Mouse了。这是一个很好的拆箱视频(unboxing video)，如果您想了解更多关于您会在其包装内找到的内容。
这是微软(Microsoft)的官方页面，包含详细信息、规格和定价(specs and pricing)：Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse。
使用Microsoft Wedge Touch(Microsoft Wedge Touch)鼠标悬停 Windows 8
首先，我打开鼠标，只需将其反转并按下电源/连接按钮即可。然后，按照说明，我按住按钮几秒钟。当鼠标上的灯开始闪烁时，我转到控制面板(Control Panel)并选择添加设备和打印机(Add Devices and Printers)。上网本只花了几秒钟就注意到鼠标正试图引起它的注意，又过了几秒钟，它才将Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse显示为要添加的设备。
我告诉它继续。从那里安装非常顺利，突然之间鼠标就可以使用了。
Wedge Touch Mouse的一大优点是你可以用手指在它的表面滑动来告诉它滚动。不幸的是，这并没有像我想象的那样工作。我以为我可以向右或向左滑动手指来滚动开始屏幕(Start screen)，但是当我尝试这样做时，什么也没发生。
鼠标光滑的顶面可以像普通鼠标按钮(mouse button)一样按下鼠标左键或右键(left or right)，所以我点击了Search超级按钮，选择Settings，然后搜索Mouse。这带来了“易用性”(Ease of Use)面板，这并不是我想要的。
在该窗口的底部，我看到了Mouse Properties，这就是我找到所需设置的地方。即使它显示为PS/2 mouse（他们甚至不再制造这些鼠标了吗？）应用于Wedge Touch Mouse的设置。
鼠标随附的启动指南(startup guide)指示我下载Microsoft Device Center软件以完全控制鼠标。这原来是鼠标和键盘控制中心(Mouse and Keyboard Control Center)。在我的 Windows 7 计算机上我对此印象不深，所以一开始我选择不在上网本上安装它，我发现没有它我可以配置Wedge Touch Mouse以满足我的喜好。但是，我无法让它横向滚动开始屏幕(Start screen)，即使在触控板上向右滑动手指也可以很好地滚动屏幕。
但是，由于Microsoft建议安装鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)，因此尽管在我之前的使用体验后有疑虑，但我还是安装了它。疑虑被证明是正确的，因为发生的第一件事是我失去了与Wedge Touch Mouse的连接。重新启动计算机并按下鼠标上的连接(Connect)按钮没有帮助，而且微软(Microsoft)提供的故障排除链接也没有给出Windows 8的具体建议，所以我只能靠自己了。
我通过设备管理器(Device Manager)删除了鼠标，让Windows 8搜索并重新安装它。之后它就起作用了——但正如我在Windows 7部分中详述的那样，只有最基本的命令可用，我根本无法更改加速。安装后我发现的唯一优点是我可以正确滚动开始屏幕(Start screen)。
这一切都很烦人，至少可以这么说。就我而言，鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)是在浪费安装时间(installation time)，至少对于Wedge Touch Mouse而言。它有一个漂亮的图形界面，但远不如Windows 8 内置鼠标配置工具(built-in mouse configuration tool)有用。而且一旦安装了鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)，我就再也找不到以前使用的简单配置窗口了。更糟糕的是，触控板驱动程序(trackpad driver)消失了，当我断开鼠标连接时，我无法配置触控板。显然我对安装(Clearly)鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)的疑虑有充分的根据。
定制冒险（适用于所有计算机）
鼠标没有中键(click button)，不放弃左键或右键的功能就无法(click button)仿效(left or right) 。如果您广泛使用此按钮，这可能不适合您。同时按下左右按钮没有任何作用，这可能会降低鼠标对某些人的用处（例如，某些游戏需要您同时按下两个按钮才能执行某些操作）。
尽管在安装过程中很烦人，但一旦我控制了它，鼠标就可以流畅地响应并轻松滑过我的桌子。能够用手指轻轻触摸滚动是一个真正的好处，并且能够“轻弹”以获得快速和连续的滚动非常棒。如果没有鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)的烦恼，它似乎真的是上网本的理想伴侣。鼠标与计算机配对后，它会在计算机开启时自动显示。无需再次按下连接按钮。
唯一的另一个缺点是很快我就必须使用腕托(wrist rest)，这样我的手才能保持在更舒适的位置。这对每个人来说可能都不是真的，所以我不会为此降级鼠标。
使用Microsoft Wedge Touch(Microsoft Wedge Touch)鼠标悬停 Windows 7
蓝牙设备(Bluetooth device)和鼠标的安装在我运行Windows 7的台式计算机上几乎相同。在这里，我从“开始”菜单单击“(Start Menu)控制面板(Control Panel)” ，然后单击“硬件和声音(Hardware and Sound)”，然后单击“添加设备(Add a Device)” 。
虽然鼠标运行顺畅，但它并没有像我想要的那样加速。鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)没有帮助。我可以更改双击速度设置，并且可以更改一些特定于应用程序的设置（我不需要这样做，因为我尝试使用鼠标的所有应用程序都可以正常工作）但找不到更改加速度的方法.
双击鼠标在桌面上间歇性地工作，在(Desktop)任务(Taskbar)栏中根本不起作用。它在Google Chrome和Microsoft Word 2003等应用程序中运行良好。我尝试调整双击速度，但这并没有解决问题。我不知道这是硬件还是软件问题(hardware or software problem)，但除非我能让它工作，否则鼠标在Windows 7 台式计算机(desktop computer)上对我的用处不大。
使用Microsoft Wedge Touch鼠标操作OS X Mountain Lion
Mac Mini带有蓝牙(Bluetooth)，因此不需要附加设备。我去了系统偏好设置(System Preferences)并单击鼠标(Mouse)进行设置。
然后我点击并按住Wedge Touch Mouse上的电源按钮(power button)，告诉它连接到Mac。这花了大约 20 秒。
之后，我去设置蓝牙鼠标(Set Up Bluetooth Mouse)以根据自己的喜好对其进行配置，就是这样！Microsoft没有提供Mac驱动程序，但Mac不需要它。
再一次，它轻松地滑过桌子，流畅地滚动，点击和双击就好了。事实上，它比我一直使用的廉价鼠标效果更好，我一直找不到合适的Mac驱动程序。
一般说明和意见
Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse在所有三个操作系统上都易于使用。当它工作时，安装(Installation)既快速又简单。鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)并不是它应有的全部，即使我最终能够让鼠标工作，这也证明是令人沮丧的。
当我第一次拿起Wedge Touch Mouse时，我认为它可能太小而无法舒适地使用，但事实并非如此。我的手中等大小，点击或滚动没有任何(clicking or scrolling)问题或不适(trouble or discomfort)，但由于我持续的手腕问题，我将它与凝胶腕托(wrist rest)一起使用，将我的手放在稍微高一点的位置，这对我来说更舒适。我请一个手很大的人试一试，他报告说还可以，但可能不适合手大于平均水平的人长期使用。(term use)
我喜欢这样一个事实，即您可以在不使用鼠标时关闭鼠标以节省电池电量(battery power)。此外，如果您休眠、睡眠或关闭计算机，鼠标会感觉到并自行关闭（他们称之为“背包模式”("Backpack Mode")）。
您可以在此处(here)找到驱动程序和手册。请注意，“产品指南(product guide)”不是用户手册，而是多语言的保修和产品安全指南(warranty and product-safety guide)。它在盒子里，所以你可能不需要另一个副本。
判决
我原本以为微软 Wedge Touch Mouse(Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse)体积小巧，主要用于上网本。它足够小，可以轻松放入电脑包(computer bag)中，而且当电脑关闭时它会自行关闭，这无疑是一个优势。但是，当我在其他计算机上对其进行测试时，我发现如果您可以使用他们的鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)进行有限的定制，它很可能是桌面的主鼠标。小尺寸并不是一个缺点，其所有功能所需的轻触感是一个非常受欢迎的功能。安装和配置(Installation and configuration)在Mac上很容易，但在Microsoft-OS上则不然(Microsoft-OS)系统，这让我很惊讶。鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)的烦恼并不足以阻止我最终让鼠标工作。它应该适用于几乎任何表面，事实证明这是真的。我什至尝试将它滑过我桌子上的一个旧木制雪茄盒的顶部，以存放闪存驱动器和其他小物品，效果很好。(wooden cigar box)最后我想说的是，如果您正在寻找一款小巧的鼠标，您不需要更改默认按钮(default button)设置，并且您的手又不是很大，Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse将是一个不错的选择。但我确实建议从允许您退货的商店购买它，如果鼠标和键盘中心(Mouse and Keyboard Center)结果和我一样让你烦恼，或者如果鼠标对你的手来说太小了。
The Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse Review - Is it Worth Buying?
I've never been a fan of trackpads. I wanted to find a good mouѕe to attach to my netbook so I could turn off the trackpad and type in peace. I've been experimenting with Microsoft mice (is the plural of a computer mouse "mice" or "mouses" or what?) and this is the first of a sеries of articles about the quest for the perfect mouse. First, I deсided to try the Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse, which looked like it would be a good, compact companion for the netbook and also a good all purpose mouse for my desktop PC and Mac Mini. Did it live up to my expectations? Let's find out.
Open sesame - Packaging and specifications
Let me start out by saying that I'm very picky about input devices. About 20 years ago I had surgery to remove a bone spur on my right index finger, and the surgeon told me to do as little as possible with that hand while it healed. I was an online addict even then, so I foolishly tried to type with just the outer two fingers on that hand, and forever after I have had to wear a wrist brace when I use a computer. I've spent a lot of time over the years checking out various devices (mouse, trackball, and finally a Wacom Bamboo tablet) trying to find one I could use for long periods of time without pain. So I was especially interested to see if the Wedge Touch Mouse would be comfortable for me to use.
Since the netbook and my desktop PC did not have Bluetooth capability, I got a Kinivo BTD-400 Bluetooth 4.0 USB adapter. This tiny device was all I needed to get started.
I plugged the adapter into the netbook and it was recognized immediately. Setup was simple. Both Windows 8 on the netbook, and later Windows 7 on the desktop PC, downloaded and installed the driver automatically.
Then it was time to set up and try out the Wedge Touch Mouse. Here's a good unboxing video, in case you want to learn more about what you will find inside its packaging.
And here is Microsoft's official page with details, specs and pricing: Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse.
Mousing Windows 8 with the Microsoft Wedge Touch
First I turned the mouse on, a simple matter of inverting it and pressing the power/connect button. Then, following the instructions, I held the button down for a few seconds. When the lights on the mouse started flashing, I went to Control Panel and chose Add Devices and Printers. It took only a few seconds for the netbook to notice that the mouse was trying to get its attention, and another few seconds for it to display Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse as the device to add.
I told it to go ahead. From there the installation went very smoothly and all of a sudden the mouse was ready to use.
One of the really nice things about the Wedge Touch Mouse is that you can slide your fingers across its surface to tell it to scroll. Unfortunately, this did not work the way I thought it would. I thought I could slide a finger to the right or left to scroll the Start screen, but when I tried that, nothing happened.
The smooth top surface of the mouse can be pressed down like a regular mouse button to click left or right, so I clicked the Search charm, chose Settings, and searched for Mouse. This brought up the Ease of Use panel, which wasn't quite what I was looking for.
At the bottom of that window I saw Mouse Properties, and that's where I found the settings I wanted. Even though it showed up as a PS/2 mouse (do they even make those any more?) the settings applied to the Wedge Touch Mouse.
The startup guide that came with the mouse instructed me to download the Microsoft Device Center software to get full control of the mouse. This turned out to be the Mouse and Keyboard Control Center. I had been less than impressed by this on my Windows 7 computer, so in the beginning I chose not to install it on the netbook and I found that I was able to configure the Wedge Touch Mouse to suit my preferences without it. I could not get it to scroll the Start screen sideways, though, even though sliding a finger to the right on the trackpad scrolls the screen just fine.
However, since Microsoft recommends installing the Mouse and Keyboard Center, I then installed it despite having misgivings after my previous experiences with it. The misgivings turned out to be correct, since the first thing that happened was that I lost the connection to the Wedge Touch Mouse. Restarting the computer and pressing the Connect button on the mouse did not help, and the link Microsoft provided for troubleshooting did not give Windows 8 specific suggestions, so I was on my own.
I removed the mouse via the Device Manager and had Windows 8 search for it and reinstall it. After that it worked—but as I detail in the section on Windows 7, only the most rudimentary commands were available and I could not change the acceleration at all. The only advantage I found after the installation was that I could then scroll across the Start screen properly.
This was all very annoying, to say the least. As far as I'm concerned, the Mouse and Keyboard Center is a waste of installation time, at least for the Wedge Touch Mouse. It has a nice graphic interface but falls way short of being as useful as the Windows 8 built-in mouse configuration tool. And once the Mouse and Keyboard Center was installed, I could no longer locate the simple configuration windows I'd used before. And what was worse, the trackpad driver vanished, leaving me unable to configure the trackpad when I disconnected the mouse. Clearly my misgivings about installing the Mouse and Keyboard Center were well founded.
Adventures in customization (for all computers)
The mouse did not come with a middle click button, and there is no way to emulate it without giving up the function of either the left or right click button. If you use this button extensively this is probably not the mouse for you. Pressing both left and right buttons together did nothing, which is something else that might make the mouse less useful for some (e.g. some games require you to press both buttons at the same time, in order to perform certain actions).
Despite the annoyances during installation, once I had control of it, the mouse was smoothly responsive and slid easily across my desk. Being able to scroll with just a gentle touch of the finger was a real bonus, and being able to "flick" to get rapid and continuous scrolling was great. It really seemed as though it would have been an ideal companion for the netbook, if the Mouse and Keyboard Center annoyances had not gotten in the way. Once the mouse has been paired with a computer, it shows up automatically when the computer is on. No need to press the connect button again.
The only other downside is that it was soon apparent that I have to use a wrist rest with it so that my hand stays in a more comfortable position. This may not be true for everyone, so I don't downgrade the mouse for that.
Mousing Windows 7 with the Microsoft Wedge Touch
The installation of the Bluetooth device and the mouse were pretty much the same on my desktop computer running Windows 7. Here I clicked Control Panel from the Start Menu, then Hardware and Sound, then Add a Device.
While the mouse worked smoothly, it didn't accelerate as fast as I wanted it to. The Mouse and Keyboard Center was no help. I could change the double-click speed settings, and I could change some app-specific settings (something I did not need to do because all the apps I tried the mouse with worked fine) but couldn't find a way to change the acceleration.
Double-clicking the mouse worked intermittently on the Desktop and did not work at all in the Taskbar. It did work fine in applications like Google Chrome and Microsoft Word 2003. I tried adjusting the double-click speed, but this didn't fix the problem. I don't know if this is a hardware or software problem, but unless I can get this to work, the mouse will be only marginally useful to me on the Windows 7 desktop computer.
Mousing OS X Mountain Lion with the Microsoft Wedge Touch
The Mac Mini comes with Bluetooth, so no add-on device was necessary. I went to System Preferences and clicked on Mouse to set it up.
Then I clicked and held down the power button on the Wedge Touch Mouse to tell it to connect to the Mac. This took about 20 seconds.
After that I went to Set Up Bluetooth Mouse to configure it to my liking, and that was that! There is no Mac driver available from Microsoft, but the Mac didn't need it.
Once again, it slid easily across the desk, scrolled smoothly and clicked and double clicked just fine. In fact, it works better than the inexpensive mouse I had been using, which I was never able to find proper Mac drivers for.
General notes and observations
The Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse was easy to use on all three operating systems. Installation was quick and simple, when it worked. The Mouse and Keyboard Center is not all it's supposed to be, and that proved frustrating even though I was able to get the mouse to work eventually.
When I first picked the Wedge Touch Mouse up, I thought it might turn out to be too small to use comfortably, but that was not the case. I have medium sized hands and had no trouble or discomfort with clicking or scrolling, but due to my ongoing wrist problems I used it with a gel wrist rest to put my hand at a slightly higher level where it was more comfortable for me. I asked someone with very large hands to try it out and he reported that it was OK, but probably not suited for long term use by someone whose hands are larger than average.
I liked the fact that you can turn the mouse off when you're not using it to conserve battery power. In addition, if you hibernate, sleep, or turn your computer off, the mouse will sense that and turn itself off too (they call that "Backpack Mode").
You can find the drivers and manuals here. Note that the "product guide" is not a user manual, but rather the warranty and product-safety guide in multiple languages. That comes in the box, so you probably won't need another copy.
Verdict
I originally thought that the Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse, with its compact size, would be mainly for use with the netbook. It's small enough to slip easily into a computer bag and the fact that it turns itself off when the computer is turned off is a definite plus. However, as I tested it out on my other computers, I found that if you can work with the limited customization possible with their Mouse and Keyboard Center it could very well be a desktop's primary mouse. The small size was not a disadvantage and the light touch necessary for all its functions was a very welcome feature. Installation and configuration were a snap on the Mac but not so much on the Microsoft-OS systems, which surprised me. The annoyances with the Mouse and Keyboard Center were not enough to keep me from getting the mouse working eventually. It's supposed to work on nearly any surface, and that turned out to be true. I even tried sliding it across the top of an old wooden cigar box that I have on my desk to keep flash drives and other small items in, and it worked fine. In the end I'd say that, if you are looking for a compact mouse, for which you don't need to change the default button settings, and your hands are not huge, the Microsoft Wedge Touch Mouse would be a good choice. But I do recommend buying it from a store that will allow you to return it if the Mouse and Keyboard Center turns out to annoy you as much as it did me or if the mouse is just too small for your hands.
