There’s a massive grin on my face right now, because Microsoft are refreshing the classic Intellimouse design for their Surface range of peripherals. There are only a few mice that would elicit such excitement, my beloved Logitech G9, and this little optical beauty, and even fewer general bits of hardware.
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Atari’s 2600 mini-console leaves me cold, the Commodore 64 isn’t even a real computer, and that Mega Drive cash-in can just do one. But the Intellimouse was, and still is, a great mouse.
The new ‘coming soon’ listing was brought to the attention of the Verge by an eagle-eyed tweeter, and Robin Seiler, GM on Microsoft’s hardware team, followed up saying the new Microsoft Classic Intellimouse “brings back everything you loved about the IME 3.0 with a ton of hidden upgrades.”
It was the original beige Intellimouse that was my first PC love, a mouse that lasted me a decade of constant use, and still sits in my desk drawer for whenever I need a spare mouse. There are very PC peripherals which have passed through my hands that would either last twenty years, or still be eminently usable that far on.
The new Classic Intellimouse is based on the more bad-ass Explorer 3.0, itself a similarly black and grey design. Microsoft have spruced up the optical sensor used in the new mouse, giving it modern-day precision, with an effective DPI rating that goes up to 3,200DPI. I doubt it’s going to be a heroic FPS mouse, but if they nail the comfort and reliability it’ll be a great li’ rodent. Thankfully there are no RGB LEDs in sight, just a single classic white tail light.
Like the Explorer 3.0 the new Intellimouse is very much an ergonomic, right-handed design, rather than the ambidextrous setup of the original. That’s a bit of a shame and to me that means it does lose a little of the shine. I loved the unfussy nature of the first design, which is why I still have a soft-spot for Steel Series’ stylish Sensei mice.
At the moment the Microsoft listing is still down as ‘coming soon’ so we don’t really know when it’s going to be available, but the companion Surface Precision Mouse is listed for pre-orders starting November 9, so it’s going to be a while yet.
Now, if we can get a refreshed, USB-connected QuickShot Turbo I’ll be happier than a gamer in Akihabara. Any hardware you want bringing back?