Windows 7: Mouse installation FAIL

Submitted by David on Fri, 2010-12-17 16:00

I just discovered that Windows 7 possibly has the stupidest way of installing a new mouse known in the history of mankind (and I have, BTW, met the guy from MIT who back in the 50s or 60s invented the silly things). On any computer built in the last 10 years or so getting a USB mouse up and running should be plug-and-play and instant. Windows 7 on the other hand:

  • Doesn't activate the mouse right away... which it really should even if it installs a more-custom driver later
  • Spends a minute or two searching for a device driver to download for this (which turned out to be a few megabytes of download)
  • Decided to install a separate mouse-specific configuration utility which appeared to be another few megabytes
  • Prompted me to register my mouse so that I could be informed of exciting new ways in which to use it (yes... no doubt there'll be earth-shattering new ways to use this invented tomorrow).
  • Added five - count 'em... five - new links to the start menu relating to the mouse
  • Put a bluetooth mouse option to the list of frequently-used/new programs (Hint: plugging in a USB mouse might suggest that I want to use a USB mouse rather than a bluetooth one. If you want to install something hear, this would be the least possibly helpful option... even the Help icon for how to use this mouse thing would have been a less stupid idea).
  • Popped up a message from the system tray prompting me to give them user feedback regarding my mouse
  • ...then proceeded to let that option disappear before I had a chance to click on it to rant about their terrible install process
  • Had nothing in the system tray that it seemed possible to dig this error message out of

I not the world's biggest fan of Microsoft, but I happened to actually like their mice even for Macs and Linux machines. I think that I may avoid them in the future if installing them is made so much more complicated than it really needs to be. It's not like they're the only option out there.

The mouse in question: a Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000... it's not like it has 15 different buttons or something like that.