Microsoft-branded mice and keyboards are going away after 40 years

20-year old MS Explorer trackballs are still $100 on eBay.

https://www.theverge.com/22958439/trackball-diy-building-plo...

> One friend commented that it looked like MS Trackball Explorer, an iconic trackball ... If you didn’t live through the ’90s and have never heard of a trackball, that’s more than understandable. For the uninitiated, a trackball is a pointing device similar to a mouse, except you use a tiny rolling sphere to move your cursor instead of moving the entire device. Trackballs used to be much more commonplace back in the day, and trackball diehards say it can be an easier and more ergonomic way of interfacing with UI, particularly for people with mobility impairments.

> Goofy name aside, the idea motivating Ploopy mirrors something that has been going around in the DIY keyboard community for a while; namely, open-source design and flexible firmware. The files for all the products Ploopy sells are on Github for anyone resourceful enough to have them fabricated, and the device itself runs QMK, one of a few lightweight keyboard firmwares out there.

Patent expired in 2020, https://old.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/comments/g6mneu/the_pate...

> The company told The Verge that it will stop selling Microsoft-branded keyboards, mice, and other accessories following a series of layoffs that affected its hardware division.

OH FFS. Their Hardware division, ( apart from their Research group ) was the only division in Microsoft that was consistently producing decent, quality products for decades.

A sad development.

I bought my first Microsoft mouse in 1988 and since then only bought Microsoft mice and keyboards. They were always consistently great and consistently reliable.

I'll go and stock up on Wireless Desktop 800 series.

Frustrating that a layoff could destroy such an iconic brand. Similarly Intel’s fumbles in fabrication started roughly 8 years ago following a big layoff. Makes you wonder if there really are just a few critical people in these big orgs that make things work, and without them, it all crumbles down.

Bummer. The Microsoft hardware I've dealt with has been solid. I still live in terror of dropping my Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick on its head just one too many times and finally killing it. Looks like Amazon has them for $200 and up, guess that's a possibility if/when the worst finally happens.

I remember my first Microsoft "laser" mice, the Intellimouse or something circa 1998. They had a limited blue colored one that I had bought through some kid at college (I was also in college).

I loved it for years - maybe 6, 7 years? Until wireless optical mice were all the rage and Logitech had lured me away.

Now I'm using a wired mice (Razer Naga X) for a little over a year.

a bit sad, funny for me though because I recently found myself using their mouse all the time after a decade+ of mac laptops built-in trackpads. Got really sick of accidentally swiping the huge enormous trackpad all the time, and a good ol microsoft mouse just feels better.

Kind of sad to hear, I like my Sculpt Erginomic Desktop and generally like their dektop PC + mouse portfolio, I even have another, cheaper, non-ergo set for my private machine

Microsoft curved keyboards were quite nice.

for a long time I was convinced that the Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical was the perfect mouse. it didn't have fancy back/forward buttons but I am a lefty and those always felt funny to me anyways. I miss mine

It was good back in the 90s, but recent versions were terrible IMO.

A friend used to say those were the only things MS do (did) right.