Back in April, I had the chance to try out the new haptics within Windows 11 Insider Build 26300.8155, which Microsoft was showing off with a mouse prototype at the time. Haptics, sometimes called force feedback, vibrate and “push” your fingers to provide tactile feedback.
Some Surface laptops, like the Surface Laptop Studio 2, have included haptic trackpads for years, as an alternative to traditional mechanical trackpads that must be pressed and whose “clickability” extends only to part of the surface. I’ve always found these trackpads to be particularly useful as you don’t need to “point” your finger at a part of the trackpad.
Surface Mouse and Logitech MX Master 4 for PC and Mac, the ultimate productivity mouse, now support these haptic features as well. Aligning objects in PowerPoint, snapping windows, resizing, or hovering over the Close button will cause some vibration in the mouse, as well as presumably existing trackpads as well. (Drag-and-drop files will eventually get your fingers buzzing, too.) Logitech mice also include the option to activate additional haptic functions through Actions Ring and Smart Actions, as well as when the mouse searches for a host via Bluetooth or when connecting.
Logitech’s haptics activate as part of the thumb rest; It’s unclear where Microsoft’s Surface Mouse will hide its haptic feedback. (I don’t remember where the comments were when I tried the haptics several months ago.)
Don’t get me wrong: I think haptic touchpads are useful, as they expand the usable surface area of the touchpad. I have less confidence in the tactile sensation inside a desktop mouse.
On a desktop mouse, haptic technology seemed less productive and more comfortable. The purpose of a car is to transport you from point A to B; there, the tactile sensation was more like a rear wiper. Useful? Yes. Necessary? Not for me. The Microsoft rep who showed them to me tried to position them as something you would adapt to quickly and would miss out on if they were taken away. I would even agree! But it still seemed like a convenience rather than a necessity. I can visually see when a window expands and I can click a window to close it without any touch confirmation.
