Sigma APO's 'Zoffy' mouse declares its love for Vista

Man, what a racket they've got going over there at Microsoft. Not only does the company get to unilaterally decide exactly when we all "need" a new operating system, it gets to siphon money off of hardware manufacturers for the privilege of advertising their products as "Vista-certified." Now we can see why said certification might be useful for entire systems or even select components such as video cards, but how is our computing experience going to be any different if we use a mouse adorned with this supposedly-coveted seal of approval? Nevertheless, Sigma APO of Japan has decided to shell out some cash to Redmond to get the ol' "Made for Vista" badge slapped on its oddly-titled "Zoffy" laser mouse, but predictably, there's no indication as to how this model differs from the Logitech you're clutching at the moment (except for its bargain basement price). On the specs front, you're getting a 1,600dpi laser (adjustable to 800dpi), four-way scroll wheel, rubberized grip, and not much else. Still, if you can deal with the dearth of buttons and absolutely gotta have "Vista-certified" bragging rights for all your gear, Zoffy will be available at the end of the month for about $27.

[steve @ Feb 16th 2007 10:41PM]

how did you know i had a logitech mouse in my hand......
GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!

[optV @ Feb 16th 2007 10:59PM]

Sigma APO? It can't possibly be the same company that produces APO lenses and optics can it?

[ts @ Feb 16th 2007 11:04PM]

> it gets to siphon money off of hardware
> manufacturers for the privilege of advertising
> their products as "Vista-certified."

I always thought that it's mostly companies like Veritest that get that money for testing. Are you sure that Microsoft gets a substantial part of it? Registration for Winqual and getting the logo contracts signed is completely free. Just the testing isn't free, but Microsoft doesn't do that.

[shonuff @ Feb 17th 2007 12:15AM]

This is similar to when Novell used to require Novell certified hardware. They even had Novell certified keyboards!

[Sarmad Siddiqui @ Feb 17th 2007 2:26AM]

@ steve
Lol. When i read that, i actually looked down at my mouse and thought the exact same thing.

[reticulate @ Feb 17th 2007 2:38AM]

Does Apple decide when you need an OS update as well? I'm pretty sure they like you to dish out for those incremental updates to OSX.

I mean, sure, I'm not buying into Vista until it's a proven gaming platform, but neither do I think Microsoft should just give up and leave us with XP until the end of time.

This is all irrelevant, of course, since the mouse is ugly. But still, the editorial slant was a little to unsubtle, if you ask me.

[Rick Lyon @ Feb 17th 2007 9:47AM]

Yep Logitech here too :) But hey, what's that black wire in the front of the mouse for? That would be annoying to have a wire connected to my mouse.

[Ossian Hanning @ Feb 17th 2007 2:36PM]

*moves the sticker on my keyboard*
My dog just got Vista Certified.

[dave @ Feb 19th 2007 5:22PM]

ehh, it's just a ripoff DeathAddder mou.....did you just say you know what mouse i'm using?

[Dalzielle @ Feb 21st 2007 11:39AM]

Does this writer have something against microsoft? And...why is the decision of some obscure hardware manufacturer to get Vista certified "news"?