Conclusions
Is the tilt wheel really all that? Yes. All that and a bag of chips. And then some. Of course, my love for horizontal scrolling probably stems from the fact that I almost always have an Excel window or two open. Not everyone has a need for a second scrolling dimension. However, the tilt wheel isn't just about going left and right; the smooth, lubricated feel of the wheel's vertical scrolling motion combines with acceleration to provide the slickest vertical scrolling experience around.

Gamers, however, will probably have a problem with the mouse's aggressive power saving-induced latency, back-heavy center of gravity, and hard-to-reach forward button. That's really a shame, since the tilt wheel could be really cool for peeking around corners in games like Raven Shield. Since Microsoft will be integrating the tilt wheel into other mouse products this year—including wired mice—gamers will eventually be able to get their tilts on without worrying about latency or battery weight. Let's hope Microsoft comes to its senses and makes the forward and back buttons a little easier to reach on the next IntelliMouse revision, too.

At the end of the day, the Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer 2.0 has earned a spot on my workstation's mouse pad. Despite a few flaws, the mouse's exceptional battery life, complete lack of cable clutter, and incredibly addictive tilt wheel are simply too hard to resist. It's only been a month and a half, and already I'm starting to wonder what I did without the tilt wheel.