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I want to buy a mouse for my PC, but as I was searching I saw in the product details that it had to have Windows as the OS. I have a Ubuntu/Windows duel boot and I was wondering if mice for Windows can also be used on Ubuntu.

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    Depends, google search the mouse and Ubuntu to see if there are any reports. Test it on a live USB,.
    – Panther
    Apr 4, 2015 at 14:29
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    You will find lots of products that say just for Mac and Windows...
    – xangua
    Apr 4, 2015 at 14:32
  • Providing further information on your hardware brand name and model will result in better answers and avoiding your question from being closed. I find interesting the questions related to compatibility but -somehow- it is against the rules or something. So, if you wish better answers please provide the details and if possible, include the hardware id as shown in your favorite operating system hardware details. Apr 4, 2015 at 14:46
  • @Geppettvs D'Constanzo Hopefully these are good details. I was looking at this mouse (amazon.com/Programmable-Buttons-Profiles-specific-Switches/dp/…) and as I stated above it said that it needed Windows. Another example would be the UtechSmart Mars mouse that states "USB port: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8". I am using Ubuntu 14.04.2. I want to buy a mouse with more than three buttons, but it seems like they all need Windows. I hope this is enough info.
    – Alex
    Apr 4, 2015 at 15:33
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because hardware-recommendations are off-topic.
    – guntbert
    Apr 6, 2015 at 20:13

4 Answers 4

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Basic USB/USB wireless mice normally work (still have to find one that doesn't).

If the mouse is a gaming/special mouse, it depends. Most of the time it will just work as a normal mouse or will require quite a lot of configuration, unless the manufacturer explicitly support Linux. Said in other way, the additional buttons will probably be recognized by the system, but they are not normally assigned to anything, and if the manufacturer does not provide info, configuring them will be a bit of a pain.

You can see something in the Ubuntu Community help and in the (as ever) nicely and complete Arch wiki help page (most of it will work in Ubuntu too, but you have to adapt conf files locations and so on).

If you think of a specific mouse, you can ask (please --- another) specific question to see if anyone with the same model has solved the thing for you.

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  • What kernel do you use? Perhaps situation is different with different vendors.
    – VRR
    Apr 4, 2015 at 17:23
  • @VRR --- I can't make a sense of your comment. The kernel is most transparent here, there are no specific vendors involved nor cited... Maybe you commented on the wrong question/answer?
    – Rmano
    Apr 4, 2015 at 17:41
  • I believe you provided a good answer, but some things changed during time. I had some issues with my keyboard (e.g.) but those were corrected with newer kernel. Perhaps new products are more/less compatible as stated in my answer.
    – VRR
    Apr 4, 2015 at 17:51
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The short answer is yes.

  • If is a USB (wired or wireless) mouse, all usb mouses (all which I know) are universal and they uses USB HID (human interface device).

  • If is a Bluetooth mouse there aren't so many troubles.

  • Any mouse (wired or wireless) that has more than 3 buttons can give some troubles, however, I have one with back and forth buttons that worked plugging it.

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If it is just a standard, three button, usb mouse, it should. Linux comes with drivers that work with most hardware.

A lot of hardware will say that they work with just Windows and/or Mac. I have Linux Mint (which is basically the same thing as Ubuntu) connected to the Internet with a usb adapter that says it will only work with Windows, and it works perfectly on linux.

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From my experience both of your choices should work, since they all have build-in memory. I had the same problem recently, did some google research and decided to buy Cooler Master Recon. People already confirmed it's compability with Linux. The keys and the lights worked out of the box, but it was also declared to work only under Windows.

Same thing with the previous A4 Tech. It show no problems as well, I believe because of build-in memory.

Though, you will have to download manufacturer software, install it in Windows to configure your mouse the way you want.

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