Mouse Problems with Windows 8.1

If you’re a gamer and are thinking about upgrading to Windows 8.1, you might want to keep reading before you make the jump. That’s because a number of threads on Microsoft’s Community forum detail a significant issue for Windows 8.1 gamers.

It would seem that multiple gamers are having pointer-related issues ranging from mouse jitters to movements not scaling correctly even when acceleration is disabled. Forum moderator Naman R said in one thread that the mouse lag issue is actually several different problems that vary based on the game and input method used.

The moderator listed three specific scenarios that Microsoft is investigating. The first is mouse jitters which are said to occur in some games because Windows 8.1 handles the games’ checks for the mouse status differently. Redmond is also looking into why turning off mouse acceleration is causing the distance on the screen not to match the distance you move the mouse

Another issue is being looked at wherein if you have a mouse with a high frequency, you may discover that it is reporting a lower frequency (polling rate) than advertised.

As you could imagine, a combination of these issues can have some seriously adverse affects when gaming. One player reported random mouse movements in League of Legends/DOTA, unresponsive / inaccurate movements in most FPS games and camera lag / jerkiness in World of Warcraft. The good news is that Microsoft is working on a fix “as quickly as possible” although Naman R didn’t have a specific release date for the patch.

By Shawn Knight