When writing the Cannon Fodder review, it came back to me. I had this standard mouse, like I guess most Amiga 500 owners. Of course, it had the usual problems of ball-based mice, i.e. this typical dirt collecting inside, regular cleaning being necessary, only working on special surfaces etc. The two buttons needed strong pressing for anything to be registered at all. Particularly bad in all games from Microprose, who made pretty bad Amiga conversions anyway. Cannon Fodder was essentially unplayable with this device.

Then upgrading to an Amiga 1200, I got a new mouse. I looking much smoother, less "industrial". The buttons reacted to even light clicks. Still ball-based, of course, but the ball wasn't as bulky and the rubber wasn't as sticky. The same when I got my first IBM compatible. Wait, not IBM compatible, it was an actual IBM ("Aptiva" line), when they were still making desktop computers. That computer served me well for years and years, evening acting as webserver for this website for a long time, believe it or not.

Anyway, coming back to mice, it seemed like a clear upgrade. Just that those "better" mice broke on me. The mechanics proved much more delicate. Buttons stopped working. Cables and connectors weren't quite sturdy enough for certain games requiring… abrupt movement.

I still have the A500 mouse. Admittedly, haven't used that computer for many years. Though if I got it out now, I'm sure it would still work as on the first day. Just as well. Just as badly.

I remember that mouse! Never had one myself, but a friend of mine had an Amiga (do not ask me which model, best guess would be an A500) and I distinctly remember playing Dungeon Master using exactly this two button, unresponsive, blocky behemoth.

It was not so dissimilar to the first mouse my family used to own, which I guess was the Genius GM-6. Might have been a bit more responsive and hey it even had a third mouse button, which use was kind of a mystery to everyone back then.

Did the Amiga have some kind of mouse learning program like Windows had?

Well, like you say (or at least imply), those mice, as ugly and hard to use as they where, where certainly more durable. Hmm, come to think of it I broke two mice in the last year. Yet I still have a Microsoft Mouse which is more than 15 years old, one of the first optical ones. That is something I will never miss: Cleaning those stupid balls or losing a game because those tiny wheels got stuck.

Mouse learning program? I don't remember anything along those lines. What's there to learn anyway?

How to move the mouse cursor, how to click an item, how to double click it and so on. And hey, that is actually how my family actually learned how to handle that strange device. Originally our PC did not have a mouse, we did not get one until a couple of months (or was it weeks?) later. I distinctly remember learning how to handle the mouse while playing Solitaire, which was included into Windows for exactly that reason.

I would be surprised if something like this existed on the Amiga. After all, it as a "mouse computer" from the start back in 1985. Every model came with one, the operating system was fully mouse driven etc.