ActiveWin.com: Microsoft Hardware Quality Control/Testing Laboratory Photos

Type Test Each keyboard product is required to pass millions of cycles of key pressing — more typing than any person does in a lifetime — while maintaining superior performance.

Button Test Every mouse must withstand millions of cycles of button actuations and hundreds of thousands of scroll-wheel rotations.

Drop Test Keyboards are dropped up to 10 times from nearly three feet; mice are dropped from more than three feet onto quarter-inch carpet covering steel and concrete.

Track Test During unique wear trials, mice are “run” between 85 and 215 miles to test performance. That distance is comparable to traveling from London to Paris.

Touch Test The durability of mice and keyboards is tested in multiple scenarios simulating contact with common chemicals including hand lotion and sweat.

Temperature-humidity Tests The mice and keyboards are tested to withstand a range of temperature and humidity levels — from the tropical summers of Southern China to the dry winters of Minnesota.


Electrical tests for consistent connectivity


Mechanical tests so the buttons and scroll wheel work reliably

Optical tests so sensors in the mouse’s tracking system perform to standard

Photos courtesy of Microsoft. For more information visit: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware

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