Glad to know I'm not the only one who loves the Intellimouse Optical. I've had my current one for going on 12 years now, and have been using them for even longer. I've had to replace both mouse button micro-switches as well as the scroll wheel in mine and since I haven't played any games requiring extreme precision since the dpi rate went obsolete I'm only looking for alternatives now due to recently adding a 4k monitor and cranking up the sensitivity is no longer a suitable option. a few years ago when the micro-switches started going out, I searched for a suitable replacement and ended up just replacing the micro-switches instead because I couldn't find one. A quick search and I find the landscape looks to be about the same as back then. So I'm either forced to find a replacement that's inferior in my opinion, or retrofitting laser mouse internals into an intellimouse. I'm wondering if you ever accomplished anything like that or just gave in and replaced it with something else.
I am a staunch intellimouse user. I had a Sensei for a bit, it was crap and I didn't get on with it. The Zowie stuff is the only thing I have held that felt right when compared to the old MS stuff but they are way too ££ for my liking. Also why has Microsoft stopped making ALL its classic mice that people love? Crap like this?