The Windows Magnifier is a packaged tool that has been bundled with Windows since Windows 95. It uses a portion of the user's screen to show a magnified view of the user's desktop below. It can be customized to follow the cursor, keyboard focus, or where ever text editing is occuring. In addition, users can adjust the zoom level to either zoom closer in (2x to 9x magnification) or to zoom out back to the "normal" view. To use it, users simply type in "magnify" in the command line of the windows prompt screen.
The tool is simple to use. With the options limiting to only several checkboxes on one small panel, it it easy for users to understand how to use this tool. The size of the field magnified view can be adjusted in size vertically. In addition, there does not seem to be any performance hindrance when using the tool.
However, upon initial usage of the tool, I found the magnified view to be slightly nauseating. By default, the magnifier follows the cursor. As someone whose cursor constantly flies across the screen, this was an unpleasant experience. The only option was to slow down the way I use my cursor to navigate through the screen.
Another annoying part I found was that the cursor was not visible in the magnified view if the zoom level was set to "normal". My theory was that since the magnification was on par with the user's screen, the user would just look at their own screen instead. In a sense, the "normal" view in the magnifier becomes useless.
Also, rather than being a separate window, the magnifier "shares" screen space with the user's desktop. I mentioned in the beginning that the magnification field could be adjusted vertically. It can't be adjusted horizontally because the size adjustment is really just the control for how much space the magnification tool will share with the desktop.
Overall, for a free tool, the Windows magnifier is an easy tool to use. It does serve its purpose without depleting CPU resources. However, if you're a fast, multi-tasker type of person, you may want to slow down when using this tool.
