Don't forget that mice during this era were of generally low quality and were "ball mice" which would frequently become clogged with dirt. They were a nightmare to use.
I have only experience with Amiga mice, but if they were good enough for me as a kid to play Civilization and Sim City, then mouse technology should have been good enough for using MS Word.
I still have a ball mouse, I think it's the first I bought way back in 2000 or some such and it's fine to use provided it's kept clean and used on a good surface.
http://www.nightfallcrew.com/wp-content/gallery/commodore-13...