5 ms·

You win some, you lose some: a review of Apple's Magic Mouse

27 points by soundsop 17y ago

estacado 17y ago
I need my middle click. It's essential for the open link in new tab functionality.
- ghshephard 17y ago
  You can either: CMD+Left Click Right Click + "Open Link in new Tab"
  - der_ketzer 17y ago
    Or mouse gestures in Firefox.
  - Gmo 17y ago
    I'm sorry but that doesn't do the trick. The right click + Open link takes way longer than a middle click. The Cmd + Left click, while being closer to a middle click, still forces you to move your hand to the command button.
  - Hoff 17y ago
    When you're writing documentation or designing UIs, please remember that the right and left references for the mouse buttons are entirely ambiguous. Most mice have been configurably-ambidextrous for a decade or more, after all. The X Windows folks got this one right very early on with their configurability and their use of MB1, MB2, MB3 notation for the mouse buttons.
- cl3m 17y ago
  http://clement.beffa.org/labs/projects/middleclick/ http://clement.beffa.org/labs/projects/middleclick/ Seems it works as well with the Magic Mouse..
  - weaksauce 17y ago
    I was actually thinking about writing this for my own use. This is great!
joechung 17y ago
I love this mouse in Mac OS X, but it was a bit of a hassle getting it to work in Windows 7. It's also a headache to reconfigure the mouse after switching back and forth between Mac OS X and Windows. Hopefully, some updated drivers will fix this.
- jawngee 17y ago
  I'm having the same problem with the trackpad on my MBP in Windows 7. It's a serious drag. The drivers work, for the most part, but obviously not as well as in OSX. Have resorted to a USB mouse (another PITA, but I'm getting stuff done).
tolmasky 17y ago
I definitely like this mouse a lot more, mostly because it feels way more "solid" than the mighty mouse. The mighty mouse felt almost cheap and plasticky to me.
geuis 17y ago
Also wanted to say that I just got my new MM tidy and I completely love it. It's really comfortable and I switched to the gesture behavior in a couple minutes. To top it off, the control-swipe to zoom is incredible. I spend a lot of time looking at minute details in web page alignment and this I s a killer feature.
- nickyp 17y ago
  Control-zoom is awesome indeed, but has been available for a long time using the scroll wheel of any mouse. Enable it in Universal Access > Zoom options > Use scroll wheel modifier to enable zoom > ^
barrkel 17y ago
I wish I hadn't read the phrase "palm cheese"; it just brings to mind eating something I'd rather not.
ahlatimer 17y ago
I like the MM, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. I still have my old Apple Mouse sitting on my desk in case I feel like switching back. What irks me isn't the lack of expose, it's the lack of customization and center click. Why isn't two fingered vertical swipe and two fingered click options? I doubt a software update will add these, but I'm hopeful someone will hack out a solution. If I could set two fingered click to center click, and up/down two-fingered swipes to expose, I wouldn't miss the Apple Mouse one bit. I probably won't be switching back, though, as not having a scroll ball to gunk up is definitely a huge plus. If I do switch mice, it'll be to something non-Apple.
jokull 17y ago
Tried this mouse in the Apple Store. The scroll is nice. Apart from that it's shit just like the Might Mouse. Real left clicks and middle clicks are indispensable. Get a Microsoft Wheel Mouse.
DannoHung 17y ago
Why on earth won't they figure out how to let you right click with your index finger on the mouse?
jsz0 17y ago
I'm very interested in a multi-touch device for my desktop machine but Apple burned some bridges with the Mighty Mouse. I have 3 of them and each one has developed scrolling problems. If they managed to miss this design flaw with the Mighty Mouse I'm betting the Magic Mouse is going to have some horrible problem too in the long run. I don't suppose Apple would take my collection of useless Mighty Mouses in return for a shiny new Magic Mouse? (yeah didn't think so) I'm holding out until Apple, or someone else, releases a keyboard/touchpad combo that is basically the bottom half of a MacBook. Nice soft chicklet keys, big multi-touch pad, a built in USB hub, maybe an SD card reader, illuminated keys, etc. I've even considered buying the topcase + trackpad/keyboard assembly from a MacBook and building my own. The only touchpad/keyboard combos I can find have a tiny postage stamp sized touchpad hastily attacked to some junky early 90's quality keyboard. If anyone happens to know of a good quality touchpad/keyboard please let me know.
- ptuzla 17y ago
  I've had scrolling problems with my two Apple Mighty Mice, too. The second was just bought for this reason. Then I saw someone explaining how to fix this. And it definitely works. Place a sheet of paper on your desk, and rub the poor mouse's scroll ball rigorously on the paper in all directions. After that you'll get the feeling of a brand new one.
Shorel 17y ago
>Swiping back and forth through your browser history beats clicking or keyboarding Opera gestures beat that, and I still have middle click.

27 points by soundsop 17y ago

estacado 17y ago

I need my middle click. It's essential for the open link in new tab functionality.

ghshephard 17y ago
You can either: CMD+Left Click Right Click + "Open Link in new Tab"
- der_ketzer 17y ago
  Or mouse gestures in Firefox.
- Gmo 17y ago
  I'm sorry but that doesn't do the trick. The right click + Open link takes way longer than a middle click. The Cmd + Left click, while being closer to a middle click, still forces you to move your hand to the command button.
- Hoff 17y ago
  When you're writing documentation or designing UIs, please remember that the right and left references for the mouse buttons are entirely ambiguous. Most mice have been configurably-ambidextrous for a decade or more, after all. The X Windows folks got this one right very early on with their configurability and their use of MB1, MB2, MB3 notation for the mouse buttons.
cl3m 17y ago
http://clement.beffa.org/labs/projects/middleclick/ http://clement.beffa.org/labs/projects/middleclick/ Seems it works as well with the Magic Mouse..
- weaksauce 17y ago
  I was actually thinking about writing this for my own use. This is great!

joechung 17y ago

I love this mouse in Mac OS X, but it was a bit of a hassle getting it to work in Windows 7. It's also a headache to reconfigure the mouse after switching back and forth between Mac OS X and Windows. Hopefully, some updated drivers will fix this.

jawngee 17y ago
I'm having the same problem with the trackpad on my MBP in Windows 7. It's a serious drag. The drivers work, for the most part, but obviously not as well as in OSX. Have resorted to a USB mouse (another PITA, but I'm getting stuff done).

tolmasky 17y ago

I definitely like this mouse a lot more, mostly because it feels way more "solid" than the mighty mouse. The mighty mouse felt almost cheap and plasticky to me.

geuis 17y ago

Also wanted to say that I just got my new MM tidy and I completely love it. It's really comfortable and I switched to the gesture behavior in a couple minutes. To top it off, the control-swipe to zoom is incredible. I spend a lot of time looking at minute details in web page alignment and this I s a killer feature.

nickyp 17y ago
Control-zoom is awesome indeed, but has been available for a long time using the scroll wheel of any mouse. Enable it in Universal Access > Zoom options > Use scroll wheel modifier to enable zoom > ^

barrkel 17y ago

I wish I hadn't read the phrase "palm cheese"; it just brings to mind eating something I'd rather not.

ahlatimer 17y ago

I like the MM, but I'm not completely sold on it yet. I still have my old Apple Mouse sitting on my desk in case I feel like switching back. What irks me isn't the lack of expose, it's the lack of customization and center click. Why isn't two fingered vertical swipe and two fingered click options? I doubt a software update will add these, but I'm hopeful someone will hack out a solution. If I could set two fingered click to center click, and up/down two-fingered swipes to expose, I wouldn't miss the Apple Mouse one bit. I probably won't be switching back, though, as not having a scroll ball to gunk up is definitely a huge plus. If I do switch mice, it'll be to something non-Apple.

jokull 17y ago

Tried this mouse in the Apple Store. The scroll is nice. Apart from that it's shit just like the Might Mouse. Real left clicks and middle clicks are indispensable. Get a Microsoft Wheel Mouse.

DannoHung 17y ago

Why on earth won't they figure out how to let you right click with your index finger on the mouse?

jsz0 17y ago

I'm very interested in a multi-touch device for my desktop machine but Apple burned some bridges with the Mighty Mouse. I have 3 of them and each one has developed scrolling problems. If they managed to miss this design flaw with the Mighty Mouse I'm betting the Magic Mouse is going to have some horrible problem too in the long run. I don't suppose Apple would take my collection of useless Mighty Mouses in return for a shiny new Magic Mouse? (yeah didn't think so) I'm holding out until Apple, or someone else, releases a keyboard/touchpad combo that is basically the bottom half of a MacBook. Nice soft chicklet keys, big multi-touch pad, a built in USB hub, maybe an SD card reader, illuminated keys, etc. I've even considered buying the topcase + trackpad/keyboard assembly from a MacBook and building my own. The only touchpad/keyboard combos I can find have a tiny postage stamp sized touchpad hastily attacked to some junky early 90's quality keyboard. If anyone happens to know of a good quality touchpad/keyboard please let me know.

ptuzla 17y ago
I've had scrolling problems with my two Apple Mighty Mice, too. The second was just bought for this reason. Then I saw someone explaining how to fix this. And it definitely works. Place a sheet of paper on your desk, and rub the poor mouse's scroll ball rigorously on the paper in all directions. After that you'll get the feeling of a brand new one.

Shorel 17y ago

>Swiping back and forth through your browser history beats clicking or keyboarding Opera gestures beat that, and I still have middle click.