The main benefit is the scrolling feature. No more moving parts, so the scrolling will always work. I could care less about Spaces and Expose, and I don't use either. I think it is a very small percentage of people that actually do. Both Expose and Spaces are eye-candy. I have no problem using Command-Tab to rotate applications. I don't need Expose to tile windows on the screen and I don't need to hide programs using Spaces.
I think it's actually quite a high percentage of people who use them, and, for those who do, they aren't eye candy at all, but rather, a major productivity boost. But they are easily accessible without the scroll ball as button.
No thanks. I want a wired version (not going to happen) and I want to middle click. I also want activation for expose on the mouse, which may or may not show up in a future software patch.
Just curious here but
1) What's wrong w/ a bluetooth version? Do you hate batteries or do you have an older Mac that doesn't have bluetooth or do you just have an aversion to wireless things?
2)What do you propose to do with your middle click? I work in an engineering office and the only thing I've ever used middle click for is CATIA and that's not even on OS X so I'm not sure what the purpose of the middle click is (games?)
3)I've actually found that moving my mouse to the top right corner is more efficient for me than anything else to be honest - it's even more efficient than the 4 finger swipe on my MBP - of course maybe that's because I've been using the top right corner for expose since the second I got my hands on it years ago.
4)What would you propose for the software patch? A 3 finger tap or what?
EDIT: That might read a little rude - really didn't mean it that way, just curious what your thinking is
I think it's actually quite a high percentage of people who use them, and, for those who do, they aren't eye candy at all, but rather, a major productivity boost. But they are easily accessible without the scroll ball as button.
+1 - it's night and day for me having Expose and Spaces. It completely 100% eliminates the need to ever minimize anything saving you multiple trips down to the dock. Also, when I'm updating my financials I can get a single window to sit on top of Safari rather than having all of Quicken covering up the screen and switching back and forth would be nothing short of insanely tiresome without Expose (and spaces saves me from having to deal with Safari, Quicken, Mail, Adium and iTunes all in one screen).
For me it's arguably one of the very best differences between windows and Mac.
I've been reading these forums for a couple of years, but this is my first post. I felt I had to chime in on this review and echo some of the sentiments I've seen others say.
I was really looking forward to a multitouch mouse. Besides the obvious scroll ball issues with the Mighty Mouse, the Expose activation was getting to be a pain for me. Sometimes it would activate at the slightest touch, and other times it wouldn't activate at all. As someone who keeps multiple windows open and uses the feature a lot, it was getting to be a pretty big issue for me, but I can understand if not everyone uses it. There's always the keyboard shortcut, after all.
The lack of a third button, however, seems like something I'd imagine many people use constantly. I know I do. It's a complete and utter deal-breaker for me. I really can't believe AppleInsider hasn't made a bigger issue out of what seem like huge, gaping, common sense problems with this mouse.
Hopefully Apple will quickly refine this product, because I'd love to have a mutltitouch mouse like this.
I'm enjoying it. I hope that future software upgrades will increase its options, but it's a good 1.0 product.
The main problem I'm having with it is I keep trying to use it the same way I use the track pad on my MBP. But I'm getting used to the fact that they are different. It's just a matter of familiarity.
I don't mind the battery issue. I have had a wireless Mighty Mouse and found the battery life to be acceptable. I like no wires. A lot.
It's comfortable, and I do not miss the little scroll button. Having said that, I agree that a middle click would be nice, but again I think that might be implemented in a future software upgrade.
For those who don't rely on middle-click (which would probably include most non-techie users) the Magic Mouse will probably work great. I also see it as a good draw for Apple stores; unlike the Mighty Mouse, folks will try out the Magic Mouse and see something really different and cool, and for trying things out in the store the absence of extra buttons won't make much difference.
Much as I'm sure I would love the scrolling of the new mouse, I'd have a very hard time abandoning my old MX-500 because button-activated Expose is a huge feature for me. I tried hot corners for a while, but I find it's so much extra mousing, and very distracting to need to move the mouse away from where I'm working. I'll probably try it out when I get my new iMac (so I'll have one of these to play with either way), but I don't expect to be able to live with the compromise. I do have hope that someone will release some shareware to add additional gestures. I think there would be plenty of ways to simulate additional buttons, but I guess we'll see.
Oh, and I would say that for a company promoting its green-ness all over the place, supplying products that use disposable batteries is bad form. Some (like myself) will dutifully use rechargeables with it, but most won't bother. I would definitely prefer to see a built-in rechargeable option. How about an inductive charging mat built into the iMac base?
Anyway, it's good to see that they at last have a mouse that is genuinely innovative, if not necessarily ideal for everyone's use.
Another novelty is screen zoom. This requires hitting a modifier key, which is users selectable to be Option, Command, or Control. But how often will you want to zoom into the screen? It's nice you can, and Apple provides a number of options related to this, but apart from showing off or corner cases like zooming into an unresizeable web video to present it full screen, this doesn't seem to be very practical.
This is not a novelty, nor is it new to the Magic Mouse. This feature has been in Mac OS X for several years now.
Many people, including myself, who are visually impaired use the zoom capabilities everyday. Without it, we would be unable to use our Mac. The ability to zoom makes it possible for us to read and interact with the contents of the screen we would not otherwise be able to see.
+1 - it's night and day for me having Expose and Spaces. It completely 100% eliminates the need to ever minimize anything saving you multiple trips down to the dock. Also, when I'm updating my financials I can get a single window to sit on top of Safari rather than having all of Quicken covering up the screen and switching back and forth would be nothing short of insanely tiresome without Expose (and spaces saves me from having to deal with Safari, Quicken, Mail, Adium and iTunes all in one screen).
For me it's arguably one of the very best differences between windows and Mac.
I totally agree. When you have an 8-core Mac Pro and have dozens of windows open, expose and spaces allow for much more efficient organization and task switching. There are days that I really hate coming into the office because I'm forced to leave my Mac Pro behind for Windows in the office, and two of the things that I miss the most are expose and spaces.
1) What's wrong w/ a bluetooth version? Do you hate batteries or do you have an older Mac that doesn't have bluetooth or do you just have an aversion to wireless things?
2)What do you propose to do with your middle click? I work in an engineering office and the only thing I've ever used middle click for is CATIA and that's not even on OS X so I'm not sure what the purpose of the middle click is (games?)
3)I've actually found that moving my mouse to the top right corner is more efficient for me than anything else to be honest - it's even more efficient than the 4 finger swipe on my MBP - of course maybe that's because I've been using the top right corner for expose since the second I got my hands on it years ago.
4)What would you propose for the software patch? A 3 finger tap or what?
EDIT: That might read a little rude - really didn't mean it that way, just curious what your thinking is
It wasn't rude, but a fair question on your part.
1. I have a Santa Rosa MB Pro, so it does support BT easily. I like to keep my menu bar at the top of the desktop as clean as possible, so adding another icon would begin to clutter it. I also don't like to replace batteries a lot. I replace plenty on my WiiMote. I also like wired because it's what I'm used to.
2. I use the middle click for games in Windows via Boot Camp. Modern Warfare comes to mind, which the MB Pro runs very well in Windows.
3. I have never used hot corners, I may look into that. However squeezing the sides of the mouse was just more convenient and just there as an option.
4. Well due to the size of the mouse, I guess there really isn't much space for a lot of gestures. A 3 finger tap would be ok I guess.
I love my Mighty Mouse. When it works, it's a dream. And knock on wood, it's been working great since June. I clean the ball now and then (it's easy), but for the most part it hasn't really gotten too gunked up.
I have to clean my Mighty Mouse several times everyday, but I admittedly sweat Crisco (even on my hands), so that may be a factor. Once my Magic Mouse arrives, I'm smashing my craptacular Mighty Mouse up against the wall.
Apple has broken its decade-long chain of terrible mouse designs with the new multitouch, wireless Magic Mouse, although its multitouch features are somewhat limited in functionality. ...
I haven't got mine yet, but I'd like to say that as well as Apple finally hitting a home run with the mouse, this review is similarly great. It is also simpler and more friendly than previous reviews and seems to have a bit more balance when it strays into opinion.
My only quibble is the tiny dig taken at the zoom feature. Even though I have excellent vision, once you get the hang of using this, it really is so handy that one ends up using it all the time. People complain (without ever using it sometimes), about having to use a modifier key but most serious computer users use modifier keys all the time, and the only alternative to the zoom is Cmd-+ which takes your hands off the mouse altogether.
This is a fantastic, basic, mouse redesigned for the future. For those who want more ... Perhaps they will come out with a pro version once everyone's mom gets used to multi-touch as a standard.
People seem to forget that multi-touch products were around for quite a while before Apple bought the company and didn't catch on. Apple's job here isn't to make some super pro multi-touch wonder that does it all and no one can understand. Their job is to drive broad adoption of the technology so that it will *become* useful. To ask them to do otherwise is to ask them to make the same mistakes that FingerWorks made.
Why no wired version? Well it might not be feasible to make a cheaper version, and there's really no drawback to its use of Bluetooth, unlike earlier models which seemed too heavy when carrying the necessary batteries.
For me, there are two drawbacks with a wireless mouse. 1, as already mentioned, some don't want to continually pay for batteries. 2, I don't like it when my toddler wanders off with my $70 wireless mouse.
How about an inductive charging mat built into the iMac base?
Nice idea, would be very convenient to set your keyboard, mouse, iPod or iPhone on the base -- simultaneously sync'ing the iPod iPhone via Wi-Fi. Too bad this won't actually happen.
I agree with those that have said the lack of a programable 3rd button is a deal breaker for me. Hugh oversight.
I don't think it's an oversight at all. I think it was deliberate. Apple chooses who to market to and who to cater too. 3rd button users were chose not to be catered to.
I love the scrolling on the mouse but the sides are too sharp, the mouse too low and I find having to lift to right-click very annoying. Nice weight and I like the bluetooth connectivity but I'll stick with Microsoft mice for now. Maybe the next Magic Mouse revision will fix the issues.
Also be very aware that momentum scrolling only works in 10.6.1 and above so if you are on Leopard, look forward to a much longer install procedure to get your mouse to work properly. Due to the slow tracking speeds Apple use, that feature helps a lot.
Not a good handle. No one ever believes Kolchak, and he always ends up with the short end of the stick.
Yeah, but he's usually the one who's right when the disbelievers are wrong, no? Excuse me, I need to go pick up my seersucker suit from the dry cleaner.
I love the scrolling on the mouse but the sides are too sharp, the mouse too low and I find having to lift to right-click very annoying. Nice weight and I like the bluetooth connectivity but I'll stick with Microsoft mice for now. Maybe the next Magic Mouse revision will fix the issues.
Also be very aware that momentum scrolling only works in 10.6.1 and above so if you are on Leopard, look forward to a much longer install procedure to get your mouse to work properly. Due to the slow tracking speeds Apple use, that feature helps a lot.
What do you mean lift to click? You mean having to lift your middle finger and then press down? I thought you could just "push" it like you do w/ the left click (you can do that with the left click right??)
Comments
The main benefit is the scrolling feature. No more moving parts, so the scrolling will always work. I could care less about Spaces and Expose, and I don't use either. I think it is a very small percentage of people that actually do. Both Expose and Spaces are eye-candy. I have no problem using Command-Tab to rotate applications. I don't need Expose to tile windows on the screen and I don't need to hide programs using Spaces.
I think it's actually quite a high percentage of people who use them, and, for those who do, they aren't eye candy at all, but rather, a major productivity boost. But they are easily accessible without the scroll ball as button.
No thanks. I want a wired version (not going to happen) and I want to middle click. I also want activation for expose on the mouse, which may or may not show up in a future software patch.
Just curious here but
1) What's wrong w/ a bluetooth version? Do you hate batteries or do you have an older Mac that doesn't have bluetooth or do you just have an aversion to wireless things?
2)What do you propose to do with your middle click? I work in an engineering office and the only thing I've ever used middle click for is CATIA and that's not even on OS X so I'm not sure what the purpose of the middle click is (games?)
3)I've actually found that moving my mouse to the top right corner is more efficient for me than anything else to be honest - it's even more efficient than the 4 finger swipe on my MBP - of course maybe that's because I've been using the top right corner for expose since the second I got my hands on it years ago.
4)What would you propose for the software patch? A 3 finger tap or what?
EDIT: That might read a little rude - really didn't mean it that way, just curious what your thinking is
I think it's actually quite a high percentage of people who use them, and, for those who do, they aren't eye candy at all, but rather, a major productivity boost. But they are easily accessible without the scroll ball as button.
+1 - it's night and day for me having Expose and Spaces. It completely 100% eliminates the need to ever minimize anything saving you multiple trips down to the dock. Also, when I'm updating my financials I can get a single window to sit on top of Safari rather than having all of Quicken covering up the screen and switching back and forth would be nothing short of insanely tiresome without Expose (and spaces saves me from having to deal with Safari, Quicken, Mail, Adium and iTunes all in one screen).
For me it's arguably one of the very best differences between windows and Mac.
I've been reading these forums for a couple of years, but this is my first post. I felt I had to chime in on this review and echo some of the sentiments I've seen others say.
I was really looking forward to a multitouch mouse. Besides the obvious scroll ball issues with the Mighty Mouse, the Expose activation was getting to be a pain for me. Sometimes it would activate at the slightest touch, and other times it wouldn't activate at all. As someone who keeps multiple windows open and uses the feature a lot, it was getting to be a pretty big issue for me, but I can understand if not everyone uses it. There's always the keyboard shortcut, after all.
The lack of a third button, however, seems like something I'd imagine many people use constantly. I know I do. It's a complete and utter deal-breaker for me. I really can't believe AppleInsider hasn't made a bigger issue out of what seem like huge, gaping, common sense problems with this mouse.
Hopefully Apple will quickly refine this product, because I'd love to have a mutltitouch mouse like this.
The main problem I'm having with it is I keep trying to use it the same way I use the track pad on my MBP. But I'm getting used to the fact that they are different. It's just a matter of familiarity.
I don't mind the battery issue. I have had a wireless Mighty Mouse and found the battery life to be acceptable. I like no wires. A lot.
It's comfortable, and I do not miss the little scroll button. Having said that, I agree that a middle click would be nice, but again I think that might be implemented in a future software upgrade.
All in all I love it.
Much as I'm sure I would love the scrolling of the new mouse, I'd have a very hard time abandoning my old MX-500 because button-activated Expose is a huge feature for me. I tried hot corners for a while, but I find it's so much extra mousing, and very distracting to need to move the mouse away from where I'm working. I'll probably try it out when I get my new iMac (so I'll have one of these to play with either way), but I don't expect to be able to live with the compromise. I do have hope that someone will release some shareware to add additional gestures. I think there would be plenty of ways to simulate additional buttons, but I guess we'll see.
Oh, and I would say that for a company promoting its green-ness all over the place, supplying products that use disposable batteries is bad form. Some (like myself) will dutifully use rechargeables with it, but most won't bother. I would definitely prefer to see a built-in rechargeable option. How about an inductive charging mat built into the iMac base?
Anyway, it's good to see that they at last have a mouse that is genuinely innovative, if not necessarily ideal for everyone's use.
Another novelty is screen zoom. This requires hitting a modifier key, which is users selectable to be Option, Command, or Control. But how often will you want to zoom into the screen? It's nice you can, and Apple provides a number of options related to this, but apart from showing off or corner cases like zooming into an unresizeable web video to present it full screen, this doesn't seem to be very practical.
This is not a novelty, nor is it new to the Magic Mouse. This feature has been in Mac OS X for several years now.
Many people, including myself, who are visually impaired use the zoom capabilities everyday. Without it, we would be unable to use our Mac. The ability to zoom makes it possible for us to read and interact with the contents of the screen we would not otherwise be able to see.
+1 - it's night and day for me having Expose and Spaces. It completely 100% eliminates the need to ever minimize anything saving you multiple trips down to the dock. Also, when I'm updating my financials I can get a single window to sit on top of Safari rather than having all of Quicken covering up the screen and switching back and forth would be nothing short of insanely tiresome without Expose (and spaces saves me from having to deal with Safari, Quicken, Mail, Adium and iTunes all in one screen).
For me it's arguably one of the very best differences between windows and Mac.
I totally agree. When you have an 8-core Mac Pro and have dozens of windows open, expose and spaces allow for much more efficient organization and task switching. There are days that I really hate coming into the office because I'm forced to leave my Mac Pro behind for Windows in the office, and two of the things that I miss the most are expose and spaces.
Just curious here but
1) What's wrong w/ a bluetooth version? Do you hate batteries or do you have an older Mac that doesn't have bluetooth or do you just have an aversion to wireless things?
2)What do you propose to do with your middle click? I work in an engineering office and the only thing I've ever used middle click for is CATIA and that's not even on OS X so I'm not sure what the purpose of the middle click is (games?)
3)I've actually found that moving my mouse to the top right corner is more efficient for me than anything else to be honest - it's even more efficient than the 4 finger swipe on my MBP - of course maybe that's because I've been using the top right corner for expose since the second I got my hands on it years ago.
4)What would you propose for the software patch? A 3 finger tap or what?
EDIT: That might read a little rude - really didn't mean it that way, just curious what your thinking is
It wasn't rude, but a fair question on your part.
1. I have a Santa Rosa MB Pro, so it does support BT easily. I like to keep my menu bar at the top of the desktop as clean as possible, so adding another icon would begin to clutter it. I also don't like to replace batteries a lot. I replace plenty on my WiiMote. I also like wired because it's what I'm used to.
2. I use the middle click for games in Windows via Boot Camp. Modern Warfare comes to mind, which the MB Pro runs very well in Windows.
3. I have never used hot corners, I may look into that. However squeezing the sides of the mouse was just more convenient and just there as an option.
4. Well due to the size of the mouse, I guess there really isn't much space for a lot of gestures. A 3 finger tap would be ok I guess.
I love my Mighty Mouse. When it works, it's a dream. And knock on wood, it's been working great since June. I clean the ball now and then (it's easy), but for the most part it hasn't really gotten too gunked up.
I have to clean my Mighty Mouse several times everyday, but I admittedly sweat Crisco (even on my hands), so that may be a factor. Once my Magic Mouse arrives, I'm smashing my craptacular Mighty Mouse up against the wall.
Apple has broken its decade-long chain of terrible mouse designs with the new multitouch, wireless Magic Mouse, although its multitouch features are somewhat limited in functionality. ...
I haven't got mine yet, but I'd like to say that as well as Apple finally hitting a home run with the mouse, this review is similarly great. It is also simpler and more friendly than previous reviews and seems to have a bit more balance when it strays into opinion.
My only quibble is the tiny dig taken at the zoom feature. Even though I have excellent vision, once you get the hang of using this, it really is so handy that one ends up using it all the time. People complain (without ever using it sometimes), about having to use a modifier key but most serious computer users use modifier keys all the time, and the only alternative to the zoom is Cmd-+ which takes your hands off the mouse altogether.
This is a fantastic, basic, mouse redesigned for the future. For those who want more ... Perhaps they will come out with a pro version once everyone's mom gets used to multi-touch as a standard.
People seem to forget that multi-touch products were around for quite a while before Apple bought the company and didn't catch on. Apple's job here isn't to make some super pro multi-touch wonder that does it all and no one can understand. Their job is to drive broad adoption of the technology so that it will *become* useful. To ask them to do otherwise is to ask them to make the same mistakes that FingerWorks made.
Kolchak . . . as in, the Night Stalker?
Why no wired version? Well it might not be feasible to make a cheaper version, and there's really no drawback to its use of Bluetooth, unlike earlier models which seemed too heavy when carrying the necessary batteries.
For me, there are two drawbacks with a wireless mouse. 1, as already mentioned, some don't want to continually pay for batteries. 2, I don't like it when my toddler wanders off with my $70 wireless mouse.
How about an inductive charging mat built into the iMac base?
Nice idea, would be very convenient to set your keyboard, mouse, iPod or iPhone on the base -- simultaneously sync'ing the iPod iPhone via Wi-Fi. Too bad this won't actually happen.
Hehe . . . was wondering who would get the reference.
I agree with those that have said the lack of a programable 3rd button is a deal breaker for me. Hugh oversight.
I don't think it's an oversight at all. I think it was deliberate. Apple chooses who to market to and who to cater too. 3rd button users were chose not to be catered to.
Also be very aware that momentum scrolling only works in 10.6.1 and above so if you are on Leopard, look forward to a much longer install procedure to get your mouse to work properly. Due to the slow tracking speeds Apple use, that feature helps a lot.
Yeah, but he's usually the one who's right when the disbelievers are wrong, no? Excuse me, I need to go pick up my seersucker suit from the dry cleaner.
I love the scrolling on the mouse but the sides are too sharp, the mouse too low and I find having to lift to right-click very annoying. Nice weight and I like the bluetooth connectivity but I'll stick with Microsoft mice for now. Maybe the next Magic Mouse revision will fix the issues.
Also be very aware that momentum scrolling only works in 10.6.1 and above so if you are on Leopard, look forward to a much longer install procedure to get your mouse to work properly. Due to the slow tracking speeds Apple use, that feature helps a lot.
What do you mean lift to click? You mean having to lift your middle finger and then press down? I thought you could just "push" it like you do w/ the left click (you can do that with the left click right??)