First Look: Apple's wireless, multitouch Magic Mouse - Page 2

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??)

It requires a reboot because the touch surface plus Bluetooth changes a lot of system frameworks and kernel extensions, most especially IOHID and IOBluetooth. These can't be reloaded without rebooting due to their respective dependency trees.

Glad to read all the posts you initiated regarding Zoom. I'm also a heavy user of Zoom; it is essential for me. I'm looking forward to the implementation of resolution independence in conjunction with Zoom.

Basically, I use keyboard short-cuts for Zoom. You can go to System Preferences > Universal Access > Zoom > Options to set up defaults as you prefer. Then use ⌥⌘8 to turn Zoom on or off, ⌥⌘= to enlarge and ⌥⌘- to diminish. You can also use ∧⌥⌘8 to toggle between white-on-black and black-on-white.

I probably will get the Magic Mouse and set up the ⌥ key on the keyboard to use in conjunction with the Magic Mouse to implement Zoom. Eventually, it will become a habit and you won't have to think beforehand.

It seems to me that AI has missed the most important drawback: the lack of a recharging dock.

Now we have the lesser of two evils: you either stick with your Mighty Mouse and deal with the sticky nipple, or you have the multi-touch joy of the Magic Mouse but have to deal with failing batteries that need to be recharged and replaced every month or so. If there was a recharging dock and built-in rechargeable battery, you'd solve both inconvenience issues and would have no down time or battery juggling hassle.

So there's no way to assign Exposé to the secondary button?

This is what I might do, since I use Exposé (with scroll-ball-click currently) more often than the right button. Exposé is absolutely essential for us visual types :-)

I'm totally with you on the lack of middle-click even though I tried the mouse in the store and otherwise loved it. I find the absence of this feature a deal-breaker unfortunately. Expose isn't an issue for me as I use hot corners exclusively.

I just got mine as soon as they were out.

The Magic Mouse is a pretty good overall product, but it could use improvement.

The biggest grip I have is the texture of the touch surface. It's very slick and therefore easily gripped by your fingers -- which is exactly what you don't want in this mouse! You want your fingers to easily slide over the surface so you expend little effort when scrolling.

It's pretty easy to see why they made it so slick: it looks better than a matte surface. (See also shiny screen surfaces.)

The mouse functions well, and I've never been bothered by changing the batteries in my old Mighty Mouse. (about 6-8 times per year is not really a trial. I get about a month of use after my "low battery" indicator would come up.) I expect Magic Mouse to be similar, if not improved.

Unfortunately, the effort of scrolling is a little more than with the Mighty Mouse. I find myself forced to bend my finger much more than I and used to so I can use the tip to scroll on the middle surface area of the mouse. When fully extended, your fingers have enough grip on the mouse to make it annoying to try to scroll.

I wonder if you could do something simple like sand or sandblast the surface to make it more of a matte surface, more like a trackpad...

2AA batteries is not GREEN. I don't know why apple don't use rechargeable battery. Either custom battery or 2AA rechargeable batteries.
2AA => 3V; 2AA rechargeable => 2.4V
sound like there is some technical reason, but I believe it can be solve since apple is a big customer. It is only whether apple want to handle it or not.

++on the zoom feature. Love it and use it all the time. It's nice when you are sitting at an unusual distance away from the screen or trying to show someone across the room something on your screen. Ctrl-wheel is so easy that it becomes second nature after awhile. I do use it a bit less ever since the page zooming in Safari has gotten so good. (I also pine for the resolution independence AND I'd wager on it showing up as a major new feature for the next big cat.)

As far as the Magic Mouse, can't wait to try it out, but do you really have to lift your left finger to click with your middle finger for a right click? I hated that on the mighty mouse. I got the impression from the video that you simply need to slide your middle finger a bit further up for the right click. Seemed to me like that solved the issue. And how is the click action? I personally don't like the squishiness of the previous mice.

It seems like a great general use mouse. The lack of gizmos on the surface is very inviting and there few moveable parts could mean good durability. It's also great for first impressions. If you have wireless internet, you can simply plug in ONE power cable for the iMac and you are set up. No wires besides that. Yes, eventually you have to deal with batteries, etc. but it's a great experience nonetheless.

I doubt I'll ever truly like this mouse for myself, but I'm picky. I need the third button for some things (games, 3D apps) for instance and I prefer a wire, in the end. Anyone who owns a Wii (like an earlier poster) is tired of managing batteries, especially when you are responsible for the recharging.

I do believe that Apple could do something great with rechargeable batteries on their keyboard and mouse, but I bet the tech just isn't up to spec yet for what they'd want to accomplish.

Picked up my Magic Mouse from my local KRCS this afternoon and I must say I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it in the box.

It feels SO natural, and it just felt like i'd been using it for months. It's so easy, so much easier than the Mighty Mouse. I cannot recommend it more!

He usually gets the girl also, and a much younger one to boot.

On a more mouse-related topic ... can someone who has one of these already clear up once and for all whether there is a physical click on the thing? Even this article is a bit unclear on that issue.

The reason I ask is that I'm just trying to re-install Windows XP today (I know ... Ack!), but the installer is dumb as a brick so i had to use a very useful Apple trick for forcing the CD out of the drive a couple of times (you hold down the mouse button while booting for those that don't know).

If there is no physical click, isn't this time-tested handy trick going to be defunct? How can one "hold down" a virtual button?

The mouse still only has a single button so for it to recognize a right-click, you have to lift the index finger off the mouse completely. For left-click, you don't have to lift the middle finger - with two fingers on the mouse it assumes a left-click.


The click action is nice and responsive but I couldn't activate a right-click without lifting. The finger has to be completely lifted off too - the surface is very sensitive so even the most minute contact with the index finger means it thinks you are doing a left-click.

There's no question the mouse is a lot better than the original but most competing mice I've used are too - the only thing the Magic Mouse mouse offers that's better is the scrolling.

Comfort wise how is it? I have seen some reports stating with a lot of use it could be uncomfortable.

A couple of people here are wondering about the usefulness of middle click. I've had my clickable scroll-wheel set to double-click for years now - I'm amazed more users don't do the same. A single press with the middle finger to perform such a frequent task is so useful I really wouldn't want to use a mouse without that facility now.

I love it... my only qualm with the previous mouse was its scroll ball. No more scroll ball, no more problems. I'm quite pleased with my purchase.

No click-lock. Sigh.

As a new user to Mac i've just found out about Hot Corners. When you move the mouse to any corner and it shows expose.

It's beautiful . . . *sniff*

Assign Spaces to a hot-corner and experience the magic.

I recently learned that icons in the menu bar can be removed by holding command and clicking on them. You can then drag the offending icon out of the bar much in the same way icons can be removed from the dock. Not that this solves all of your gripes, but it is a nice feature. Don't know which version of the OS this showed up in, but I'm running 10.6.

I've visited this site daily for several years and this is my first time posting. I have to concur with the others who have pointed out that zooming is NOT a "novelty." The reviewer has mentioned this "novelty" numerous times in articles. I'm 29 with perfect eyesight and I still use the zoom feature constantly. As the reviewer himself noted, web videos are almost always too small (with no full screen options). In addition, the zoom function works great for taking a quick look at small text or a small image and then zooming back out. Thank you for the comprehensive reviews but I think this is one item where you may be out of touch with many Mac users.

Sorry, what is Spaces? I have heard of it but I do not understand. Still VERY new to all things Mac...! Having only made the move a few weeks ago.

Spaces is virtual workspaces done right. Behold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh7p4...layer_embedded

I have applications assigned to their own (or particular) spaces. Set it up as a hot corner and life is good.

Spaces is even better in Snow Leopard.

Hopefully, USBOverdrive can make a 2 finger tap simulate a middle click. I remember when 3 button mice first came out, the older 2 button mice would simulate the middle button by pressing both buttons at the same time.

I also hope they can remap each of the flicks to a button or keystroke—left, right, up, down, one, and two fingers, which would greatly enhance it's usefulness.

Thanks for that. I do find it hard sometimes to keep up with Microsoft Messenger and all the different conversations that are open. I think having the option to clear up the clutter, and effectively 'go to another desktop' to view my open conversations is a lot easier.

One thing, if it's okay to ask you? Is there anyway to change it so you don't have to press ctrl + F1.

I've changed to F4 which on my Macbook Pro is the dashboard, which I have to be honest, I do not use. Is there anyway to change the whole function of that button, so it just shows the spaces and doesnt even open up the Dashboard?

Quadra,

What I mentioned above an hour ago about Hotspots, I have set it so I can launch Spaces when I place the cursor to the top right hand corner. Although it would still be interesting to know whether or not changing a buttons function is capable?

"But how often will you want to zoom into the screen?"

Check out a graph of the demographic shift occurring in the US as the baby boomers age. Shortly, but bulk of computer users will be people with fading vision, arthritic hands, and other issues. They'll pay for an interface that accommodates them and resent any that don't.

I already have clients who've switched to Mac OS simply because zooming is flawless and intuitive. Their answer to your question is "Every few minutes." Similarly, I have clients in their 50's who've rejected phones that feature ant-sized icons.

Accessibility: not just for the "handicapped" anymore. We're all handicapped to some degree, and we all get more so as we age.

You guys are old.

System Preferences --> Exposé and Spaces --> Exposé, and then look under "Active Screen Corners." Pick a corner and assign an action.

While you're there, look down a bit in the same windowpane, and you'll see Exposé and Dashboard subheadings. You can perform further customizations here.

If you select Spaces up top in the same Windowpane, you can perform further customizations of Spaces.

If you feel up to it, go back to the System Preferences main view and select "Spotlight." Spotlight customizations can be performed here, including keystroke assignments.

If you're feeling a bit more adventurous, here's a neat trick:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...71101055329470

Hope that helps.



See above. If that doesn't asnwer your question, let me know.

Just "old souls."

Thanks Quadra

Are you talking about the new Kolchak from a couple of years ago? Because the old Kolchak never got a girl, aside from the girlfriend he had in the first TV movie.


You can always keep a regular el cheapo mouse around just for when you need that trick. Even the widely reviled hockey puck will work.

I was talking about the Kolchak from the mid-seventies. The REAL Kolchak.

No problem.

Learn as much as you can about:

Exposé

Dock Exposé

Spaces

Stacks

Quicklook

Spotlight

Finder

These are the cornerstones of OS X productivity.

You can start here to get warmed up and then move on to more detailed explanations:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/

Tip:

A lot of actions can be assigned to a) keys, b) hot corners, c) mouse buttons.

Example:

I have Exposé set to the top right corner.

I have show desktop (or Desktop) set to the bottom right corner.

I have Spaces set to the top left corner.

I have Sleep Display set to the bottom left corner.

It helps if your mouse has fast tracking to get the most ot of these, but your mileage may vary. I like USB Overdrive for full mouse customization and greater control over tracking. A quick and easy flick of the mouse is al it takes for me to hit any of the corners.

On my Mighty Mouse (bluetooth, using a single Lithium battery), I have:

Dashboard set to the squeeze buttons.

Open Finder set to the middle click.

Spotlight is set to Command + Spacebar

You might want to try lower-left and upper-right (assuming you're right-handed). These are VERY natural movements and make invoking Spaces and Expose a breeze.

I use the lower-right and upper-left to invoke the desktop and screen sleep respectively.

Is it just me, or do these boards seem much pleasant and informative lately? These threads have been a treat to read.

I went to a store specifically to try out and buy this one. I was prepared to pay $69.

However, I found it to be woefully short of the hype. Other than the basic mouse functions of moving the cursor around and clicking the buttons, it is not useful for anything else.

I tried various gestures I read here on appleinsider's earlier review and found that the mouse too "light" to stay put while you are doing anything without holding the base of the mouse with your rest of the fingers or in many cases with the other hand. It cannot really do the "magic" things at all.

I am an avid fan of the big trackpad on macbook pros and I use every possible gesture on a daily basis. One of the (many) big reasons I moved to macs is the great touch pad. PC world sucks on that aspect.

I think they should have done a much more radical design of a flat mouse pad like sheet that stays put on the surface with some rubbery friction and lets you go crazy with the gestures.

I cannot pay $69 for just another mouse. There are many $30 bluetooth mice out there that do a wonderful job.

Same here. Thought I d the only one who just absolutely loves the mighty mouse. Shame really for no expose button/gesture. They better incorporate it in the next update. I am underwhelmed by the magic mouse thus far. Of course in many ways it's much better than any of the competition or the atrocious prototype puke uglies from ms, but that isn't saying much...

yes indeed, corners are a real treat, I have them in all my macs, but I have a slightly different set up, to my (a righty) the upper right seems impossible to use, to much work, plus search is far too close. I have show desktop upper left, expose within app lower left, and expose lower right. I too would suggest that the member who hasn't yet should try them, before I did I was very suspicious of them, I thought they might be a gimmick, but they are just great.

Been using it everyday since the day it was introduced. Every single person complaining about No Expose button on the magic mouse needs to get a clue.

If you use a desktop computer with any regularity, you shouldn't be forcing awkward clicks on poorly placed buttons. There are two places that it's relatively safe and comfortable to be clicking. Right, and Left.

Side, No. Middle, No. Use Hot Corners, and save yourself from injury.

Hot corners are great and I totally disagree with those people here who are dissing the mouse for lacking <insert feature/hotkey of the day here> but it has to be said that hot corners only work really well on a small screen. On a 30" screen this is not really a single swipe action anymore.

Complaining about expose access is a terribly lame though when you consider the following:

- ones hands are on the keyboard most of the time
- even when grabbing the mouse, your left hand is still on the keyboard
- all of the hotkeys (expose, dashboard, etc. are on the left)
- Apple's keyboards are so small that you don't even have to lift your hand to reach said keys.

In other words there is a dedicated hot key for expose and for dashboard right under your damn finger pretty much 24/7.