Magic Mouse software update released

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Today, Apple released updates for both Leopard and Snow Leopard enabling the OS to use the multi-touch capabilities of standalone versions of the Magic Mouse.



The updates, which weigh in at 64 and 36 megabytes respectively, require Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) or 10.6.1 (Snow Leopard) in order to install. Alternatively, yet to be released OS X version 10.6.2 is slated to have native Magic Mouse support and will not require this update for the multi-touch functions to work.



The Magic Mouse is included with the newly introduced iMac models. The standalone version of the mouse retails for $69.



The Magic Mouse is the world's first multi-touch enabled mouse and was introduced October 20th alongside updated iMac and MacBook models. It replaced the Mighty Mouse, which had to be renamed the Apple Mouse due to trademark issues.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 42
    Huh. It's 10:27pm on 10/27/2009 (I know right)...



    Software Update is down.



    Mighty Mouse was a copyright issue? I didn't think the cartoon would care.
  • Reply 2 of 42
    Can you do the, almost universally amongst most mice, easy task of click-locking now? No? Why not. It would be So easy to add it to the control panel. sigh...
  • Reply 3 of 42
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    Madge likes to be stroked with both 1 and 2 fingers. Just be careful when dragging her as she 's very skinny and can mess up your thumbs. I wanna hear some in depth user reviews on using Madge.
  • Reply 4 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by xwiredtva View Post


    Huh. It's 10:27pm on 10/27/2009 (I know right)...



    Software Update is down.



    Mighty Mouse was a copyright issue? I didn't think the cartoon would care.



    The story is not quite accurate. A licensing fee would have to be paid to continue using the copyrighted name "Mighty Mouse". So, while it's true that copyright comes into play it's really a licensing issue. However, there is really no proof that the name "Mighty Mouse" was dropped due to copyright or licensing considerations.
  • Reply 5 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Just be careful when dragging her as she 's very skinny and can mess up your thumbs.



    Plastic surgery is always an option.
  • Reply 6 of 42
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Do they have the Magic Mouse available in Apple stores?
  • Reply 7 of 42
    Don't know if it's in stores yet but my suite-mate just got a new iMac on my advice (my office now has 3 attorneys and one secretary with macs - not bad for the legal profession!).



    The new mouse is giving me a multiple-personality disorder. Sometimes when I use it it's great. BUT . . . if my fingers are even slightly sweaty, or I just put down a drink with condensation (coca-cola etc) I can't execute any of the gestures on it. My fingers stick to the plastic. It's almost as if they need a Teflon coating instead of plastic.



    I really want to like the mouse, but am having issues with it, in short.
  • Reply 8 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Crimguy View Post


    Don't know if it's in stores yet but my suite-mate just got a new iMac on my advice (my office now has 3 attorneys and one secretary with macs - not bad for the legal profession!).



    The new mouse is giving me a multiple-personality disorder. Sometimes when I use it it's great. BUT . . . if my fingers are even slightly sweaty, or I just put down a drink with condensation (coca-cola etc) I can't execute any of the gestures on it. My fingers stick to the plastic. It's almost as if they need a Teflon coating instead of plastic.



    I really want to like the mouse, but am having issues with it, in short.



    Interesting problem... just like what happens with the iPod touch with sweat or slight amounts of oil on the fingertips.



    Let's face it, touch is a bit of a fad and Apple's the best purveyor of the fad so far. Touch is not the answer to everything, and this too, shall pass.
  • Reply 9 of 42
    A little magic mushroom for the Magic Mouse?
  • Reply 10 of 42
    dluxdlux Posts: 666member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Let's face it, touch is a bit of a fad and Apple's the best purveyor of the fad so far. Touch is not the answer to everything, and this too, shall pass.



    I don't think it's a fad, just early in the development curve. (You're not suggesting going back to a mechanical ball, are you?)



    I'm actually surprised how long the bloody Qwerty keyboard has persisted. Future generations will look back on us and think we had no imagination for the past hundred years.
  • Reply 11 of 42
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dlux View Post


    I don't think it's a fad, just early in the development curve. (You're not suggesting going back to a mechanical ball, are you?)



    I recall there were a couple different revisions between ball mouse and touch, so why skip all the way back to the original design?



    Quote:

    I'm actually surprised how long the bloody Qwerty keyboard has persisted. Future generations will look back on us and think we had no imagination for the past hundred years.



    That may become true, but so far, on the desktop/notebook, it's the best we have for high speed human character entry, and it's not for the lack of trying. There are people working on voice control, but they still really haven't made it work well for mainstream use, it's not an easy problem. A touch controlled keyboard works well on a handheld because of size constraints, the same constraint on a desktop/notebook would revert everyone to little better than hunt and peck for text or number entry. There are people working on using brain waves, but that's no picnic either.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    The story is not quite accurate. A licensing fee would have to be paid to continue using the copyrighted name "Mighty Mouse". So, while it's true that copyright comes into play it's really a licensing issue. However, there is really no proof that the name "Mighty Mouse" was dropped due to copyright or licensing considerations.



    Are you talking about using the mouse name as it relates to the cartoon (which I recall was licensed), or as it relates to the fact there was an obscure specialized mouse already on the market with the same name?
  • Reply 12 of 42
    dluxdlux Posts: 666member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    That may become true, but so far, on the desktop/notebook, it's the best we have for high speed human character entry, and it's not for the lack of trying. There are people working on voice control, but they still really haven't made it work well for mainstream use, it's not an easy problem. A touch controlled keyboard works well on a handheld because of size constraints, the same constraint on a desktop/notebook would revert everyone to little better than hunt and peck for text or number entry. There are people working on using brain waves, but that's no picnic either.



    I was hoping that chording keyboards or something else that fit the relaxed human hand would receive more mainstream attention by now. The old argument is that the Qwerty keyboard dominates because it's what everyone already uses and has been trained on, but these days with sophisticated small electronics I'd like to see personalized input devices that you own (kind of like a person's own set of eye glasses) that can be used to interface with any system you walk up to.



    Imagine that you grab a clump of soft clay and form a blob that fits your hand. Now imbue that blob with input sensors, combinations of which can be triggered to enter Unicode into your computer. It would take some up-front training, but once you know how to 'play' the blob you should be able to enter text fairly fast, and not stress all your ligaments in the process.
  • Reply 13 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    That may become true, but so far, on the desktop/notebook, it's the best we have for high speed human character entry, and it's not for the lack of trying.



    Actually, that's not necessarily the case. The poster seems to be referring to the "Qwerty" keyboard. There are other options, for example the Dvorak keyboard and various chord keyboards, which are better for high speed character entry. The problem is that we are stuck with Qwerty because it became a standard on the old mechanical typewriters, and it is extremely difficult to get a culture to change once a standard like this is ingrained.
  • Reply 14 of 42
    It's not in my software update?
  • Reply 15 of 42
    felix01felix01 Posts: 294member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ryanbridgwood View Post


    It's not in my software update?



    Mine neither. Maybe it won't load unless a Magic Mouse is detected via Bluetooth?
  • Reply 16 of 42
    I need buttons to initiate expose and pinch zoom for iPhoto before it becomes useful. I can't believe these were missed by Apple.



    N.B. I don't want full screen zoom, which the mouse already does (as does every other mouse with scroll function), I want to be able to zoom into a photo or PDF without zooming into the rest of the screen.
  • Reply 17 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Felix01 View Post


    Mine neither. Maybe it won't load unless a Magic Mouse is detected via Bluetooth?



    Found it - http://support.apple.com/kb/DL950
  • Reply 18 of 42
    brucepbrucep Posts: 2,823member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    Madge likes to be stroked with both 1 and 2 fingers. Just be careful when dragging her as she 's very skinny and can mess up your thumbs. I wanna hear some in depth user reviews on using Madge.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Plastic surgery is always an option.



    does the magic mice work on all macs ???



    if yes then the touch revolution just went mainstreet or mainstream



    its nice to see you guys are buddies



    peace



    9
  • Reply 19 of 42
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Today, Apple released updates for both Leopard and Snow Leopard enabling the OS to use the multi-touch capabilities of standalone versions of the Magic Mouse.



    The updates, which weigh in at 64 and 36 megabytes respectively, require Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) or 10.6.1 (Snow Leopard) in order to install. Alternatively, yet to be released OS X version 10.6.2 is slated to have native Magic Mouse support and will not require this update for the multi-touch functions to work.



    The Magic Mouse is included with the newly introduced iMac models. The standalone version of the mouse retails for $69.



    The Magic Mouse is the world's first multi-touch enabled mouse and was introduced October 20th alongside updated iMac and MacBook models. It replaced the Mighty Mouse, which had to be renamed the Apple Mouse due to trademark issues.



    Weird things happening. The original article refers to "trademark issues" as does this reply form noted above. However, the forum version (#1) refers it as a "copyright issue."



    As the original version states and the link confirms, it is a "trademark" issue as warranted by the patent approval.
  • Reply 20 of 42
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Crimguy View Post


    Don't know if it's in stores yet but my suite-mate just got a new iMac on my advice (my office now has 3 attorneys and one secretary with macs - not bad for the legal profession!).



    The new mouse is giving me a multiple-personality disorder. Sometimes when I use it it's great. BUT . . . if my fingers are even slightly sweaty, or I just put down a drink with condensation (coca-cola etc) I can't execute any of the gestures on it. My fingers stick to the plastic. It's almost as if they need a Teflon coating instead of plastic.



    I really want to like the mouse, but am having issues with it, in short.



    You'd think the logical thing to do wold be to make it a matte surface. I plan on gettng a Magic Mouse, but if the surface is the same kind of plastic as the Might Mouse, then I have serious reservations about this product.
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