I got a Magic Mouse for Christmas, and I like it a lot better than I thought I would. When first hearing about it, I thought the Magic Mouse sounded amazing, like a combination of the best features of a mouse and a trackpad (yes, I’m addicted to two-finger scrolling) without the mechanical deficiencies of past mice. Then I began reading people’s experiences, in particular, gripes about the lack of configurability of gestures provided by the Mouse preference pane.
Magic Mouse Preferences
But I got one anyway, if for no other reason than I had to see for myself. And I must say, I’m mighty impressed. The mouse works quite well for my purposes. I can use it on our leather couch with minimal tracking glitches. And in most respects it simply behaves like a normal, decent cordless mouse, which is extremely useful now that I’m all portable and junk.
But what really makes the Magic Mouse something special is that you can, in theory, make it behave however you want. And that theory becomes practice with the installation of a single piece of software: MagicPrefs (or the more configurable, but less user-friendly BetterTouchTool, which also allows you to configure your trackpad).
MagicPrefs Preferences
MagicPrefs allows you to configure your Magic Mouse with whatever multi-touch gestures you want. I really like the fact that it allows you to disable single-finger scrolling and replace it with two-finger scrolling on the Magic Mouse. This alone has reduced the huge number of accidental scrolls I’ve made and has allowed me to match the way I use the mouse and the trackpad.
With MagicPrefs I’ve also assigned Exposé to multi-finger clicks on my Magic Mouse, bringing back a missing feature of my old Mighty Mouse.
Out of the box I’m quite satisfied with my Magic Mouse. And multi-touch gestures make it possibly the coolest mouse I’ve ever used.
5 Comments
So my only problem with the mighty mouse is that it’s an ergonomic nightmare for people with large hands. I have to keep my fingers hovering over the mouse buttons, and it’s so small that my hand cramps up after a few minutes of use. Apple has forever been a company that looks to design first, usability second with regards to hardware. It frustrates me to no end, but, luckily there are plenty of other peripheral manufacturers that make usable stuff.
I meant to say magic mouse but the same comment applies to the mighty mouse.
“Apple has forever been a company that looks to design first, usability second with regards to hardware.”
I’m not sure that this is completely accurate. The iPod and iPhone are excellent examples of Apple considering usability as a core part of product design in ways that are, I think, ultimately quite successful. At least for those of us with smaller hands.
I totally agree, though, that Apple’s usability track record for mice has been spotty at best. The puck was quite possibly the worst mouse design, from a usability perspective, ever. The Magic Mouse, so far, for me, though, has been pretty good (as was the Mighty Mouse). Though I do prefer the feel of some other mice, the difference is marginal. I guess I’m just lucky.
-systemsboy
I agree, the click wheel is probably the single best physical interface Apple has designed. I just want to love the Magic Mouse, but alas it’s not for me. I will however be using in other applications (music mostly) as a controller.
when I first used the magic mouse I figured out that I’m not moving my hand at all. the mouse rests between my thumb and my little finger, my index and middle finger perfectly over the “buttons”. I’m just pushing the mouse around, not even lifting or moving my palm. that works REALLY good for me, and I have big hands too!