Introduction
Many reports on the web (1, 2, 3) complain that the mouse tracking speed (or accelleration) is not sufficient under Mac OS X, especially with a large (or high-resolution) display. I set out to refute this in a verifiable and conclusive manner.
Test Setup
-Mouse used: Apple Wireless (bluetooth) Model A1015
-Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.7 "Tiger"
-Mouse tracking speed: 6th notch; three notches shy of the "fast" setting
-Mousing surface: Tucano Bunny (MPDEL-179) textured-plastic surface, 19.7cm wide by 22.9 cm high; ("portrait" orientation as depicted in link.)
-Desktop size: 2048 x 768 pixels; (dual-display 1024x768, side-by-side virtual orientation)
-Measureing device: Wescott wooden meterstick
No haxies or alternative drivers were installed on the test system.
Testing procedure
Prior to testing, the bottom of the mouse was cleaned with a dry Kleenex facial tissue. The mousepad was likewise wiped with facial tissues.
The mouse itself was positioned along the extreme left edge of the mousepad; a straightedge was used to align the mouse and mousepad edge. The mouse pointer was positioned at the extreme left of the display (The trackpad was used to move the pointer when necessary, so as not to distrub the position of the mouse.) A skilled operator* moved the mouse in a rapid motion until he determined that the mouse pointer had reached the extreme right of the display area. At this point he released the mouse.
A measurement was taken of the horizontal distance between the left edge of the mousepad (the starting point) and the resting position of the mouse (the ending point) and the experiment was repeated an additional four times. Anomalous or unsuccessful movements were rejected.
Measurements
4.3cm, 5.4cm, 4.2cm, 5.0cm, 4.6cm
(n.b. For us non-metrics, these numbers are between 1.5 and 2.1 inches)
Calculation of rate
The average (arithmetic mean) distance required was 4.7cm. Using the following formula
r = p / d
where r is the rate in pixels/cm, p is the number of horizontal pixels, and d is the horizontal distance travelled, the average tracking speed observed was 435.7 pix/cm..
Analysis
Among the highest-resolution displays on the market is the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. It has an horizontal resolution of 2560 pixels. If one assumes that the widest practical display configuration is two of these displays, configured side-by-side in a virtual desktop, the maximum horizontal distance that could it concievably be necessary to traverse is 5120 pixels.
The mousepad used in this experiment has a width of 19.7cm. The mouse used has a width of 6.1cm. This results in 13.6cm of available horizontal space for motion. At the average rate of travel calculated above, this is sufficent to allow an operator to traverse 5926 pixels --significantly larger than our theoretical maximum--without exceeding the boundaries of a commonly available mousepad.
Limitations
The testing above applies only to the mouse and driver (the Mac OS default) examined. Presumably, other Apple mice, including the USB single-button optical and the Mighty Mouse, as well as other mouse devices which use similar tracking mechanisms and the OS X driver, would perform similarly.
The performance is also dependent on the skill and experience of the operator. many of the complaints linked in the introduction are from people who have only recently come to use Macintosh computers and Mac OS X.
Conclusion
The mouse acceleration and tracking speed under Mac OS X are sufficient to allow an experienced operator to traverse an arbitrarily large desktop without exceeding the bounds of an ordinary mousepad. If you feel you need USB Overdrive or similar products, it's cause your hand is slow, not the mouse.
[SIZE=-2]* The operator (me) has over a decade's experience manipulaing mousing devices attached to Macintosh computers, and over 15 years' experience working with mousing devices in general.[/SIZE]
EDITED: for sppellnig
Many reports on the web (1, 2, 3) complain that the mouse tracking speed (or accelleration) is not sufficient under Mac OS X, especially with a large (or high-resolution) display. I set out to refute this in a verifiable and conclusive manner.
Test Setup
-Mouse used: Apple Wireless (bluetooth) Model A1015
-Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4.7 "Tiger"
-Mouse tracking speed: 6th notch; three notches shy of the "fast" setting
-Mousing surface: Tucano Bunny (MPDEL-179) textured-plastic surface, 19.7cm wide by 22.9 cm high; ("portrait" orientation as depicted in link.)
-Desktop size: 2048 x 768 pixels; (dual-display 1024x768, side-by-side virtual orientation)
-Measureing device: Wescott wooden meterstick
No haxies or alternative drivers were installed on the test system.
Testing procedure
Prior to testing, the bottom of the mouse was cleaned with a dry Kleenex facial tissue. The mousepad was likewise wiped with facial tissues.
The mouse itself was positioned along the extreme left edge of the mousepad; a straightedge was used to align the mouse and mousepad edge. The mouse pointer was positioned at the extreme left of the display (The trackpad was used to move the pointer when necessary, so as not to distrub the position of the mouse.) A skilled operator* moved the mouse in a rapid motion until he determined that the mouse pointer had reached the extreme right of the display area. At this point he released the mouse.
A measurement was taken of the horizontal distance between the left edge of the mousepad (the starting point) and the resting position of the mouse (the ending point) and the experiment was repeated an additional four times. Anomalous or unsuccessful movements were rejected.
Measurements
4.3cm, 5.4cm, 4.2cm, 5.0cm, 4.6cm
(n.b. For us non-metrics, these numbers are between 1.5 and 2.1 inches)
Calculation of rate
The average (arithmetic mean) distance required was 4.7cm. Using the following formula
r = p / d
where r is the rate in pixels/cm, p is the number of horizontal pixels, and d is the horizontal distance travelled, the average tracking speed observed was 435.7 pix/cm..
Analysis
Among the highest-resolution displays on the market is the 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. It has an horizontal resolution of 2560 pixels. If one assumes that the widest practical display configuration is two of these displays, configured side-by-side in a virtual desktop, the maximum horizontal distance that could it concievably be necessary to traverse is 5120 pixels.
The mousepad used in this experiment has a width of 19.7cm. The mouse used has a width of 6.1cm. This results in 13.6cm of available horizontal space for motion. At the average rate of travel calculated above, this is sufficent to allow an operator to traverse 5926 pixels --significantly larger than our theoretical maximum--without exceeding the boundaries of a commonly available mousepad.
Limitations
The testing above applies only to the mouse and driver (the Mac OS default) examined. Presumably, other Apple mice, including the USB single-button optical and the Mighty Mouse, as well as other mouse devices which use similar tracking mechanisms and the OS X driver, would perform similarly.
The performance is also dependent on the skill and experience of the operator. many of the complaints linked in the introduction are from people who have only recently come to use Macintosh computers and Mac OS X.
Conclusion
The mouse acceleration and tracking speed under Mac OS X are sufficient to allow an experienced operator to traverse an arbitrarily large desktop without exceeding the bounds of an ordinary mousepad. If you feel you need USB Overdrive or similar products, it's cause your hand is slow, not the mouse.
[SIZE=-2]* The operator (me) has over a decade's experience manipulaing mousing devices attached to Macintosh computers, and over 15 years' experience working with mousing devices in general.[/SIZE]
EDITED: for sppellnig
