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How to right-click in MAC OS X

M

Mazinger4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 21, 2004
1
0
Illinois
Hi mac enthusiasts, I recentely migrated to the mac wold and am having a heck of a hard time to aclimatize. The most bothersome and hard thing to figure out is "How to right click in mack"? I do not know how to drag items ot to open additional commands on an object without the right click button.
I play yahoo 'Pool" games in my old PC laptops, but can't using macs. I cannot shoot the que stick , since in PC you must right-click and drag, then release. Ive looked everywhere to find an answer to this incognita, but no luck. Can anyone of you help in this matter??
Also, doc documents are a pain in MAC. the MS office X that came in my laptop is only ficticious, it works for a few days where you cannot even print, then is shuts down and tells you if you want to use it you must pay 599 dls.
This sucks, since the only software that works is Apple's WORKS, and itdoes not fully support MS word docs. They look distorted and changed when opening with this software.
I am really frustrated. Any suggestions...
"The mac world is really complicated....!
Mazinger4
 
hold the control button while you click.

dont worry you'll get it. alot of whats hard is just deprogramming your windows training. Welcome! :D
 
Mazinger4 said:
Hi mac enthusiasts, I recentely migrated to the mac wold and am having a heck of a hard time to aclimatize. The most bothersome and hard thing to figure out is "How to right click in mack"? I do not know how to drag items ot to open additional commands on an object without the right click button.
I play yahoo 'Pool" games in my old PC laptops, but can't using macs. I cannot shoot the que stick , since in PC you must right-click and drag, then release. Ive looked everywhere to find an answer to this incognita, but no luck. Can anyone of you help in this matter??
Also, doc documents are a pain in MAC. the MS office X that came in my laptop is only ficticious, it works for a few days where you cannot even print, then is shuts down and tells you if you want to use it you must pay 599 dls.
This sucks, since the only software that works is Apple's WORKS, and itdoes not fully support MS word docs. They look distorted and changed when opening with this software.
I am really frustrated. Any suggestions...
"The mac world is really complicated....!
Mazinger4
Click to expand...

The Mac world is only complicated for those that have converted from an even more complicated universe...

Anyway, the right click is control(ctrl) click, or, spend a couple of dollars and buy a two button mouse, to make it easier to right click. Ironically, i have a M$ wheel optical mouse, what does the job, but is nothing special. It was on one of the old peecees at work, and i rescued it before the computers were returned. You can open .doc files using text edit, which is in your applications folder.

Just out of interest what computer did you buy? The Macintosh experience is a good one, and when these little problems are sorted, Macintosh will seem much easier and better to use but it will take a while.
 
to right click hold the control button and click, or get a two button mouse if that is easier for you, the Office problem seems to be from the fact that the Test Drive version is the only one that comes pre-installed on the pro machines, which limits what you can do with it, you can use Text Edit for a word processor if you like, or if you want total compatibility you are going to have to get MS Office just like you would have to on a Windows machine, however if you are a student you can get the Student and Teacher version for much less
 
Stuff Apple and their 1 button mouse, control click crap, do yourself a favor and buy a 2 button mouse for your Mac. It makes life SO much easier!
 
For some reason I don't really have problem with Apple's one button mice. I got really used to it and don't really feel the urge to right-click anymore.
 
1) Get a Logitech Wired or Wireless notebook mouse.

2) MS Office that comes w/ Macs is a trial version.
 
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The multi button idea is redundant, it assumes that you will always have one hand on the mouse, (true for PC users who only use computers for games) where in truth you'll always (most of the time) have one hand on the keyboard, probably two hands when using text processing applications (very common for I can't open word documents wingers). go and buy office or word for Mac, it's better than the PC version.)

I use so many short cuts that my left hand thumb is always on control option or command. the idea of having to move my right hand away from the keyboard to do functions that have been assigned to extra mouse buttons, really seems pointless.

Having said that, unless apple make a keyboard with three extra buttons on the left edge of the keyboard to operate exposé then I can actually see myself using a multi button mouse just for that operation.

I also think that the more people experiment with the way they work, the more chance of them appreciating the thought that went into things like a one button mouse. Adaptation is a very useful skill.
 
There are one-button mice and multi-button mice. The multi-button mice won out because that's what users wanted. If it wasn't better, people would have tried it, hated it, and stuck with their single button mice.

Its like mouse evolution....survival of the fittest. Guess which mouse won? Can you also guess the reason why?

Control + Click = "Right Click"

Using a 2 button mouse: Right Click on Mac = Right Click on PC

And oddly enough for you: Apple + Click = Ctrl + Click on Windows ;)

So like others have said, get a 2 button mouse, and right click will still be "right click".

And MS Office may only cost $100-150 if you're a student. :) Its quite a good deal, and I think its the same as the one on Windows.
 
Sort of along the same lines -- in Windows when you right click you will see a prompt for 'New' where you can select from the drop-down a new text file or Word document. I really like this and was wondering if there is something similar in OS X?
 
starrin said:
Sort of along the same lines -- in Windows when you right click you will see a prompt for 'New' where you can select from the drop-down a new text file or Word document. I really like this and was wondering if there is something similar in OS X?
Click to expand...
Nope, as far as I know there isn't anything built-in to OS X that does this. Well, I guess you could open Terminal and type "touch filename" so you could create a text file like that, but most likely you're not familiar with Terminal, it can be a scary place if you don't know what you're doing :)
 
im a switcher (switched 2 years ago) and the best thing i did was get a 3 button mouse for the mac. i still hate the single button on the PB so i hook up an external mouse whenever i get the chance.
 
Get a mouse with 5 buttons (2 thumb buttons) and map the 2 thumb buttons to expose functions. Before I got my Mac, I thought the 2 thumb buttons were worthless but now I love them to death.
 
edesignuk said:
Stuff Apple and their 1 button mouse, control click crap, do yourself a favor and buy a 2 button mouse for your Mac. It makes life SO much easier!
Click to expand...

I gotta disagree with this- and Kettle hit it on the head. If you know what you're doing, the keyboard is a more powerful method than the right click. You're hand is there anyway, right, unless you're a gamer? The amount of 'Apple+...' shortcuts, 'Option+..', etc, etc, etc,.. in the OS and any app I'm running, (You're a designer, right Edesign?) plus the app switcher and expose means my left hand is permanently at the keyboard anyway-there's probably 100 commands I do through the keyboard. Right click seems very redundant. And although it's a matter of preference, you simply can't discount control+click as 'crap'.
 
DavidLeblond said:
Get a mouse with 5 buttons (2 thumb buttons) and map the 2 thumb buttons to expose functions. Before I got my Mac, I thought the 2 thumb buttons were worthless but now I love them to death.
Click to expand...

Tell that to a future PowerBook user. Its asinine that Apple holds onto this inane, almost kindergarten like obsession to keep their systems neutered with a one button mouse.

I'm sorry but the idea that the one button mouse is simpler is stupid. As the originator of the thread deftly proved unless you KNOW about the keyboard shortcut you will never know that OS X has context sensitive menus. Alternatively if you have a two button mouse and you SEE that there is an alternative button you will try the button and see "hey! I get the features that are on the drop down menu. Cool!"
We aren't talking rocket science people. If a person can't figure out what a context sensitive menu is and what a right mouse button's purpose is they should go back to the afore mentioned kindergarten and bone up on their basic critical thinking skills. Just be sure to give then the nontoxic paste. :rolleyes:
 
decksnap said:
you simply can't discount control+click as 'crap'.
Click to expand...


Sure I can. Because if there was a two button mouse it would open up the option for users who want to take the context sensitive menu to the next level:
right click, left click, right-ctrl click, left-ctrl click.
Any way you look at it it's a neutering of the system by taking away basic functionality that has been on the PC since almost the beginning. Jobs and Apple are doing this for the sake of being different, not simple.
 
SiliconAddict said:
Sure I can. Because if there was a two button mouse it would open up the option for users who want to take the context sensitive menu to the next level:
right click, left click, right-ctrl click, left-ctrl click.
Any way you look at it it's a neutering of the system by taking away basic functionality that has been on the PC since almost the beginning. Jobs and Apple are doing this for the sake of being different, not simple.
Click to expand...

I don't think they're doing this for the sake of being different. They use a single mouse button because Apple has ALWAYS used a single mouse button. As a longtime Windows user who just recently switched to the Mac, the ONLY time I feel like I need a 2+ button mouse is when I use Blender (which is impossible to use with a one button mouse, I've tried.) I have no problem with Ctrl-Clicking, and I found out how to do so from the manual (which if you start in a new environment without RTFM then its your own fault.)
 
Silicon-

Sure you CAN, the same way I can disagree. See how that works? How many buttons does your keyboard have? How many more do you need? Quite honestly, the contextual menu is one of the least used keyboard shortcuts for me anyway. OS X is not really built to be contextual menu dependant.
 
I say each person uses the mouse that suits their needs and preferences and let this discussion cease. I doubt anyone is going to convince another to "switch" to another mouse due to the number of buttons.
 
tech4all said:
For some reason I don't really have problem with Apple's one button mice. I got really used to it and don't really feel the urge to right-click anymore.
Click to expand...


I 100% agree! I very rarely right click on the Mac anymore (control click).
 
I hate to bring this up, but when I was teaching my dad how to use his PC (HP) he CONSTANTLY pushed the wrong button. He still right clicks when he should left click and also double clicks internet links. When my mom got an iBook, I told her to click to select, double click to open. That's it. She was off and running.

I know we are not all "old and set in our ways", but newbies go mostly by intuition and for that purpose a one button mouse is better.
 
Just out of curiousity is there a way to program your mouse system wide to say do a specific task, such as bring up force quit?

I have a 5 button mouse and 3 of them feel left out :(
 
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