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OS 10.2 Mouse Question

P

Pepzhez

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 23, 2002
161
1
My Apple Pro Mouse just died. Too much strain on the short cord finally did it in. OK, I've been wanting another mouse, but I have a couple of questions here.

I've seen enough people here swear that Microsoft mice are the best thing to get for a Mac, so I'll go for it. But first ...

Does anyone know how many mice buttons OS X can support? (I'm running Jaguar.) I'm looking at the Microsoft optical mice and am a bit confused about this. I know I can use a 2-button mouse with OS X, but is two the limit? A 3-button mouse looks sweet, but I'm not sure if I'd just be wasting money, as I can't find any info at the Apple site about how many mice buttons OS X can support.

I'm also interested in the MS optical trackball. It does have OS X support. Anyone ever used this thing? I did once use a non-optical trackball on a PC and found it to be quite comfortable. I don't know if an optical trackball is worth a damn, though.

Any advice, experiences, etc. are much appreciated! Thanks.
 
I'm pretty sure OS X supports 2 buttons and a scroll-wheel natively.

However, zip over to the microsoft website and download the latest OS X drivers (yes, ironically enough microsoft provides support for OS X on its hardware products)

I think that's right...
 
Just get a Logitech 2 button + scroll wheel, plug it in and your away. It'l be cheaper, driver free, sexier and have nothing to do with The Evil Empire.
 
My Kensington Optical Pro has a normal left-click, right-click, a scrollwheel, and 2 extra buttons on the side.. it works without a driver if you're wondering... but once you download (or install from the CD which comes with it) the driver software, you can customize each button to do it's own thing... the options are left-click, right-click, drag, double-click, open file, open URL, and a few more...
Once I made the left button to right-click, and vica versa.. I got confused in about 5 seconds.. hehe :D

Anyways, my point is that I don't think Jaguar has any limitations.. it's just the driver software which might not have as many options (or have alot options for that matter)

Also.. look into Kensington and Logitech beforehand, don't just listen to the other guys.. look for the mouse which is perfect FOR YOU...




irmongoose
 
I have a Micro$oft Intelli Mouse Explorer Optical (they don't sell that one anymore), which has 5 Buttons... and would never want to have any other mouse! It's just great, and the three buttons (left, right, scrollwheel) work fine in Jaguar without any additional software... but I have the Micro$oft software installed, so that I can actually use the forward/backward buttons in the browser, too... no problems in Jaguar, you can configure every button individually for every app... it's awesome :D
I hate M$, but their mice are just great!
I think they have this 5-button model as a intelli mouse explorer wireless now, you might wanna check that one out...
 
All 5 buttons of the MS Intellimouse Explorer work in OS X. I personally only use two, but you can use 4 & 5 as back/forward buttons for a web browser, and you can click the third in a web browser to enable "move-the-mouse-to-scroll" or whatever it's called. The mouse can probably do more than this - I don't know because I don't have the Intellimouse software installed.
 
Originally posted by alex_ant
All 5 buttons of the MS Intellimouse Explorer work in OS X. I personally only use two, but you can use 4 & 5 as back/forward buttons for a web browser, and you can click the third in a web browser to enable "move-the-mouse-to-scroll" or whatever it's called. The mouse can probably do more than this - I don't know because I don't have the Intellimouse software installed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, as I already said, you can configure every button individually for every app... so you can, for example, configure one button in mail so that it runs the 'get mail' command, and the other one to 'reply'... or something like this... it's really helpful sometimes (another example would be chimera, where the default forward/backward function doesn't work)...
 
I use USB Overdrive with my Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Explorer mouse and it works great. In my global settings I have the fifth button assigned to the key stroke command-h, which hides the app. that's currently in the foreground. This makes it easy to clean up the desktop.

By saying that I have a Microsoft mouse, doesn't mean that you should run out and buy one. I suggest going somewhere where you can try each mouse, like Compusa. You might find that you like feel of a Logitech mouse better.

Draft
 
Originally posted by Lz0
Just get a Logitech 2 button + scroll wheel, plug it in and your away. It'l be cheaper, driver free, sexier and have nothing to do with The Evil Empire.
Click to expand...
theyre uncomfortable tho :(....well atleast all the logitech mice ive seen...
 
A M$ alternative

Kensington Optical Elite mouse!!! Its only $30, has a great look and feel, pretty good tracking, and 5 buttons (inclu. scroll wheel). I believe that IMG posted a review of it. I personally could not be happier with it, and at the price it will kick any IntelliMouse's ass! Logitechs are good, but also a tad expensive. The dual optical is pretty nice.
 
Thanks for all the replies! I went out and looked around and ended up buying the Logitech Marble Mouse (which is really a trackball). So I didn't go to the dark side after all. The MS trackballs were sweet and had a very nice feel, but I just didn't want to spend that much on a mouse. The Marble Mouse I got on sale for $20 and am very happy with it for the price I paid. Thought I might want a scroll wheel, but pleasantly discovered that the "extra" two buttons on the Logitech are better than a wheel, really. And quick and easy to d/l the Logitech software for OS X.

After only a few hours using this thing, I'm really wondering how I got along with the Apple Pro Mouse for all this time. I'm just zipping through my edits in Final Cut Pro like I never did before. And now I actually enjoy using the GIMP! (GIMP relies heavily on right-clicking and is a tedious nightmare if you are control-clicking - and you will be - constantly.) And I love not having to wave my wrist around to and fro.

Drawbacks? Well, it isn't the most attractive looking device, but I wasn't impressed with the look of the MS products either. Granted, the Pro Mouse looked great, and as much as I love Apple, I just don't know why Jobs stubornly clings to the one button mouse. And those short cords just have to go! The strain on it is what finally killed my Pro Mouse. Apple is right about things 99% of the time, but they they really need to concede that their mouse designs are just stubbornly retrograde. (And please someone explain the short cord fixation! Why oh why? Jobs' neurosis over clutter and dangling wires perhaps?)

Anyway, thanks for all the help!
 
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