Trackpad++: Alternate Trackpad Driver for BootCamp

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Hello Everybody,

My name is Vladimir Shoham. I wrote an alternate trackpad driver for Macbook Pro/Air running Windows 8. Guess many people will find the rich multitouch gesture support useful. So, I decided to post here at MacRumors...

Some details about the Trackpad++ driver:

Supported Apple Macbook Pro generations: Early 2009, Mid 2009, Mid 2010, Early 2011, Late 2011, Mid 2012 / Retina.
Supported Apple Macbook Air generations: Mid 2009, Late 2010, Mid 2011, Mid 2012.

Improved basics (vs. Boot Camp drivers 4.x):

1.) Accelerated/natural scrolling model implemented;
2.) Better pointer ballistics (i.e. how a pointer speed depends on a finger speed; six optimal presets built-in);
3.) Bug-free dragging with two fingers (both fingers allowed to move freely, unlike with Boot Camp-native driver), plus a unique option to increase the pointer speed while dragging;
4.) User-customizable option to ignore accidental trackpad input when typing, option to eliminate accidental drag'n'drop actions (for tap-style dragging);

Advanced multitouch gestures:

1.) Horizontal 2-finger swiping to the left from outside the right edge (action: show/hide Charms
2.) Horizontal 2-finger swiping to the right from outside the left edge (action: show/hide Metro Switcher if at least 1 Metro app is running)
3.) Horizontal 3-finger swiping (action: back / forward)
4.) Vertical 3-finger swiping (action: zoom in / zoom out)
5.) 3-finger tap (action: middle mouse button)
6.) Horizontal 4-finger swiping (action: show/hide Charms Bar)
7.) Vertical 4-finger swiping (action: minimize/restore open windows)
8.) 4-finger tap (action: show/hide Start screen)

Note that I am not saying the software is perfect already, neither I force you to install it. If you have any feedback (including the critics, of course), please post here.

I don't know if I am allowed to post the download links, so just search the web for "Trackpad++".

 

[Richdmoore]

Is this driver for the Magic Trackpad as well, or only the built in trackpads?

 

[vistadude]

Is MacBook with unibody and multitouch trackpad supported? Is power plan assistant spyware?

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Is this driver for the Magic Trackpad as well, or only the built in trackpads?

The driver is for the built-in trackpads only.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Is MacBook with unibody and multitouch trackpad supported? Is power plan assistant spyware?

Trackpad++ is for the Macbook Pro and Air only (see the first post for the list of compatible device generations).

Power Plan Assistant is an ultimate manual / automatic power plan switcher with a compact yet very informative system Power icon replacement (option) and lots of other goods specific to Macbook Pro and Air: the world's only alternate keyboard backlight control, one click wi-fi/bluetooth toggles, and, actually, much more. The Power Plan Assistant does not have spyware, furthermore, we always check the resulting setup package with VirusTotal.com (they have 50+ world's most recognized, up-to-date antivirus and antimalware engines).

 

[bable]

Word on the street is that this driver disables the function buttons on the keyboard(volume/brightness, etc), is this true? It sounded fishy but plausible...

Edit : Just installed it, no function key issues!

 

[melantye]

trackpad ++ works beautifully on my rMBP, also even the scrolling is far better than the bootcamp driver!

 

[Mackan]

Thanks for this trackpad driver. Should be invaluable for Boot Camp users. Especially now for Windows 8, which will make heavy use of multitouch gestures.

It's very apparent by now that we'll never get appropriate drivers from Apple.

 

[knowhate]

.

 

[radiohead14]

works fine right now, but the installation seems shady. i don't understand why it had to install the same things twice. and i don't understand why it has a weekly expiration? what exactly is the reasoning for this, as this is worrying me. dev, please respond. thanks

ps. other than that, it's working fine. wish it gave the option for 2 finger gestures instead of 3.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Regarding the word "shady". Well, some people believe that the threats are everywhere. Some people believe there is a ghost in the corner room, some do not. It's their right obviously, and it's fully respected. To make sure the software is clean, check its installer or the individual files with antivirus, or, better, VirusTotal.com (it's an ultimate online check which combines 50+ antivirus/antimalware engines).
As for the freeware with weekly re-download, this is what we chose for now. The driver is not limited in its functionality, and you can use use it infinitely without paying a cent, just by getting a new build weekly.

@radiohead14: And yes, since the driver integrates into the Boot Camp HID drivers stack, it partially rebuilds the stack, so it's normal that the driver installation warning pops up twice during the first setup. This is in fact indicated right in the green setup window.

@All: Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

 

[AnonMac50]

I have a MacBook Pro with a multitouch trackpad, but it is not unibody. The drivers do not work properly. Will it ever?

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Of course, the driver will not work properly with pre-unibody... Because, as it is clearly indicated right on the homepage of the project, the only supported Apple Macbook Pro generations are: Early 2009, Mid 2009, Mid 2010, Early 2011, Late 2011, Mid 2012 / Retina.
Sorry, but the development is for Unibody only. Units older than those from this list will not be supported.

@All: Happy New Year!

 

[Fiestaman]

Maybe it's just me, but I have NEVER been able to get your site to work. I love the application and utilize it on my father's MacBook Air, since he only utilizes Windows. However, it is an absolute pain to utilize because it requires weekly updates and the site has almost zero bandwidth at any time. I was even trying to donate to get rid of the time limit, but I can't do that since I can't access the site. Let me know when the site works so I can actually utilize this awesome application to its potential.

 

[SideStepSociety]

I would love and fully endorse this driver, if it wasn't for that Power Plan Assistant addition.

If I wanted Power Plan Assistant, I would download it. I'm a minimalist, if I don't need it, I don't want it.

As much as I'm sure you won't ever change this, and you probably have a good reason for forcing people to install it to use the Trackpad++ driver, I think you'd get much better response from folks if you at least made it an option to skip the PPA install.

For your health.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

@Fiestaman: Very strange, as from here the website works flawlessly. Please check again. And please let me thank you in advance for willing to support the project!

@SideStepSociety: Well, the future of the project is to a large extent built on the feedback from the people. And it's highly appreciated that you had spent some time to share your opinion.

 

[Fiestaman]

@Fiestaman: Very strange, as from here the website works flawlessly. Please check again. And please let me thank you in advance for willing to support the project!

It actually IS very strange. Your site can be accessed from my home and from my laptop at my workplace, but using another computer at work doesn't seem to get through. I am also not able to access it from my father's place, nor using my cellphone's data connection. They all simply time out or have gateway issues. It is very hit or miss as to whether I may access the site or not. I only say this so that others do not have trouble accessing your site.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Oh yes, really strange... Thank you for posting!

 

[redcolumbia]

Hi Vladimir,

Paying user for the Trackpad ++ drivers (registered with license). On Windows 8 professional, x64, mid-2012 Macbook Air.

I've found several bugs that I'm hoping you would address, otherwise it is unusable at its current state.

1) Trackpad++ seems to modify the Windows/Users/USERNAME/appdata/local/temp folder permission settings. What it does is it deletes the logged in administrator user from permissions to modify the file. This is a major problem because MANY installers use that folder to extract installation files, and none of the installers (sugarsync, dropbox, thunderbird, firefox, you name it) run. When I first discovered this problem, it took me days and days to figure out what was wrong. I thought the User Account was corrupted and ended up reformatting my computer multiple times to diagnose the problem. I finally found a temporary solution where I need to manually modify the permissions for the folder. I'm 99% sure its because of Trackpad++...when I don't have the program/drivers installed I've used my computer for weeks without any issues. This issue seems to occur regularly, in one to 2 week intervals (i.e. it doesn't happen instantly, but requires some time, maybe related to your driver/program update schedule?).

2) Trackpad++ modifies mouse settings. Is there any way you can keep a separate profile for trackpad and mouse? For example, Trackpad++ modifies the scroll wheel down to 1, instead of the default windows 3. Also, it seems to want to turn acceleration on. I hateee mouse acceleration when I'm using a mouse so if I turn it off, either on reboot/restart Trackpad++ resets it and turn acceleration back on.

I know you have separate settings in Trackpad++ that can turn off acceleration etc, but then the trackpad is unusable.

Can you keep the trackpad settings separate from the mouse settings please? I use both trackpad and mouse and the current method makes it impossible to use.

Please advise, thank you!

 

[spinemangler]

Weekly update

I think its obvious why there is a weekly update. He now gets 2 shots every week for you to "accidentally" install the "Findr Toolbar".

Its presented in a way to make you think you are agreeing to the software install, but its just the toolbar. I imagine its just some crap toolbar, but I hate how I have to uncheck it every single time, when really nothing has changed.

I really pray for the day I can ditch this software and use a native driver from apple. The weekly updates, the spyware toolbar and the requiring a reboot just to "re-up" each week is sad.

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Trackpad++ does not modify the write permissions of any folder (yes incuding the folder mentioned above). So, sorry but that 1% fired for you...
Trackpad++ does not include the spyware, either. I am confident that all the antivirus/antispyware tests in the universe would not find anything suspicious, because the software is proudly clean. Just go and check, please. If you are unsure, though, the best solution would be not to use the Trackpad++ at all. Just contact and ask them to make a good driver. And because we all payed 2-3K for this nifty piece of aluminium, I think will respect this and almost immediately respond and provide superb multitouch gesture support in Boot Camp.

Mouse wheel acceleration cannot be affected by Trackpad++, because it is coded inside the trackpad driver! However, the pointer formula set by Trackpad++ is shared, and, sure, this is the subject for improvement.

Thank you for the feedback, all the good people.

 

[Crwoo]

looks great, wish it would work for the magic trackpad please

 

[Senseotech]

I tried this when I first installed Windows 8 on my 2012 MBA 13", and quite frankly, the experience was horrible. Since I was on 64-bit, I had to install the Power Plan junk I had no desire for whatsoever. Then to make it even better, the driver didn't even work; the shady process of disabling driver signing didn't work so the trackpad driver didn't even function.

 

[CocaCoca]

Wooot!!! Greetings Vladimir!!! I just noticed your thread there! You don't know me but I'm a big big fan of your work since I had discovered the Power Plan Assistant app for MacBook more than two years ago! And later your trackpad driver made me even more addicted Both Power Plan and T++ are truly amazing apps on my bootcamped MBA. Thank U much!!!

 

[V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r]

Oh, thank you!

A note for people who run into any issues: do not hesitate to contact us directly via email. And let's keep this thread focused on the feedback and suggestions. Thank you!