![]() ![]() It’s so natural, and makes so much sense, that I’m even more dumbfounded as to why Apple wouldn’t just build some of these gestures into the device’s software (and I suspect they will in the future via updates).Īnd there’s actually more. I now have easy access to things such as Expose, Dashboard, and Spaces right from the Mighty Mouse. Still, after playing around with all the actions and finding the ones that I like and am comfortable using, MagicPrefs is extremely powerful. Even an obvious action like two-finger click is hard to use because most people will have two fingers resting on the mouse at all times, and when they do a left or right click, the multi-touch top senses the other finger’s presence and will think you’re doing a two-finger click. In my experience with the program, it’s a pretty good idea to follow these recommendations and stay away from the harder to use ones. It’s important to note that a number of actions in both the Swipes and Drag,Pinch, etc areas are labeled with a “*,” meaning they are “potentially hard to use.” There are also some of the Clicks & Taps functions that have this warning. ![]() Another allows you to tap logo to enable something. Two options allow you to drag your finger from the logo left or right to enable some action. Interestingly, there are also options for the Apple logo near the bottom of the Magic Mouse. Similar options also exist for swipes (wiping you fingers across the top of the Magic Mouse, and pinching (pushing two fingers together on the top of the device or pushing them apart). Clicking on the checkbox to enable any of these also shows you a picture of exactly how the function works on the Magic Mouse. There are also all of those options and then some for “taps” which is essentially touching the top of the Magic Mouse without clicking on it. MagicPrefs has options that allow you to set actions for two-finger clicks, three-finger clicks, four-finger clicks, and one-finger middle axis clicks. Clicks & Taps are the ones that are likely to be most useful to you, as they’re the ones that are the easiest to use, and get use to. It gives you a boatload of new multi-touch options for your Magic Mouse, broken into three main categories: Clicks & Taps, Swipes, and Drag, Pinch, etc. MagicPrefs, which is made by developer Vlad Alexa, is a free piece of software that runs in the background once you start it up. (And yes, it’s fully multi-touch capable.) A new third-party program called MagicPrefs, enables all the multi-touch capabilities you could ever want for the device - and even some you likely don’t. Apple gave its new mouse multi-touch capabilities, but only takes advantage of a fraction of what it can do. Ergonomically, I find using two different input devices (three counting the keyboard) does help prevent the overuse of certain hand movements.Back in November, I wrote up a review of the new Magic Mouse, noting that it was “ Apple’s best mouse ever, but…” Essentially, the problem is a software one. I ended up using it together with a Magic Mouse and love the complete lack of wires and connectors. Paired with a normal mouse for the occasional dragging would be a more practical thing to do. I'll say the Magic Trackpad alone is sufficient only if you don't use a lot of dragging operations such as using brushes within graphics or photo editing software. So can the Magic Trackpad really completely replace a mouse? The ability to fly through pages of code and documentation fluidly is also a very productive experience (for programmers). Inertial scrolling and gestures are wonderful almost feels like surfing on iOS devices. ![]() However, the Magic Trackpad works exceptionally well for surfing the web and almost everything else. (Or maybe I'm misunderstanding something here, but the said gestures don't seem to work in Aperture for me) An oversight (software-based) Apple made in my opinion is the lack of support for gesture based zooming and rotation in Aperture. (I believe Lightroom or Photoshop users would face the same problem too) Generally, operations involving lots of dragging (like using brushes) is really hard on the wrist while using the Magic Trackpad. My wrist hurts after editing a dozen or so pictures. It can surely replace a mouse for most things except touching up pictures in Aperture. I've been using the Magic Trackpad for over two weeks now since I asked the question. ![]()
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