By SteveJack
I got my hands on my very own Apple Mighty Mouse today. So far, being a rather impatient type, I’ve just opened the box (which contains the mouse — with an iPod-style cord wrap that accepts the mouse’s USB connector and holds the cord when coiled —and a clear plastic sleeve which I can see holds the Mighty Mouse User’s Guide and what feels like a CD-ROM). I’ll open that stuff in a minute. I’ve unplugged my Kensington StudioMouse from the side of my Apple keyboard and plugged in the Mighty Mouse.
I understand it immediately at first touch. The right click and the left click work exactly the same as my regular old Apple Pro Mouse, but the Mighty Mouse just “knows” when I’ve right-clicked or left-clicked. It “feels” where my finger is placed. The mouse feels exactly the same right-clicking or left-clicking, no rocking or tilting to the right or left, and it feels just like an Apple Pro Mouse: same size, same shape, same mechanical click action where the whole mouse front depresses mechanically. If you click the mouse body with a finger to the left of the scroll ball, it’s a left-click; click it with a finger to the right and it’s a right-click. Simple, no thought required.
I squeeze the two side buttons, right where my thumb and middle fingers want to push and the mouse makes a faint “click” sound that’s different from the mechanical click of the right/left mouse body clicking – the “click” sound for the “squeeze” is generated from the mouse’s tiny speaker inside. It tells me my squeeze has registered. Right now, the squeeze does nothing beyond making the sound, because I haven’t opened the clear plastic sleeve and installed the software, yet.
I try the scroll ball. It makes faint “scrolling” sound that goes faster as I scroll quickly and slower as I scroll slowly; just like an iPod’s Click Wheel, it emits short clicks in succession that tell me I’m scrolling and the speed at which I’m doing it. Hold on, and I’ll open a large Photoshop image to try the 360-degree scroll ball action… Apple wasn’t lying, it scrolls in 360-degrees just fine. Clicking the scroll ball triggers Exposé just like hitting F9.
The Mighty Mouse tracks and scrolls too slowly right now, so let’s see what Mac OS X 10.4.2 Tiger’s default “Keyboard and Mouse” System Preferences let me do. Okay, as you can see below, I can adjust the Tracking Speed, Double-Click Speed, Scrolling Speed, and which button will be my Primary mouse button (good for left-handers).
Okay, now I’ll open the clear plastic sleeve. Just a sec… The little bag contains the User’s Guide, a copy of the One Year Limited Warranty and a CD-ROM labeled “Mighty Mouse Software Version 1.0.” Time to install. Just a moment…
“Read Before You Install Mighty Mouse Software.” Yeah, right. Oh, alright, I’ll do it this once:
About Mighty Mouse Software
Mighty Mouse software provides additional features for Macintosh computers with Mac OS X v10.4.2 or newer.
System Requirements
You must have a Macintosh computer with Mac OS X v10.4.2 or newer.
Mighty Mouse software delivers the following software
New Mouse preference pane
• The new mouse preference pane with additional feature selections will appear when the Mighty Mouse is connected to your Macintosh computer with Mac OS X v10.4.2 or newer.
Using Mighty Mouse Software
To install the Mighty Mouse software:
1. Double click the file called “AppleMouseSoftware.pkg”.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions.
Then plug the USB cable from your Mighty Mouse to a USB port on your Macintosh computer or keyboard to start using this software.
I’m clicking AppleMouseSoftware.pkg now… Standard installation procedure which took less than a minute. Optimizing System Performance, thankfully, took just a few seconds. It requires a Restart (there goes my uptime!) – I’ll be right back…
Okay, I’m back. God, I hate restarts. Thankfully, I do it so infrequently these days. Anyway, to give you an idea, I’d have had the Mighty Mouse’s box opened for about a total five minutes at this point if I wasn’t writing everything down. The Right Click doesn’t work right now – it’s like a one-button mouse except now squeezing the mouse sides triggers Exposé (like F9) now, the scroll ball works, and clicking the scroll ball brings up Dashboard. I’m off to the System Prefs. Now they look like this:
I can set the Mighty Mouse’s four input “buttons” to do whatever I’d like. Apple’s help states, “To set a button to open an application, choose Other and select an application in the dialog that appears. Choose Button 3 (for the scroll-ball button) or Button 4 (for the side buttons) to use your mouse with a video game, CAD program, or other application that works with a multibutton mouse. Choose Off if you want a button to be inactive.”
One thing that’s apparent immediately is that even setting the Tracking Speed to it’s highest setting is too slow for my taste, so let me try USB Overdrive X 10.3.9, even though notes on the USB Overdrive site state, “I am fully committed to supporting Apple’s new toy in the USB Overdrive. I’ll release an update of the USB Overdrive as soon as it’s ready, which shouldn’t be long.” I don’t care — I need faster tracking — I’m installing even though I’ll have to Restart again…
They weren’t kidding, USB Overdrive didn’t speed up the Mighty Mouse’s tracking speed. Why Apple is so stingy with the maximum tracking speed is beyond me! I’ll live with it this way for now. It’s not terrible, just not optimal. I want it to be just a tad faster. If anybody has a fix for me now, please let me know! My wrist and I thank you in advance.
So, how’s the mouse itself? Pretty much transparently intuitive. It’s accurate and you just start using it and it works like you’d expect it to work. The programmable buttons work well and they’re physically in the right places. As for the tiny scroll ball’s size: I love it! It’s not too small and, unlike the Kensington’s scroll pad, I’ll be using the Mighty Mouse’s scrolling abilities. It just works. I would like to have had the side button squeeze require a little less squeeze to activate and it would also be nice if one could adjust the volume of the mouse click and scroll feedback; it’s a little difficult to hear over the fan in this test system (an “ancient” Power Mac G4/450).
Is it worth the $49? Yes, it is. Even though I loved the Kensington StudioMouse, I already know that this is the mouse I’ll be using from now on. This is more than I’d hoped for when I asked for an Apple-designed multiple-button scroll mouse back in June 2003, so thanks, Apple, for finally freeing Mighty Mouse to save the day! Third-party USB mouse makers should be very afraid.
[UPDATE: August 3, 11:14am EDT: Thanks to many readers, I downloaded MouseZoom to see if I could speed up the Mighty Mouse’s tracking speed. It works! Thanks to everybody who clued me into this solution. MouseZoom is a Mac OS X Cocoa pref pane which speeds up your mouse cursor movement in Mac OS X. It does the same thing the Apple mouse control panel does – just higher. More info and download link here.]
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Advertisment: Order your Apple “Mighty Mouse” now from the Apple Store online!
Related articles:
Apple introduces multi-button ‘Mighty Mouse’ with ‘Scroll Ball’ for Mac and Windows – August 02, 2005
Apple’s new ‘Mighty Mouse’ provides audio feedback for clicking and scrolling – August 02, 2005
Apple’s mythical two-button mouse – March 19, 2005
RUMOR: Apple may soon debut two-button mouse – March 15, 2005
Apple’s Pro Mouse is truly a joy to use… for about five minutes – May 29, 2004
The time has come for Apple to ship a two-button scroll mouse standard – June 09, 2003
Should Apple reconsider the one-button mouse? – October 23, 2002
And now for the wireless one
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NOTE TO ENDERLE – Try product before reviewing!!
This is a REAL review by someone who has actually used the mouse!
No that IS a novelty!
I’m very amused by the amount of coverage that this mouse is getting. It’s getting embarrassing.
I also think it breaks the KISS principle. Not because it has more buttons, but because they’ve gone to such lengths to disguise the buttons, over-engineering like hell (having to put speakers in the thing because it doesn’t have real buttons!).
What’s the problem with just having two ordinary separate buttons on the top ? It would still be possible to make the right one act like a left one.
The scroll ball is perhaps the only innovation.
Hywel,
Putting two discrete buttons on a mouse automatically makes it more complex. I’ve seen many users in my time accidentally click on the right button, only to have a contextual menu come up and be utterly confused. It’s even more problematic for lefties, because the right-handed majority refers to it as “right-click”
Apple SOLVED the multi-button problem by not using any buttons at all. That’s right, Mighty Mouse is not a multi-button mouse! Mighty Mouse is a zero-button mouse that ACTS like a multi-button mouse.
In default mode, it looks and acts exactly like a standard zero-button mouse that ships with every Mac. But underneath the zero-button surface, Mighty Mouse has special powers unleased via the System Preferences that allows it to imitate the behavior of multi-button mice without the need for actual buttons. That’s pretty ingenious, if you think about it.
Apple is giving both single-button and multi-button proponents exactly what they want, without compromise.
To put it another way, some people think Miller Lite “taste great” while other people insist the exact same beer is “less filling.” Mighty Mouse is a zero-button ordinary mouse one moment, and a superhero multi-button mouse with a quick trip to System Preferences. It is both a one-button mouse and a multi-button mouse.
Good review, SteveJack!
All Apple’s recent mice are crap, unresponsive, uncomfortable and ham-fisted. I’ve finally reverted to using a Kensington USB ball mouse – wonderful! – I feel in control again! Like every designer I need to lift and move my mouse with the button depressed (especially using Lasso in Photoshop, for example) which means gripping the side of the mouse outside of the button area – almost impossible with Apple’s mice – or, JUST possible but very awkward. Will now be 10 times more awkward with this thing.
NewType,
Look, I’m probably going to get one of these at some point, I use a one button mouse quite happily, so I’m in no hurry. But it is over-engineered. Of that there can be no doubt. I’m not talking about how simple it is to the user, I’m talking about what’s gone into it. It’s got a fucking speaker inside for fuck’s sake !.
It seems that it does have a button. One button, but the function of the button is determined by what went on at the surface.
It’s probably a decent enough device, but it’s just a mouse. Honestly, all this coverage is embarrassing.
which means gripping the side of the mouse outside of the button area – almost impossible with Apple’s mice – or, JUST possible but very awkward. Will now be 10 times more awkward with this thing
—
fascinating that you decide to ignore one of the standard Apple mouse’s ‘hidden’ benefits.. something almost no one uses.. the little side grips for picking up the mouse… depressed..
wow wow wow..
Mike’s right. It’s funny because I was just sitting here using said grips to pick up the mouse depressed when I read his post. Maybe if you have to do it all the time it’s different – and I don’t know any designer who’s using lasso for 8 hours a day – but it feels rather comfortable. But hey, it’s only a mouse…
thanks mike,
I was just going to make a similar response to Twenty…
Twenty,
How is this new mouse design 10 times more akward? You lost me…. this has the same form factor as Apple’s current mouse offering. I can agree that the current design may be cumbersome to many, but this new offering in no way increases that akwardness.
If we told you a million and one times… stop exaggerating!
Nice Review. I actually stopped by the Apple Store Ginza today and tried one out too and my impression was pretty much the same. It’s Great…… for a mouse. It still doesn’t come close to the ease of use and control I get using just my fingertips with my Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro Trackball. Sorry guys, after you get used to using a good trackball you will never be able to go back to a move-your-whole-arm mouse.
I hope that Apple continues along this new avenue and releases an Apple trackball at sometime in the future. That I might go for (if it has enough button
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Still, I think they will sell boatloads of these. Maybe a bunch of them to windozers. It’ll never reach the level of the iPod as a trojan pony but it might give some more of them a little sip of the Kool-aid and get them wanting to come into the light.
I think Twenty meant with his “10 times more awkward” comment, was that the side grips in the old Apple mouse are actually buttons in the new mouse, so you *can’t* grip them while button 1 or 2 is pressed, since this would trigger “button 4” as well.
You could probably get away with not gripping so tight as to trigger the button when you lift the mouse, but this isn’t really an optimal solution, especially since the grip button is touch-sensitive rather than a physical switch.
The Windows world never saw this coming. Everyone will be buying a Mac for these new features. You’ll shit in your pants when you use this new product.
Why does every Apple product sound the same? Pixar movie are like that too. Is Steve the only good business man?
Feels like an Apple Pro Mouse… Good to know! I really despised the feel of that mouse. I don’t like the feel of the whole mouse clicking down, nor the side buttons which don’t meet my thumb and fingers correctly.
The scroll marble is a very cool idea, though. I wonder when Logitec will come out with one (if it isn’t patented).
Hey, do you think it would be possible for me to add the ability to change my scrolling speed through an option in the contextual menu? With AS or Automator, perhaps?
If anyone could explain to me how to do this I would appreciate it, because I would love to be able to change my scroll speed without going into system prefs.
> Borneau wrote: Have you used the Mighty Mouse? I have. (snipped) for users of the Apple Pro Mouse, the clicking is identical except (snipped) Go use one before you type, okay?
You say identical to the old Apple mouse, I’ll take your word for it. I happen to have 6 sets of those running on 5 different Mac video edit bays. My personal station is using a two-button Logitech. You say it’s identical? I hate the crappy Apple mice, from the ones that came with my PowerMacs at the office to the one that came with my iMac.
But if you insist on your argument that people are not experienced enough to comment on a mouse unless they use the Apple MM, then so be it. If you get riled up over a mouse… yikes!
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> Borneau wrote: Have you used the Mighty Mouse? I have. (snipped) for users of the Apple Pro Mouse, the clicking is identical except (snipped) Go use one before you type, okay?
You say identical to the old Apple mouse, I’ll take your word for it. I happen to have 6 sets of those running on 5 different Mac video edit bays. My personal station is using a two-button Logitech. You say it’s identical? I hate the crappy Apple mice, from the ones that came with my PowerMacs at the office to the one that came with my iMac.
But if you insist on your argument that people are not experienced enough to comment on a mouse unless they use the Apple MM, then so be it. If you get riled up over a mouse… yikes!
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> Borneau wrote: Have you used the Mighty Mouse? I have. (snipped) for users of the Apple Pro Mouse, the clicking is identical except (snipped) Go use one before you type, okay?
You say identical to the old Apple mouse, I’ll take your word for it. I happen to have 6 sets of those running on 5 different Mac video edit bays. My personal station is using a two-button Logitech. You say it’s identical? I hate the crappy Apple mice, from the ones that came with my PowerMacs at the office to the one that came with my iMac.
But if you insist on your argument that people are not experienced enough to comment on a mouse unless they use the Apple MM, then so be it. If you get riled up over a mouse… yikes!
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Like others, I would also like to see a bluetooth mouse in the future. But, many people still have perfectly good computers without bluetooth added to them. For those, a corded mouse is still a good thing. Further, adding bluetooth will add weight and the headache of battery replacements or recharging. It will also change the weight and feel of the mouse itself. When I tried it, doesn’t feel too bad right now. And, it is environmentally friendlier as it sits now.
So, wireless is nice. But, there is also a good case to be made for wired. A choice would be a good idea.
I wonder how battery life is with the MM in bluetooth form. All of the additional audio feedback, touch sensitive switches, etc., must impact power draw.
why the h-e-double hockey sticks do you need tiger for a friggin’ mouse? Has anyone tried this on Jaguar or Panther?
Twenty Benson:
The Apple stock mouse works just fine for design work… I do a lot of masking in Photoshop as well, and I never have an instance where I feel “hamstringed” by the device. No sore hands. No carpal tunnel. No fingers falling off. If you like the Kensington, well then whoop-a-de-doo, but don’t say the Apple design is ineffective for work because there’s plenty of us out here who do just fine with it.
Once you’ve done BT Mouse, there’s no going back to ‘the tailed’ mouse. Bringing both out together would have given me something to get excited about. Battery life? Re-chargeable batteries using usb cradle to charge. Luv it.
As a child of the “fifties” I just couldn’t get past the name. So. Doing what I do with QuickTime, I’ve made my own “parody”.
http://homepage.mac.com/kkirkster/mighty_mouse/
S&G, for those that know. Fun for others.
Just be aware that the side buttons aren’t totally programable. You can’t set them to move forwards and backwards in safari, for example.
oh and the side buttons are hard to squeeze – they need a bit more pressure than you would imagine