So I was playing with Apple's new
mouse a couple days ago (yes, they licensed
the name). It feels exactly
the same as Apple's previous mouse, with the addition of the tiny scroll ball,
but it can right-click.
Users who actually like Apple's one-button mouse will still like this just as
much. It can be configured to behave as a one-button mouse, and it doesn't have
separate left and right buttons like other mice do; you can click in the middle
with both fingers and it feels exactly the same as a one-button mouse.
However, those of us who are used to right-clicking won't have an easy time
of it. To get a right-click to consistently register as a right-click, you have
to actually lift your left finger off of the mouse while right-clicking. Otherwise
it will detect it as a left-click about half the time, depending on where you click
and how you're holding it.
The scroll ball does very well at figuring out whether I want to scroll
vertically or horizontally, which is good (you probably almost never actually
want to do both at once). Unfortunately, the ball's small size means you
have to move your finger a lot more than on other mice with large wheels,
which is annoying.
I had no trouble middle-clicking - you sort of click while pressing the scroll
ball, which sounds weird but feels less awkward than clicking the scroll wheel
on most other mice. Squeezing the sides gives you a fourth click, which also
works quite well. Other than having to lift my index finger to do a right-click,
and having to wiggle my finger a lot to scroll, it's a good mouse, but those
two issues would drive me crazy, and I can get a good mouse for less than half
the price, so I don't think I'll be buying one.
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