According to AppleInsider Apple is working on a two button mouse to further assist people switching from Windows.
Apple May Release Two Button Mouse
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Eugenia Loli
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Two button mouse?! What an age are we living! 😉 I hope AppleInsider will not get sue for a trade secret publication. After all, this is a big hit.
[dr.evil]Muahahahahhaaa!! So they finally cave in![/dr.evil]
Oh wait! I would seriosly consider bying an Apple 2btn. mouse for my Mac. It probaly will look and feel much better than the toys’R’us Logitech mx510 i have now 😉
Forget the ridicules laughter. I’m already getting my hopes up…
…you can just go buy any USB mouse now and plug it in and it will work. No need to wait for a special Apple-branded version.
Will be great to officially get 2 button mouse.
http://bitsofnews.com
Does this mean that the single button mouse has magically become inferior after all this time of Apple assuring us that it is more usable???
You forgot one important thing. If they did this, they wouldn’t have the joy of paying $70 for this new-fangled Apple “invention”
it’s kind of chilly here
yeah, but all the apple gadgets usually have a much nicer look
I agree with Emil, wonder if AppleInsider also wont get sued… seems like same case with ThinkSecret
umm… did you even read? it says “To help windows users”
what they did was say “some people who use windows like 2 button mice so why not have an apple mouse that they can use (and get with their machine)”.
I wonder if they will move to a 2 button option on the laptops. I hope not. though if it is an option then I guess it will not bother me much (I like 1 button on the laptop and 2 button on the desktop.)
The Dude fails to grasp the cool factor that surrounds all things Apple (Performas excepted, of course).
I can just picture some guy in Cupertino saying to his buddy, “I’ve reached the end of the Internet. I’m bored. Hey, I haven’t seen that two-button mouse rumor in a few months. Do you have that card that ThinkSecret guy gave you? Watch this…”
A much nicer look justifies what will be probably the most expensive two-button mouse ever made?
EXTRA! EXTRA! ”Steve Jobs invents the two button mouse!” Apple will sue everybody else for patent Infringement.
Real men use trackpads.
I own an Apple but they have some outrageously expensive products…but people buy the so hell. More power to them…
I’m a long time PC user switching to Mac, and I for one will buy a one button mouse. I noticed (in real life) many people are randomly bashing the Mac platform, but the more I learn about it the more I love everything about it.
So instead of judging their one button mouse, I would love to give it a try, and I’m confident it won’t take me long to find out why Apple is sticking with it.
After the two bottom mouse, the next big secrete would be “two bottoms plus a wheel.”
Do I have to disclose my source for telling me this?
Hmmmmm… hopefully I don’t get sued by Apple.
I wonder if the buttons will be like an ipod clickwheel you can use to scroll through documents. Then they could pitch the standard: “we didn’t want to do a half-assed job, we worked hard to do it just right, blablabla”
I am thinking, since Apple users obviously don’t need a two bottom mouse and this is only an attempt to make Windows users feel right at home.
The two mouse will function identically right?
You will get exactly the same effect for a right click or a left click. Wow!! This is a huge inovation!!
A mouse with two bottoms, but two bottoms works exactly the same! So, you won’t click the wrong one by mistake!!
“The Dude fails to grasp the cool factor that surrounds all things Apple”
Is that cool factor or yuppy factors as in “Won’t this new mouse look cool just like me in my Dockers while I’m having my cafe latte?”
I wonder if this mouse will have better photoshop render times?
Will this mouse break the gigaflop performance levels?
Man, I could go on like this all day.
And I would buy one to use on my PC.
omg, i simply don’t care what lil’ apple does… lovely braindead company.
(i use a mac and a third party usb mouse)
I heard awhile ago, that they were planning a mouse with a clickpad-wheel instead of a scrollwheel. maybe it’s something like that?
Apple trolls are obnoxious… either because they are stupid or because they are annoying.
Macs have worked with 2 button mice for almost 10 years!!!!!
I use a 2 button mouse on my OS X machine and it brings up a nice context menu when I right click, though I could just as easily selected the edit menu or the file menu to do all the stuff I get in the context menu.
Real men use trackpads.
No… real men use a mouse with balls…
Wow, I notice a trend here:
1984 – 1 button mouse
2005 – 2 button mouse
My prediction goes like this:
2026 – 3 button mouse
Erm, what about a scrollwheel?
Apple trolls are obnoxious… either because they are stupid or because they are annoying.
Macs have worked with 2 button mice for almost 10 years!!!!!
Yeah, I agree. I like my 8 button Logitech mouse and it runs perfectly under OS X. Some of these people really are obnoxious. Not everything has to be innovation – sometimes just listening to customers needs and changing to accomodate them is enough.
Still, anytime I buy a new Mac I do cast aside the mouse that came with it – It would be nice to actually be able to use the mouse that came with it for a change. It will need to have a scroll wheel though. To me, that’s more important than the 2nd button.
The reason Apple only uses one button is because by including one button by default they force developers to create applications that will work with one button. They do this because it has been shown that most average computer users rarely use the 2nd button so making it mandatory makes software harder to use. There are so many windows and linux applications are totally unusable without a 2nd button, Apple is trying to avoid this.
“Apple should release OSX for x86. Period.”
It’ll be “another oppertunity lost to YellowTab!!!!”
of course we still need a two button in their laptops. If that happens I will be seriously interested in an apple laptop.
If i read correctly, it says it’s to be a wireless mouse, which would not be of much use to a lot of people.
Why aren’t they working on a one-button mouse for PCs?
I must admit, Apple really has a true new invention. PCs really have never had a 2 button mouse, I think Microsoft released one and it was popular for like a year or so, but initially we started out with the 3 buttons and then the middle button was just converted to also be a wheel. This really will be an invention, it looks like you won’t get the scrollwheel!
I can’t live without a two button mouse running OS X.
…is under the PowerBook touchpad. I really, really hate the fact it has only one button, and the fact you can plug in a Logitech wheel mouse via USB is of little comfort when I am trying to work in an economy class seat during an intercontinental flight.
At last, I can feel modern on a machine that was truly meant for me, a man of the 1980s.
As soon as they change OnMouseDown to OnMouseUp to the Right click behavior, it *could* become really usefull… Without this change, it’s just like 3rd party mouses… not usefull as on Windows.
Once you start to use drag’n drop with right click button (that give you a context menu instead of the default option), you see how usefull/pratical it is.
umm… did you even read? it says “To help windows users”
Yes, I did. Hence, the questions mark at the end of the sentence I wrote. Wait, there were three…
Why aren’t they working on a one-button mouse for PCs?
Eeek! I guess I understand that there are people out there that simply function better with one button, but I don’t really get it.
I’m running blackbox right now, though. You don’t even need a mouse, but if you use one, it should have at least 2 buttons, baby!
Personally I find a scroll wheel more useful than a second mouse button. Do you think there’s any chance that Apple are going to include one on this mouse?
I think optimally, Apple should just offer a “Pro” upgrade option where you can pick the wireless 2-button scroll-wheel mouse. Not everybody buying these machines is a new or average user. It would be even better if it was simply a choice at no extra cost, but this is Apple we’re talking about.
On the laptop, I guess it’s harder to do this. I guess software like SideTrack ( http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/ ) fills the void a bit.
Such a blatant copy of an MS idea. With so many worthless patents up its sleeve, isn’t there one patent in the MS arsenal with which it can sue Apple?
Not to rock the boat here, but are we getting a little ahead of ourselves? Honestly, a two button mouse has not yet been proven to be the most effective in critical clicking situations. I think those Unixers, Windowsers, Linuxers, Tandyers, OS/2ers, and even those Maccers that use a two button mouse may have been a bit hasty in their adoption practices. Just because the rest of the world, jumped (prematurely) onto two buttons years and years ago, doesn’t mean that they are right for everyone. If everyone else in the world drove a car, does that mean you have to as well? I think it’s a peer pressure thing.
I say we wait until clinical tests come back and we can move into two buttons gracefully and in an educated manner. Now. As for a center scroll wheel, while I use one and will never go back, I wouldn’t want to force Apple to consider it for at least another 15 years. Maybe it will be part of the next Mac system. Mac OS XI?
Can’t blame apple…Mac OS is ready for a 2nd button only now.
Even today, mouse movements are a lot snappier on windows than on OS X
I own about 10 mice: Logitech, MS, Kensington, Apple, etc. I’ve been using nothing but the Apple wireless mouse recently. I would like a second (or even 3rd) button and a scrollwheel, but more important to me is the feel of Apple mouse. The incredibly solid feel is what makes me use this mouse over the others (think Lexus vs Ford). I also enjoy the clutter free desktop and reliable wireless performance. Also I have wrist pain (I think from using a trackpad for many years), and I love how the whole mouse is the button – I can tap it with any part of my hand, without having to use finger tendons. So if Apple came out w/ a 2+ button wireless mouse, I would at least give it a shot.
For those who think the Apple stuff is overpriced, I would have to believe they are un- or under-employed. My time has a lot of value, and I think the $120 I spent on the Apple wireless keyboard and mouse has been a great investment.
a person sitting at his PC and then right click a file and then left click open? Why not just double click the file to open it? I told this person that he could just double click the file and when he performed the operation he was amazed that it worked. But what happened when he needed to open the next file? He went back to his old ways. Then I told him that he could just right ‘open’ instead of using the left button. Again he was amazed that it worked. But once again he went back to his former ways.
I mean sure it is still two clicks of a button, but the fact that he thought he had to click two different buttons to open the file tells me that two button mice still make some people work ineffectively.
Also when I tell people to ‘right’ click what do they do? They use the left button first and many of them will double click.
Two button or one….SIGH….who cares..people just need to learn what works for them and just leave them be.
Surely it should be a 3 button or scroll wheel mouse?
One to left click, one to right click and the other to expose?
3 buttons makes ‘expose’ so natural. Should be standard on all macs now!
As a switcher from Windows and a keyboard short cut oriented guy, one thing I would really like Apple to provide as part of the OS, is a setting to switch from the Apple keyboard short cuts to Windows compatible keyboard short cuts; not only in the OS but also in the apps, e.g. F2 in Excel on Windows puts a cell in edit mode, in Excel for the Mac it is ctrl-u
If anyone knows of any tools that accomplish this, please let me know.
Ultimately we can have keyboard-mice with multiple scroll-wheels.
For instance, instead of using the keyboard AND mouse, we will have an independent mouse in each hand. For each finger on each mouse there will be a scroll wheel (10 total between the two mouses), a button above it and a button below it.
the buttons will correspond to keys (if the mouse is pointing in a text input screen) or will correspond to a selection.
Alternatively:
We will where a hat (perhaps a Fedora?), and inside the hat will be a powerfull magnet, a radio source and EM sensors (effectively a MRI), that can sense what we want done.
The spyware infested MS Windows machines will then send this information back to be processed competitively to offer you cut price deals on all sorts of rubbish noone really needs.
Programs should quit when clicking on the close button
Start button at the bottom to access all programs and files
Anti virus software that bugs you to upgrade or update every time you log in
Manage all programs with a registry
Complete compatibility with Outlook to share trojans and viruses
Wizards that will ask you to click ‘next’ a zillion times to install an application
Remove Java support
Remove support for X11 and all open source programs
Remove all eye candy and replace with drab Os 9 look so as to make everything very snappy.
Improve scrolling so that it is so fast that you will never be able to select text between two pages without reaching the end of the document.
Change Apple APIs with Windows APIs so that it will run 100 word processing programs and 250 image editing programs and 2000 media players
Full support for multiple buttons so that one can use all toes and fingers to cut and paste figures in documents.
Support Windows DRM
Sell computers that are faster than the fastest and greatest PC but still cost less than the least expensive PC found in WalMart or do it yourself PC
Only then will I switch!
“Troll”
Linux is superior because it uses the 3-button of mouses, while Windows & Macs require less buttons.
That’s hysterical, Ben. Nice job.
OSX will be changed to be indistinuishable from windows because they’re finally admitting that their design decisions were inferior to windows. next change: same key mappings.
I got a 2 button MS mouse with my ibook G4 and my PC. They work and are well made no need for an Apple 2 button – they should have done one years ago.
(Quotes by Hobbs)
“Programs should quit when clicking on the close button“.
Thats an OS issue, the window should be controlled by the OS (and be responsive) whilst only the windows contents should be controlled by the application.
“Start button at the bottom to access all programs and files”
Actually, could have a start button on the mouse
I’m sure there should still be a little bit of space left after the 30 buttons are added of which 10 are also scoll wheels.
“Wizards that will ask you to click ‘next’ a zillion times to install an application”
Again, a mouse issue… Just like on the old Atari joysticks there was an autofire button (causing automatic clicks several times a second), there should be an autoclick button on the mouse. May be a triple-click can automatically induce the autoclick procedure in whichever of the 30 buttons you click.
OMFG I’ve been using a 3-Button, wheel and tilt mouse for over a year now, best thing on Panther, gives you so much control. Forget the 2-button mouse Apple go the whole hog…
lets hope they don’t get slopy in their interfaces and require two buttons. when the developer has to think about how to make an interface work with one button, then you get an easy to use interface.
personally i use an mx 500
No kidding ? lol
Clicking on maximize button should make the windows big enough to cover the entire 30″ Cinema display and if you have multiple displays, the window should span across all those displays. I feel most comfortable when there is only only window to deal with and I hate to see any glimpse of the desktop or things on it.
All windows to have their own menus and right click should allow one to access all options present on menu bar (in a vertical cum horizontal configuration of course).
Replace the Dock with Taskbar
Get rid of the genie or other fancy animations. My computer can’t handle it!
Its called a keyboard
We always had two-button mice at NeXT and the NeXTKeyboard Layout and control keys kicked the shit out of the Mac OS.
This is a total PR timing spin, but from a Cocoa developer standpoint this is a no brainer.
What’s NeXT? Vertical Menus that tear off, as on optional theme for OS X? One can only hope.
…is with Gateway, once they purchased the Amiga IP.
Just a bit of info from us oldtimers…
I have really enjoyed the strange and interesting discussion of what kind of mouse one should have as a standard. The only conclusion that can be made is that the standard mouse is the one I use and everyone else is wrong or just doesn’t get it.
I would prefer a “no button” mouse. It would be 3D and respond to the motions I teach it. Then there is no need for an argument over how many buttons are the correct number since the answer is “none”. In fact, just attach it to the hand or head. Then you could nod or wave your way around the computer. Now that would be fun and efficient. Just imagine an office filled with people using the new device.
1. All the l33t mouses ppl, repeat after me: “Mice”
2. I would vote for NO mouse buttons at all on laptops. Tapping, double-tapping, tap-n-hold works so much better on touchpads. Plus, on windows, the context menu button is already on the keyboard.
Apple doesn’t have much choice in this in the end. Few people give a rats @&& about what apple says about usability. Most people use 2 buttons + scroll now, and people who are looking at buying a mac are those same people.
Where the one button things starts to piss people off is people like me who bought their powermac and have this worthless lump sitting in the box they will never use, i paid for that worthless lump, if it came with a real mouse I wouldn’t have to go spend more money on a mouse. Plus I could be sure the drivers would be good and it works in a logical way, unlike my Microsoft mouse I use that i couldn’t get the latest drivers for months, and even when working it doesn’t understand the idea of middle click in the setup menu for the button functions, so i can’t get it to work as it should.
Furthermore, I find a computer without a scroll wheel simple unusable. How do people navigate the web? do you sit there constantly stroking your mouse across your desk to scroll down pages such as this very forum, if you do that, I really suggest checking out scroll wheels.
Also the arguments that you can just replace the mouse completely fail on laptops. You are stuck with the one button mouse, and no you cannot plug in a mouse, since it’s a laptop, anything plugged into it no longer makes it a laptop, mice don’t work very well at scrolling on the side of your leg.
I’ve long expected the G5 powerbooks to come with at least a 2 button option if not 2 buttons across the board, since it will be a all new case, and no G5 powerbook will ever run pre OS X OS’s
Furthermore, apple is about making money, so the same as the come out with the Mini to make money, they will come out with a better mouse that makes them money.
hello apple,
i was going to buy an ipod and the new minimac as a small server .. but not any more. that pleasure will go to a nicer vendor.
(some of us get upset over anything)
I mean sure it is still two clicks of a button, but the fact that he thought he had to click two different buttons to open the file tells me that two button mice still make some people work ineffectively.
That’s the first time I’ve heard something like that. Actually from my experience it’s much more common that people doubleclick and never use the right button for anything.
One person I know has used windows for several years, but wasn’t aware that you could right click a programs shortcut
I have a kensington two button mouse with scroll wheel. Bad driver! I have to unplug and plug it back in to get it to work.
APPLE. You should do this so that you can sell mice to windows/Linux users as well! Just like the iPod. Bring down the price and sell them to everyone, not just mac users. Make money by selling in bulk, so that you have better economy of scales, and so that you can complete with companies like DELL.
tried usb-overdrive ?
works better than most native drivers supplied by the manufacturer…
Try 3 buttons including a scroll wheel and we might be getting somewhere.
a sub $1,000 USD iMac G5?
Love and ease,
Nirodha
“So instead of judging their one button mouse, I would love to give it a try, and I’m confident it won’t take me long to find out why Apple is sticking with it.”
The reason is, a two-button mouse isn’t necessary to get work done on a Mac. I guess the lazy design of Windows almost necessitates a two-button mouse.
Saying that mouse movement is “snappier” in Windows is just pure bullcrap. I have an iBook G3 800 MHz and an Athlon XP 3200+ Windows desktop, I don’t see either one being “snappier” then the other when it comes to “mouse movement.” Is that the best you could do?
All you have to do is go to the control panel and system preferences on both systems and change the mouse speed according to your liking, or is that too much to ask?
As for cheaper and cheaper Macs and Mac OS X doing exactly everything that Windows does, get over it! If you want to switch, SWITCH, if not, and the prices seem too high, then what’s the point of bitching about it? No one is forcing Apple down your throats, or does the “sour grapes” syndrome bug you a little too much and drive you to such stupid troll comments?
As for the guy who said that both the buttons will do the same thing, have you even ever *touched* a Mac? Right click works perfectly with even 3rd party mice and has been for a long time now, I see no reason for Apple to release a mouse that has two buttons that do the same exact thing, they’d have to dumb themselves down to Windows troll levels to be able to do that. You really take the cake for the most senseless troll of the day, even by Windows troll standards.
Yeah, I’m gonna get moded, but this has to be said; even if it’s an exercise in futility as some people just don’t understand, or don’t want to, for that matter.
What’s NeXT? Vertical Menus that tear off, as on optional theme for OS X? One can only hope.
I don’t have any problem with the one button mouse, but I have been dreaming of those menus since 10.0.0.
Why oh why do they want to do that?
My experience with computer-newbies and Apple is that the one-button mouse is one of Apple’s biggest advantages.
Ever heard about people calling the helpdesk and telling them they can’t open a file ? THEY DO EXIST !! As a systems administrator in a small school I get that question 5 times each day. It does tend to frustrate you.
In the Apple world it’s alot easier, one button, no mistakes like “which button did I have to click for opening a file”.
Less is more in the Apple world! Especially when it comes to being user friendly. Apple knows that but it seems they ‘re going to break their own rules unfortunately.
A decent keyboard instead of that odd feeling flat little one?IMO they have just hung on to the 1 button mouse and that lame keyboard for years just because it’s different,just like theykept making this crap with that wierd little din plug instead of standard ps2 ports,stuff made just to make you buy their outrageously priced hardware, i remember trying to find a replacement mouse for an old 7300/200 power pc i picked up for 75 bucks and they wanted almost that much for one of those chinzey little white one button mice at an Apple store,I mean get real, a similar 2 button generic mouse for an x86 box costs around 10 bucks.I guess the advent of usb has evened the score somewhat here,but Apple IMO is the polar opposite of M$,I love their software and OS,but there’s no way I’m gonna plaay their hardware monopoly game just to run it.
“I own an Apple but they have some outrageously expensive products”
time to try a macintosh (AppleI and II is so 80s) =)
wow, that was a dumb post.
“15 years ago their computers sucked… that is why I never will buy a mac”
great reasoning there… nothing changed,,, nope,,, nothing at all.
Furthermore, I find a computer without a scroll wheel simple unusable. How do people navigate the web? do you sit there constantly stroking your mouse across your desk to scroll down pages such as this very forum, if you do that, I really suggest checking out scroll wheels.
No, I keep my hands where I use them most. On the keyboard.
To scroll, I use the spacebar mostly, or the pgup/pgdown keys.
Therefore I also prefer the trackpoint over the touchpad. The trackpoint is in the middle of the keyboard, very close to my index finger. A touchpad requires you to move your hand off the keyboard. Which is bad. An external mouse is even worse, its even further away. The only time I use a mouse is when working in GIMP – the movement precision is worth it.
As the old saying goes, mouse is a device used to show into which xterm you want to type
.
Everybody and his dog lamented on how Macs have a one button mouse.
Some Mac advocates pointed out that you can plug a standard 2 (or multi) button mouse in and it will work fine.
It is true.
However, what I never (or VERY RARELY) see pointed out, is that JUST BECAUSE Macs have a one button mouse, doesn’t mean they lack right-click menus (contextual popup menus).
In order to activate them, you just press Command- Click!
(command is a keyboard button, like the ‘windows’ button found on most PC keyboards. On Macs it sports the image of an Apple).
So, just because Mac has a one button mouse, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have CONTEXTUAL MENUs (or “right-click” menus), nor does it mean that in order to work with them you need to plug a 2 button mean.
I believe that a lot of people that never used a mac are not aware of this fact, and the “one button mouse” scares them for this very reason.
actually, it is Control + Click.
They will lose customers who are limited to learn what the unique button does. The second will be way over them.
yeah, but all the apple gadgets usually have a much nicer look
I’ll stick with my Kensington. It has rubberized sides. Real comfy on the hand.
Yeah, I agree. I like my 8 button Logitech mouse and it runs perfectly under OS X. Some of these people really are obnoxious. Not everything has to be innovation – sometimes just listening to customers needs and changing to accomodate them is enough.
The Bill Gates towel boys have had to hearvabout M$’s lack of innovation for so many years they take what they can get.
Let them have their one jab. Besides, I am rather annoyed by the lack of 2 button mouse myself and I’ve been using Macs almost exclusively for 13 years!
actually, it is Control + Click.
You are right, what was I thinking!
Furthermore, I find a computer without a scroll wheel simple unusable. How do people navigate the web? do you sit there constantly stroking your mouse across your desk to scroll down pages such as this very forum, if you do that, I really suggest checking out scroll wheels.
It’s called the page down key.
Oh, and trackpads are the most ridiculous things ever. The IBM trackpoint is the only worthwhile Laptop mouse device.
Two button, one button, a Mac works fine either way. My choice is a two button. More importantly, Tiger is just a few weeks away, IBM has released some info on dual core 970s. The mouse thing is a no brainer for Apple. They are a HW company and if they can build a better mouse they will.
“[i]Ultimately we can have keyboard-mice with multiple scroll-wheels.
For instance, instead of using the keyboard AND mouse, we will have an independent mouse in each hand. For each finger on each mouse there will be a scroll wheel (10 total between the two mouses), a button above it and a button below it.
the buttons will correspond to keys (if the mouse is pointing in a text input screen) or will correspond to a selection.[i]”
You could put the keyboard on tiny wheels and so move it around like a mouse. You could replace the numeric keypad with a joystick which you can push to any of the numeric directions or down – would also double as the usual use of a joystick.
Or… just a touch sensitive screen.
The real man’s pointing gadget is…TABLET!!!!
Can’t live without one…great for sketching pics in my favorite drawing app…
I wonder why Apple is not making their own brand of tablet.
BTW…I got used to tablets soooo much that I involuntarily try to press C-z key whenever I make a mistake…even when I am drawing with my ol’trusty 4B pencil and paper…:(
To assist people switching from Windows? I’d rather say to not furtherly piss of Mac users! The one button mouse simply was a wrong decision.
I love my iBook and my one button mouse, but for n00bs and old x86 users 2 button is best. I just hope you have an option of 1 or 2 buttons at purchase. Next on Apples agenda Middle notebook. not as portable as iBook but not as powerfull as PowerBook.
HyBriD
PPC is better in a (linux) distro
When I was wee little nipper over 20 years ago (the days of the Atari 800 with 256 colours on screen for a selection of less (128)), I went to Disney World Epcot Center and played with their touch screen displays… They said every computer will have one within a few years. I am still waiting.
Touch screen displays have come a long way but still we cannot buy 25 Inch 1920×1200 widescreen displays, or any other touch screen displays for that matter.