Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Mac Lab Report

Thoughts on Two-fingered Scrolling, Mighty Mouse, and Optical Mice

- 2005.12.07

Okay, I just discovered this by accident: If you are using two fingers to scroll on a PowerBook trackpad (assuming your 'Book supports two-finger scrolling), you can hold one finger stationary on one hand and scroll with one finger of the other hand.

Why would you want to? Because it gives you finer control than the two-finger method.

Try it and see.

Speaking of scrolling around....

Mighty Mouse

As longtime readers know, I was the Last Pundit to Defend the One-Button Mouse. Then, when I changed my mind and decided to go to the two-button camp, Apple comes out with the Mighty Mouse the very next week.*

So I eventually got one. I'd been using a Logitech USB wired two-button mouse with a scroll wheel. I liked the scroll wheel well enough, but it's "lumpy" and thuds from notch to notch as you roll it. I prefer a smoother wheel action.

The Mighty Mouse has a tiny trackball as a third button, so its motion is quite smooth. In use, I found it easy to adapt to the second button. Occasionally I'll click the right button by accident when I'm working on a cramped and messy desk, but for the most part it works okay.

I'm not dexterous enough to control the side buttons, so I deactivated them. That's not a complaint against the Mighty Mouse; I'd do it anyway to anyone else's multibutton mouse.

It was hard enough going to two buttons, so gimme a break, okay?

I like the side-scrolling feature of the trackball. I look at a lot of large images on my computer, and sometimes I really need to scroll sideways. Recently I set out to work on a poster that will eventually be 4 feet by 4 feet. When I view the whole thing, it's too small to see, and when it's big enough to see, it's wider than my screen. Thus, side scrolling.

Optical Mice

I like the Mighty Mouse enough that it is now on my desk "docking station" where I put my PowerBook when I get to work. The Logitech is now relegated to my travel kit.

Occasionally I have to use one of my student computers in my lab to help a student, and whenever I use an older mouse with a ball, it really makes me appreciate optical mice. As soon as I can get to it, I'm replacing all the older mice with optical mice.

If you haven't tried two-button mousing yet, consider the Mighty Mouse. It's different enough that it still has that sweet Apple flavor - but not so different you'll be thrown off by it. LEM

*That's only a mild exaggeration. It was probably like 9 days. Or a month. But you get the point.

Jeff Adkins is a science teacher who isn't afraid to state his preferences in computing platforms. In his classroom he has everything from a beige All-in-One to a a G4 XServe, and they all work together nicely. He calls himself the "poster child for technology integration" in the classroom. He was the 2006 Outstanding Educator of the Year for the California Computer Using Educators (CUE) organization. He also maintains a site for astronomy teachers at www.AstronomyTeacher.com.

Recent Mac Lab Reports

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Mac Lab Report copyright © 2000-08 by Jeff Adkins. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.