I want my second, third, fourth, and fifth mouse button

Zeigan · #1 December 13th, 2001, 01:02 AM

The one thing that still really bugs me about macs is only one mouse button. I am newbie to macs btw. I love my intellimouse explorer and would completely switch to osx if i could use the other buttons for something. Anyone have a solution for me?

Anyways.

james.hodge · #2 December 13th, 2001, 01:38 AM

You know that multiple button support DOES exist under X, at least for 2 buttons. I had a couple of clients who kept complaining that their keyboards were sticking (the control key was staying stuck down, as every time they clicked something the contextual menu would appear). It turned out they were used to clicking the right button of their logitech trackball - which had turned out to be used as a 2nd mouse button under X.

The moral of the story is that the 2nd mouse button does indeed work under X - the 3rd, 4th and 5th buttons, I don't know...

Cheers,

James

chemistry_geek · #3 December 13th, 2001, 01:44 AM

The most you should need is a 3 button wheel mouse. I use a LogiTech 3 button wheel mouse and really like it. I think OS X is set up to recognize most if not all 3 button mice. 5 button mice would get too confusing, besides, you know that after a while of using it, like a few years, you would learn what every button does, it will then break and no longer be manufactured. Then you're SOL. What happens if you lose 4 fingers in freak accident? Then the Apple mouse would be all that you would ever need. The way I see it, a 5 button mouse from MS would just be an extension of the bloatware and disorganization of their software and the "end all be all" of features to lure you (the consumer) into fattening their wallets a little more.

meancode · #4 December 13th, 2001, 02:00 AM

hi,

i personally like the Kensington Optical Pro. you can find one on ebay for about $20, its a $40 mouse. it DOES have drivers and MouseWorks software for OS 10.1. i use mine all the time, its a shame it doesnt have all the features that the OS 9 version of the software does, but none the less, its got a lot of nice options for the 5 mouse buttons it has. i use OS 10.1 and my Kensington Optical Pro every day. very nice to have more than 2 mouse buttons. that and having a scroll weel for web and such is so nice.

rezba · #5 December 13th, 2001, 02:53 AM

Kensington is improving nex enhancements for mouse and trackball in OS X.
The new betadriver (1.1b2) supports multiple buttons, but also scrolling with tracballs, etc. Nevertheless, problems are still existing. You can't scroll with tracballs, and in some classic apps.

rezba

Zeigan · #6 December 13th, 2001, 09:39 AM

left click, right click, scroll, web forward, web back. I could live without the last two, they were a bonus when i got the mouse, but i need my scroll.

Chemistry geek..Sure, whatever.. Go apple or something.

Thanks for the info guys.

Tigger · #7 December 13th, 2001, 09:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chemistry_geek
The way I see it, a 5 button mouse from MS would just be an extension of the bloatware and disorganization of their software and the "end all be all" of features to lure you (the consumer) into fattening their wallets a little more.

I love my five button mouse.
In OS 9, I had the 4th and 5th mouse button to go back and forth in the history in Explorer. Now in X, I sometimes still click them.

And these five button mice are just great for games

ElDiabloConCaca · #8 December 13th, 2001, 10:06 AM

I heard that Microsoft is making OS X-native drivers for their Intellimouse Explorer (and possibly a few other multi-button mice) and will release them sometime within the month.