Dear Apple, I want virtual scrolling on the laptops !

[chevy]

And this is even more important for us, single button users !

Someting like the virtual scrolling presented here:
http://www.synaptics.com/products/touchpad_features.cfm

[Zammy-Sam]

Why not use SideTrack?

[chevy]

Nice point.

It should be part of OS-X but this does it in the mean time. Tx

[Zammy-Sam]

I would rather prefere the cursor keys work on the area, where the mouse is simply over and not clicked. Supposed you have several browser windows, with a scrolling mouse you don't need to choose a windows by clicking to declare where you want to scroll. It is enough to move the mouse over the other window and you can scroll in the other window, without bringing it to the front by clicking it. Now, if that would work with the cursor.. That would be nice.

[kendall]

yeah, i never understood why OS X didnt offer something like this. my first notebook with win95 on it even did.

given the one button mouse youd think it would be a no brainer. oh well. keep it simple, make the end user work harder for right click!

[symphonix]

Well, I understand very well why Apple is determined to keep the simplicity of their mouses. I remember reading that a study conducted by Apple in the early 90s determined that 1-button mouse systems created 10% less volume and traffic on help-desk calls than 2-button mouse systems.

If you've ever worked on (PC) a help desk, you'll know how thoroughly irritating it is to try and click this, right-click that, then click the other in a Windows machine. I find I often have to say things like "Click Start, Settings, Network Connections. Now right click on the Local Area Connection icon... No you must have double clicked it. Go back. ... By clicking on the back button on the toolbar there ... OK, now right click the icon this time. OK, now scroll that middle box to 'Internet Protocol TCP/IP', and click it. No, not uncheck it. Just leave it checked and click it so it's highlighted ..."

I think Apple is EXTREMELY wise in shipping their computers with a simple, one-button interface and no ambiguities that couldn't be worked out on a telephone to a computer illiterate. That they also provide the option to plug in more complicated mice, and add third-party features later on, makes it better for users like us who actually know what we're doing. But lets not confuse the way expert users like us want our computers setup with the way apple should set them up from the factory!

[fryke]

Also: In what applications on your PowerBook _would_ you use something like SideTrack? I once installed it but got rid of it quite quickly again... I'm used to use a scroll wheel on a 'normal' mouse for viewing webpages mainly, but the up- and down-arror keys do the same thing, really. For other applications, I use PgUp and PgDown, mainly...

[chevy]

Excel