OS9 --> OSX = what happened to the mouse !!!

L

Leeww

Registered
Hi mac people

My first post here !! I do hope you can help.

I have been happily using my various macs for many many years now (since around 1993) and have never had an issue with the mouse or its drivers over the years.

I am a bit of a late covert to OS X as I had too much software on OS 9 to convert quickly and/or cheaply, but I have eventually taken the plunge and replaced my 800mhz G4 running OS 9.2 with a dual 2ghz G5 running 10.4.2.

I love it !! especially because I have slipped a fast one past the tax man and bought a 23" HD display also ;)

Now for my question, what the hell happened to the mouse !!!! It has gone from being the slickest, most accurate pin point device in my arsenal to a jittery overshooting, under shooting drag to use !!

I have tried everything !! I went out and bought a macintosh wireless optical mouse = no change, I bought a microsoft intellimouse = a little better but hardly as good as the old mouse feel.

What happened ?? and more importantly what can I do to get my mouse to feel like it did in OS 9.

I am sorry to sound so dramatic, I absolutely love this new machine and especially Tiger it is fantastic, but the the mouse movement is so painful that I have been doing my work (photoshop/after effects) on my old G4 because it is so difficult to work with any sort of accuracy.


Many thanks in advance for any help.


Lee
 
HI Lee!

<<but the the mouse movement is so painful that I have been doing my work (photoshop/after effects) on my old G4 because it is so difficult to work with any sort of accurac>>

I hear you loud and clear. If I may make a suggestion, when I am editing in PS or Fireworks and I need pinpoint accuracy I use my Wacom Tablet. I have the small one ... 4 X 5 with the graphite pen and it works like a charm. I've yet to find a mouse that works as well as the pen when you need to get down to a pixel. No, I don't work for Wacom LOL I discovered Wacom at MacWorld SF in January 1999 and never went back to a mouse for graphic/editing etc.

Maybe someone else on this site can offer up suggestions also! More the merrier.

Carolyn :)
 
Cheers Carolyn for the suggestion.

I, unfortunately, am a dedicated mouse user and have been for over a decade, I have bought two wacoms over the years and never really got on with them.

The thing is, before OS X my mouse was pin point accurate, I could throw the thing accross a large screen to land 100% of the time on my choosen target, now I find my self 'scratching' around what I want to click on, overshooting and under shooting, it's the fact that as I slow my physical hand movement down the cursor slows down disproportionately.

It kind of like gravity, if you throw your mouse around it breaks free of the influence, but a soon as you slow down a little (to get accurate) the cursor seems to get stuck in the mud!!!!!!


HELP!!!!
 
Leeww said:
I am sorry to sound so dramatic, I absolutely love this new machine and especially Tiger it is fantastic, but the the mouse movement is so painful that I have been doing my work (photoshop/after effects) on my old G4 because it is so difficult to work with any sort of accuracy.
Click to expand...
I had the same problem at first when I bought my iBook, the Wireless Optical felt like a brick and didn't move as I had accustomed to on my old PC.
After tweaking the settings in the Mouse panel in System Preferences, I managed to get it close to the settings I was used to, but not perfect. I also tried a simple Logitech 3-button USB mouse with a scrollwheel and that worked a little bit better.
But it seems that there's no way of getting it perfect. If you manage to figure it out, let me now.

Edit: I just remembered, that the best results I got were with a Wacom mouse on a tablet, but I hate using the tablet with the mouse, so that didn't work either (for me that is).

Margus
 
Just refine the settings in the mouse control panel. I'm also sorry for sounding dramatic, but I guess it's really just a case of settings and getting adjusted. I've been using OS X for ever (since before it came out) and am also an avid mouse and trackpad user. Adjust and get adjusted.
 
Thnaks for the input everyone !!

Mouse zoom just makes the problem faster! It speeds everything up, but also speeds up the overshoot, undershoot problem.

I have abandoned my lovely new wireless bluetooth mouse and gone back to my 4 year old intellimouse coupled with USBoverdrive, it is much more usable than apple's new OS X mouse driver but nowhere near as slick as the old driver.

fryke you are probably right that the only option is to just get used to it, but I think it is through people complaining about issues that forces vendors to address problems people are having.

The mouse is one of the primary input devices, the direct connection to apples wonderful operating system, to change its action and leave no control with the user is woeful, no slider or radio button to adjust acceleration and a speed setting, that at its fastest, is laborious on a 23" apple HD display and comic on a 30".

I have been using the mac proffesionally for over a decade and this for me is a major problem. For the first time my hands ache after a few hours of mousing, switching back to the intellipoint/USBoverdrive helps a lot but is not perfect.

:-(


Lee
 
If you want it to be like a pc, get a microsoft mouse and use their drivers.

If you want it to have the accel and tracking speed you desire, get SteerMouse.
 
I thought I was going crazy when I switched from OS 9.1.2 to 10.3.9 and my mouse was no longer as accurate as it used to be. Great thread. I just downloaded USB Overdrive and that is helping a lot. Thank you, all!
 
Leeww. Your posts could almost be mine. SAME problem with the mouse. Same switch over from 9 to 10 OS. OS 9 was pin point accurate. I use Photoshop all day.
After last night when my hand was cramping up so bad that I wanted to throw the mouse against the wall, I decieded to look for help. I posted on Apple site this morning ( so far no reply ). So I looked around and found your post.
I am going to down load the USBoverdrive driver and try it. But being new to OSX, how do I install the driver? Then what do I do after? I have the original Apple mouse and a Logitec I've been using but like the feel of the Apple mouse better. Or do I need to get an Intellipoint mouse ( what ever that is ) also?
Thanks for the help from everyone.
Marty
 
Installing USB Overdrive is very straightforward. After downloading it to your desktop, simply doubleclick on it, then open the folder, and then doubleclick on the USB Overdrive.pkg file within the folder. USB Overdrive will then be installed in your System Preferences as a preference pane.
You don't need to get any one particular mouse. Whichever one tickles your fancy is OK.
For wrist/hand problems from extended mouse use, I recommend ErgoBeads: http://imakproducts.com/products/ergobeads.htm#ergobeadsfabricwristsupport.
I use their Mouse Support; it's totally relieved my hand problems.
 
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