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MacChat: Magic Mouse gives Windows 7 a touch-up
BEGUN, the multi-touch wars have.
Multi-touch appears to be the new battleground for computers, if two important releases this week are anything to go by.
On the eve of the launch of Windows 7Microsoft’s latest version of its dominant desktop operating system that introduces multi-touch supportApple brought Multi-Touch capabilities to its desktop Macs for the first time, via a new product it calls the Magic Mouse.
Released alongside a new range of desktop iMacs and Mac minis, the Magic Mouse is basically a mouse-shaped trackpad that accepts Multi-Touch input, so users can now use combinations of multi-finger swipes and taps to navigate their Mac and perform basic functions.
The Magic Mouse runs on Mac OS X Leopard or Snow Leopard, but not Windows or earlier versions of Mac OS X.
While the iPhone and iPod touch have touchscreen technology, and the fabled “iPad” tablet also will if it becomes a reality, Apple has resisted touchscreen Macs for ergonomic reasons, limiting Multi-Touch to the trackpad (the new MacBook completes the transition of Apple’s portables to Multi-Touch), and now the mouse. In contrast, Microsoft is allowing touchscreen functionality in Windows 7, despite it having been tried already in the ‘80s and given away due to the uncomfortable phenomenon known as “gorilla arm”.
Still, there’s no reason the screen can’t be used for brief periods from time to timeor in the case of tablet PCs, much of the timeand Windows users now have a choice between multi-touch trackpad.
While Apple was the first to bring the mouse to the masses, via the original Macintosh 25 years ago, its mouses have gotten a reputation for limited functionality over the years, due to Apple’s insistence on only having one mouse button to “keep it simple”. Contextual menus were available in the Mac OS via a control-click, but many users preferred the ability to right-click, so either used a third-party mouse or avoided Macs altogether.
Then the original iMac was launched with its round “hockey puck” mouse that users also loved to hate. It was later axed in favour of the Pro Mouse, then the no-button Mighty Mouse which drew criticism for its awkward clickability and a scroll ball that was impossible to clean.
The replacement of the Mighty Mouse with the Magic Mouse follows Apple’s loss in a trademark infringement lawsuit, which found the Mighty Mouse name belonged to hardware maker Man & Machine. Apple had earlier received permission from CBS to use the trademark, which is also the name of a cartoon character.
The Magic Mouse is included with the new 27” and 21” iMacs, or available separately for $A99. A wireless mouse, it requires a Bluetooth-enabled Mac.
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