Tumble. The writings and findings of a web designer.

I’ve been using a Wireless Mighty Mouse for the past 2.5 years and have never quite understood the vast amount of hate it received—I’ve always liked it. Sure, the scroll nub would occasionally get clogged, but the hold-upside-down-and-rub-with-paper trick always seemed to clean it out and fix the problem. That said, this past weekend I went out and bought a Magic Mouse with no legitimate reason for replacing my Mighty Mouse other than I’m a sucker for new Apple gadgets [read: fanboy — yeah, I can admit it].

With my Mighty Mouse, I grew accustomed to using the side-button-squeeze for Exposé and the middle-click for Dashboard. So, it seemed I’d be taking a step back with the Magic Mouse as it’s missing the side buttons and the software doesn’t support a middle-click nor configurable gestures that would work well for Exposé. But after trying it out at the Apple Store, I was damn-near sold on the momentum scrolling alone—I figured I’d learn to trigger Exposé via another method like hot corners or control+right-click. Plus, I had a feeling Apple would soon release a software update with support for more gestures (like their newer trackpads) or developers would beat them to it. Reservations aside, I bought it. (Aside from the mouse itself being specimen of beautiful industrial design, the packaging is also very well done.)

So, here we are after 6 days of solid use and I’m officially sold. After the first day or so of use, I was admittedly a little hesitant. A couple times I caught myself squeezing it hoping to invoke Exposé. And, the thing does sit really low.

But, I had to expect some awkwardness when changing mice due to the muscle memory developed from using the same one for so long. Now, I’m used to (and like) it’s low profile, I can’t imagine scrolling without momentum, and I was right, there are already a couple apps available that add support for more gestures. Currently, I’m using BetterTouchTool to add a 3-finger swipe-down gesture to trigger Exposé (all windows), 3-finger swipe-up for Exposé (application windows), and 3-finger click for Dashboard. I now have all the functionality of my old Mighty Mouse and room to grow with more gestures. This thing is nice.