Mac.LTL

So, I purchased a wireless Apple Mighty Mouse last week and was severely disappointed. I purchased an external mouse for my MacBook because I’ve started writing software again and the trackpad is usable but too slow. Performance is my main driver and I was not prepared to be so underwhelmed (i.e. pissed off).

The mouse response felt sluggish and unnatural. When trying to be precise it felt sticky and jerky. I first thought the bluetooth was a lame interface and the source of my issues, but that was not the case. It was my second suspicion that was confirmed… the problem lies with the mouse acceleration curve (it’s software, it’s in an OS X driver setting, and it can be easily fixed by Apple). But, alas, OS X has no setting for acceleration and apparently has not had one for a long time. The cause and some solutions to the problems of the “feel” of the mouse in OS X has been well described. Read the article, it’s a great overview.

So how do we fix this feeling like our mousepad is a piece of fly paper? Well, my suggestion is to download MouseFix 1.2, a free program by Richard Bently. Why do you want this solution? First, because it’s free. Second, because in version 1.2 someone copied the acceleration parameters from Windows! Get it, run it, it’s great. I suggest setting the acceleration factor command line parameter to 1.8 (the default is 2)… so run it like:

./MouseFix 1.8

After that, play with your tracking speed for your mouse to dial in what feels good. If you are on a laptop, you’ll probably also need to decrease the tracking speed of your trackpad to dial it in. At first you may not like the new feel because you have spent years and years as an unsatisfied user who has eventually gotten used to crap. But after a short period you’ll find it’s much better, even the trackpad is much nicer to use after the fix.

Have fun actually being able to click on things now!

Oh, and as a final rant, why is this issue so infuriating. Because I spent $70 for a mouse… just because it matches my laptop! For double to triple what a good mouse should cost I expect perfection, or at least something pleasurable and effective to use. Yes, this was not a hardware problem, but since Apple controls the whole ecosystem the software that integrates the hardware should be perfect. And anyway, the hardware isn’t even that nice… the “squeeze” feature requires a hard squeeze that is uncomfortable, I sometimes miss-click the left vs right buttons, the ergonomics aren’t that great, and the features that work well are no better than any other $15 mouse. I hate that I am now bought into Apple and form comes before function… except for my iPhone, few complaints over that!