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There are still third party solutions modeled after Apple's hockeypuck that fix exactly what you complain about. Though this doesn't have side scrolling capability.

However, this one comes in bluetooth form as well.

There are still third party solutions modeled after Apple's hockeypuck that fix exactly what you complain about. Though this doesn't have side scrolling capability.

However, this one comes in bluetooth form as well.

1) Compatible control keys. Switching between Mac and Windows this drives me nuts. I have to consciously think "command-C or control-C?" It shouldn't have to be that way. And if you're running RDC or VPC and copying and pasting between OS X and Windows!! Sheesh!

The problem isn't the labeling, it's the location of the keys used. I had to use a Windows PC today and I kept pressing Alt-C to copy. This is why it's a problem. If it was simply a matter of labeling, no worries, mate. Apple - and the zealotry - need to concede that this battle is lost.
Implementing this would rock many people's boats, so if Apple did make this change it'd have some serious domino affect on other keystrokes and applications that use them, but maybe it could be done with the switch to Intel, just to ease the pain slightly.

2) Save button on toolbars. I don't think any of the Apple software ever gives you the option to include a Save button. Print button yes, Save button no. A little test - raise your hand if you save your work more often than you print it? Ah, so I'm not alone. Good. You can put your hands down. Thank you.

3) A multi button mouse. And you thought I'd say two. Why stop at two? Especially with things like Exposé, Dashboard and Spotlight. They're just crying out for single click activation from a mouse. Ok. So this isn't a Windows feature per sé, but still is needed.

4) Only show relevant file types in open and save dialogs. For those who like seeing every file that's every existed in their Documents folder, give them a checkbox to show all files. But personally, if I am opening a Pages file, I don't want to see all my iMovie, Excel, iDVD etc files. And OS X already knows which are which because non-related ones are greyed out.

5) Sort folders to top of directory listings I know that we don't go folder mining as much since we got Spotlight, so I won't labor on about this one.

6) More context sensitive help. I notice since I first raised this two years ago, more of it has crept into OS X. So I guess at least I can't be flamed for this one!

"Poor, innocent DVForge (http://www.dvforge.com/company.shtml)... they can afford to set up a C corporation, at least one CNC machine, a 20,000 square foot facility, and a law firm but they can't afford the $2520 that it would cost to contest the nasty patent using all of the killer prior art that has been brought up in these Slashdot comments."

That law firm they have on retainer probably advised them that their product is quite likely an infringement of the cited patent and that they would probably lose in a reexamination. So they decided to cut their loses and cease development while using the whole "it's too expensive" argument as a smokescreen to get customers to deliver a barrage of nasty/angry e-mails to the patent owner.

But I routinely invent things outside of work. Your quoted figures are out of my price range. I guess I don't have the right to challange pattents (or protect my own).

Do you routinely patent your inventions? I doubt it, since it costs around $15-25K to submit and prosecute a patent before the USPTO, including attorney time and government fees.

There is a threshold below which it is not economical to obtain a patent, it is not economical to sue someone for patent infringement, and it is not economical to defend a suit for patent infringement. That threshold is well above what it costs to request a reexamination proceeding before the USPTO. That was the entire point of the original post. Feel free to argue that it should be cheaper to obtain a patent, as I'm sure that will be a popular opinion with the Slashdot crowd.

But I would argue that this is something that companies should NOT have to spend money on.

As opposed to what? You claim to have run a business that employs a significant number of people with no attorney contact? Importing and manufacturing at times requires patent advice, just as media publishing at times requires copyright advice and accounting at times requires tax advice and running a gasoline station requires environmental advice.

More to the point, when have you ever been threatened with a suit for patent infringement? Are you also one of these people that rail against the so-called "Death Tax" because you have the teeniest, tiniest hope that you will die with more than the $2 million that would have triggered an actual tax on your estate before that portion of the law was temporarily tweaked? (http://www.t-b.com/88.html)

Of course you are. Poor, innocent DVForge (http://www.dvforge.com/company.shtml)... they can afford to set up a C corporation, at least one CNC machine, a 20,000 square foot facility, and a law firm but they can't afford the $2520 that it would cost to contest the nasty patent using all of the killer prior art that has been brought up in these Slashdot comments.

Bull.

> That being said, I'd kill for a kick ass apple-styled bluetooth multibutton mouse.

http://www.dvforge.com/themousebt.shtml

Hey look, the contest has been cancelled already.
http://www.dvforge.com/virus.shtml

Think Morris worm - not intended to be harmful, but...oopsie. Even though I do believes Macs by default are more secure (if for no other reason that an admin password is needed to install new software), this inducement is plainly irresponsible. If you think so as well, here's where you can let them know http://www.dvforge.com/contact.shtml

Folks, the contest was cancelled.

and have made the difficult decision to cancel our contest. -- Jack Campbell

Too bad this is being sponsored by a manufacturer of rather poor-quality products. For example, they make a product called the SightFlex which appears to be the ideal iSight stand. So, I bought one... The camera caused all sorts of problems on the FireWire bus, so I contacted Jack at MacMice. The long thread of emails ended in my not receiving a response to a request for a working product, although Jack did suggest opening up the SightFlex and wrapping aluminum foil around the wires in the base.

So, I opened it up and here's what I found: http://www.nuxx.net/gallery/sightflex_troubleshoot ing

Great, huh? Nicely random scattered, poorly soldered wires in the base, not all twisted up like they are supposed to be in a FireWire cable.

I would have pursued the issue further, but the cheap plastic base of the device ended up breaking when I was moving it around one day. It seems that the flexible metal of the neck is just threaded into some fairly thin plastic in the base (again, see pictures) and the rather brittle plastic just up and broke one day.

Great idea, piss poor execution.

And, it is exactly becuase of this sort of product why I will never trust DVForge / MacMice again, no matter how noble the cause may be.

After my experience, I'd think that they are offering $25,000 in monopoly money. Note that they never say US Dollars, so you can't fault them if they pay up in fake bills. ;)

He has a really cool product for electric guitars. A really nice 9.5MB picture is available on the site. I suggest Slashdot readers check it out. Repeatedly.

http://www.dvforge.com/themouse.shtml

So, it's not like I'm going to wait all year for Apple to come out with their own. Of course, if true, it is a major shift in how Apple does things, but who cares about that? ;)

Exactly ...

How many people base their decisions on how much they actually like the company?

Very few if any Coca Cola collectors refuse Pepsi if its the only soft drink choice.

Also, about a year back there was a guy in the Mac Community named Jack Campbell - he had the worst reputation in all that was Mac. Now, he runs a multi million dollar business. Nobody seems to care about his reputation when buying from him.

Not that I'm endorsing this product in any way, but this is a three-button mouse that doesn't look awful.

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