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Apple vs. Microsoft Multi-Touch Mouse Comparison
blee37 writes "This is a side-by-side comparison of the Apple and Microsoft multi-touch mice. It includes video demonstrations of using the mice in applications, first-person shooters and 3D manipulation. It also has new photos of the internals of all the mice."
Problem with this, like with many other touch screen like devices, is that you don't get physical feedback when you're clicking or scrolling or doing anything. There's a reason why you actually need to push the mouse button a little bit so it clicks. Not much, but it actually feels like a click. Keyboard presses need to be the same way too - you need the feedback.
Another example is the scroll in mouses. My Logitech MX Revolution mouse has both seamless and non-seamless mode that you can activate for different apps. Seamless mode was activated by default for IE and I had to take it off, because mouse scroll also needs to "tick" and feel back when you're scrolling. The Apple video shows that you can scroll faster by moving your finger rapidly - guess what, you can do that with a normal scroll too, just by rapidly firing the scroller to either direction (the logitech software actually releases the tick for a bit so it works even better)
Other thing to consider is how quickly the touch area gets dirty and less functional. I sometimes like to eat a great three story cheese bacon hamburger filled with majonese, chipotle ketchup and delicious cheese with deep fried french fries, topped with a cold beer and chocolate ice cream with strawberries and chocolate dipping. Lets face it, the touch area is going to get dirty. Will it function the same way after that and can you clean it as easily?
I don't think anyone is denying that Microsoft R&D can churn out some interesting concepts from time to time, but there's a big difference between shipping an actual product with most of the details worked out, and merely mocking up a few prototypes that are nowhere close to being ready for actual sale. I'd be curious to see what prototypes Apple came up with before shipping the Magic Mouse. That'd be a more interesting comparison.
Which multi-touch mouse do you want the most? Or are they all gimmicks?
Nice card-forcing there.
I like Microsoft's basic wheel mouse on Windows and Mac, and HP's 3-button optical mouse on X11.
No, seriously, they post crap like that on the Internet?
This is a comparison of a finished product that is shipping today, against a number of prototypes, none of which you can buy anywhere and most of which you will never be able to buy. Most importantly, none of which are finished and ready for use. We're all living in the tech world. We've all seen at least a hundred videos of prototypes that we were really looking forward to - and the final product either never arrived or wasn't half as good as the demo had led us believe.
Make a comparison when they're both shipping. Everything else is dumb, and creating false expectations.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
"I'm a mac" (Justin Long touches himself)
"I'm a PC" (John Hodgeman touches himself)
Personally, I'd buy one that provided solid Linux support. The Apple mouse looks pretty, and sounds functional, but I haven't heard of any Linux drivers. Anyone?
So instead of having only one mouse button, Apple is getting rid of all of them?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Show me on the doll where Microsoft and Apple multi-touched you inappropriately.
If you love the "touch" aspect of the Magic Mouse, an alternative is the Wacom Bamboo Touch tablet.
It's roughly the same price as a Magic Mouse, it supports gestures just fine, the area makes it more comfortable than a mouse and best of all, you can also use it as a tablet.
{{.sig}}
So with my current mouse I can rest my finger on the mouse button, and press down when I want to click.
With these new mice, when I want to click I have to lift my finger up from the surface of the mouse and then press down (if the video in the article is indicative of how it functions). I think constantly lifting my finger would become tiring.
Apart from probably gaming, I have difficulties to get a grasp of the advantages of the concept, especially if compared to a multi-touch tablet.
CC.
TaijiQuan (Huang, 5 loosenings)
The Microsoft designs are all still prototypes. I would say that one of the two companies have "introduced" a multi-touch mouse. The other is currently researching a way to copy it (as always) and quite possibly playing with themselves. This design makes it look like you are holding a nutsack
On the bright side, I have a magic mouse now and will say that it really is a whole new (awesome) experience.
From TFA:
...and by "tame" we mean "already living peacefully in people's houses." And by "radical" we mean "awesome in theory."
Dude, without any kind of tactile feedback, you have to look at the keyboard, instead of looking at the text you're typing. How can that not be a problem? Reasonable people can disagree over whether that means tactile feedback is "nice-to-have" or "critical", but let's not pretend the issue doesn't even exist.
The title of this comment should be "How do these mice prevent finger movement from causing mouse movement", but due to the limits /. places on comment titles....
OK, so let us say I have the Mac Mouse, and I swipe my fingers over the surface to do a horizontal scroll of a document.
* How do I prevent my finger motion from moving the mouse itself, and thus the pointer of the mouse?
* Does the mouse have such a high coefficient of static friction that the CoF between my fingers and the shell * the force my fingers apply is too small to break the mouse loose?
* What does that imply about normal mouse usage?
** Will I lose the ability to move the mouse by small amounts due to the stiction?
** Will I have to completely change my grip on the mouse to transition from mousing to swiping?
www.eFax.com are spammers
From TFA:
Ok, can't agree with this one. Since then we've added the scroll wheel, which was a huge improvement in mouse technology. If you don't believe me, try going back to a plain two-button mouse, and then work with a document bigger than your screen. You used to spend your life moving back and forth between the scroll bar and the text. We've also, for the most part, done away with crappy ball mice in favor of the light tracking ones, which eliminated the sticky mouse problem.
Multi-touch may turn out to be a big deal, but it's certainly a stretch to say that mice haven't improved substantially since '68.
So here is the deal: I ordered a Magic mouse and after an hour of use I put it back in the packaging and sold it to a colleague.
Why ?
The idea is great, the functions are not. Not being able to pinch, rotate and zoom without a key is one (stupid) thing, considering that the mouse can track 4 fingers.
Accidental actions (scroll mostly) is annoying. A button or ball moves when you move it, this thing tracks every touch, that annoyed me to hell.
Having no 3rd button however is an absolute deal breaker. I would live with a 3-finger touch, or 2 finger tap, but the lack of buttons just made me pack it and sell it.
And do not get me wrong, I use the Mightly mouse and several Logi trackballs and only Mac aluminium keyboards (except on my Macbook)...
I think the hardware is awesome but the drivers absolutely SUCK!
Just my 2c.
ps: the optical touch tracking looks interesting on the videos... maybe I would try that next... .or just stay with my logis.
The title of this comment should be "How do these mice prevent finger movement from causing mouse movement", but due to the limits /. places on comment titles....
OK, so let us say I have the Mac Mouse, and I swipe my fingers over the surface to do a horizontal scroll of a document.
* How do I prevent my finger motion from moving the mouse itself, and thus the pointer of the mouse?
* Does the mouse have such a high coefficient of static friction that the CoF between my fingers and the shell * the force my fingers apply is too small to break the mouse loose?
For scrolling, it works the same way as any mouse with a physical scroll wheel. You steady the mouse with your thumb on one side, and your pinkie, ring, and (possibly) middle fingers on the other, and stroke with your index finger. You don't end up knocking your mouse around when you poke at the scroll wheel, do you?
** Will I have to completely change my grip on the mouse to transition from mousing to swiping?
Well, the multi-finger back/forward gestures are a bit trickier, since your index and middle fingers moving together aren't as dextrous as your index finger alone. The "back" gesture is pretty simple--you lift your pinkie and ring fingers off, but leave your thumb to counter the force of the swipe--but the opposite "forward" gesture is darned near impossible for me. Luckily, you don't navigate forward as often as you go back, but still.
The video on the Apple site helps.
Having played with one for a brief period:
- Normal tracking and clicking is no different from any other mouse
- Both X and Y scrolling is very natural and intuitive.
- The optional "scroll with momentum" is annoying and distracting to me, but might be familiar to iPhone users.
- Right clicking requires lifting your left finger. Easy enough to get used to, but not natural.
- Back and Forward gestures are cool, but would take some serious effort to get used to.
- The mouse is very low and flat.