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."

Re:Touch screens and the like

[mcgrew]

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.

Thet doesn't seem to matter to iPhone or MegaGame machines. You need feedback, but not auditory or tactile feedback. The only need for tactile or auditory feedback is if your devise is so molasses-in-January slow that nothing apparently happens when you use the control.

Feedback needs to appear instantaneous or it's useless.

Re:R&D vs. Actual Product

[crosseyedatnite]

I believe the first consumer optical mouse would beg to differ.

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/99/04/20/0214216/MS-Introduces-Optical-Mouse [slashdot.org]

Re:Touch screens and the like

[Anonymous Coward]

The Magic Mouse clicks. The entire surface is a button, just like with the older Mighty Mouse (a.k.a. Apple Mouse). It may be touch sensitive, but Apple agreed that feedback was necessary and built it in.

Both Microsoft and Apple have introduced, eh?

[gentlemen_loser]

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 [wordpress.com]

On the bright side, I have a magic mouse now and will say that it really is a whole new (awesome) experience.

Re:Touch screens and the like

[beelsebob]

Sure I have, it's a lot easier than it is on a tiny physical keyboard.

Re:What???

[Azureflare]

Wow, you have to look at the keyboard if you can't feel it? What happened to memorizing key positions and how far you have to move your fingers (muscle memory)?

Maybe it's easier for some people than others. I got the iPhone 1st gen the day after it released and have never had problems typing on it. After the first week or so, I didn't need to look at the keyboard either.

Re:So many choices

[Anonymusing]

Sir, may we interest you in a nice search engine [google.com]?

Re:An alternative to the Magic Mouse

[ticklemeozmo]

They made one glaring design error with the Wacom (Daewoo) Bamboo Touch Tablet. When using in right hand mode, the buttons are on the left (so your thumb can hit it), unfortunately, so is the WIRE. Meaning you can't flush it up against your keyboard or something else. Regardless of where your computer is, in this design, the buttons and wire should be on opposite sides. If you want it on your left side, the wire should hang off the left side, not the right side. That alone says "cheap knockoff".

Re:Apple Mouse

[Jesus_666]

Actually, I haven't seen any way in which the Magic Mouse's gestures differ from Apple's trackpad gestures, save for them using one finger less. If you can use an Apple trackpad under OS X you can use the Magic Mouse.

Re:Touch screens and the like

[Genevish]

"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."

With the Apple mouse, there is a physical click. The entire top surface moves down for a click. The capacitive surface is just used to determine if it was a right or left click.

Re:What???

[profplump]

Maybe you've got some sort magic, GPS-enabled muscle memory, but most of us can't reliably re-position our hands over a particular position without some sort of reference -- that's why your home row has those handy little bumps. Given the number of times a day an average person moves from keyboard to mouse and back the initial positioning of the mousing hand is a significant concern.

And muscle memory fails entirely if you need to make *any* little change, like sitting slightly to the side of the keyboard, or even adjusting the height of your chair; keys provide the ability to re-align your typing in-flight, without needing to look at the keyboard, or to do some sort of error analysis of the output to determine the modality of the current misalignment.

Re:How to prevent finger movement = mouse movement

[ThrowAwaySociety]

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.