Apple's Mighty Mouse & AC9

[MSotero]

My Apple Mighty Mouse arrived.... plug it in and it goes (my OS 10.3.9 does not allow for "customizing" mouse options.... one needs Tiger for that and one needs to install their mouse software for Tiger).
Apparently it works with Windows 2000 & XP without additional software too, but it is unclear exactly which functions are avaiable as the manual says to see the Mouse control panel for that.

Ergonomics:
Overall it feels very natural in the hand.
I've never been attracted to the multi-button mice due to feeling so clunky.
The Scroll Ball and left/right button/sensors are very smooth and unobtrusive and for me intuitive.

Using it in AC9:
The Scroll ball activates pan & zoom commands in the plan & 3d views in AC9 automatically & simultaneously.
Up/down or left/right ball movements will zoom in/out.
The position of the cursor on screen will be the center of the zoom (does not require one to press down on anything, just move the cursor where you want the center).
If you press & hold down the scroll ball, then it Pans. If you move the ball while holding it down, then you can Pan & Zoom simultaneously.

The "default" right click does what the Control/Click does with a basic apple mouse.
I don't necessary see this as an advantage over Control/Click as it all seems to be personal preference. But accommodating personal preference is a good thing.
Further you can override exactly what right clicking does if desired (see below).

Expose:
Expose is a nice way for viewing or changing which plan/section/3d window you are using.
In 10.3.9 one can control the Expose activation for Mighty Mouse choosing System Preferences... and clicking Expose.

The Mouse settings at the bottom of the dialog work differently depending on the "exact combination" you use. It seems strange.
You'll need to experiment as I can't find any written explanation why it works as it does.
Also you can use modifier keys such as Command, Control, Option or Shift to change what happens.

For instance the following setting combination does this:
All Windows: Mouse Button 4 (will spread out all open application windows when squeezing the side buttons)
Application Windows: Right Mouse Button (will spread out only current application windows, e.g. AC9) note if you use a modifier key here with the right button, then you can maintain the default right click action too.

I was surprised at how much I like using the mouse to activate Expose and the scroll ball does seem to make it much quicker to move around.

[Anonymous]

I can confirm that the scroll is broken in AC9 with the Mighty Mouse preference pane installed. Another person in the office has not installed the pane and scrolling does work. We are both using 10.4.2 and AC9 (2045). The tips above, while appreciated, do not help. Will have to see what Graphisoft says.

[Anonymous]

OK,
1.The Scroll does not work now I know and it is very frustrating (any work around)?
2. We can not assign short cut keys to the buttons (short of creating Apple script that invokes short cuts for AC9 by assigning it to the OTHER of mouse setting (any one out there that knows how to do that)?
So why we are using it??!!!
Joseph

[Anonymous]

Agree - I sent it back. My 4 year old MS optical works so much better (I am a die-hard mac person). I was hoping for more. sigh....
Mighty will become 'Mighty' with the feedback it is getting; I can wait.

[Aussie John]

Not always best to get on the first bus - am sure rev b will have the wrinkles shaken out/

[Anonymous]

brian wrote:
Anyone out there suggest a good input device?
TIA

We always buy a Kensington Optical Elite with any new systems. It is a 5 button mouse with a scroll wheel. You can set the buttons to any command by mapping the key combinations.

[Anonymous]

By the way, if anyone is interested to speedup the mouse movement there is a simple utility called MouseZoom.dmg (search under MOUSE) on version tracker that makes any Mac mouse react like (well almost) MS intelliMouse.
Joseph

[MSotero]

If I understand the post by Chris Grimley above, the mouse will pan and zoom under 10.4.2 if you just don't install the new apple mouse software.

It also seems there are other software drivers for the MM if they're of any use.
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/2005/08/steermouse/index.php

It works fine in my OS, even scrolls various portions of AC9 dialog boxes, etc.
Unfortunately, it seems to be more of a rodent than a pet for some.

[Anonymous]

MSotero wrote:
It works fine in my OS, even scrolls various portions of AC9 dialog boxes, etc.
Unfortunately, it seems to be more of a rodent than a pet for some.

I think yours works because you are on 10.3.9 vs. 10.4.2
Thanks,
Joseph

[Anonymous]

By the way if you want to disable the MM software just to use the mouse it self delete (after coping to desktop) HD/System/Library/Extensions/AppleHIDMouse.kext.
Joseph

[Anonymous]

MSotero wrote:
It also seems there are other software drivers for the MM if they're of any use.
http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macgems/2005/08/steermouse/index.php

WOW this is an unbelievable software, I have taken back my MM to the desk and using it full and even with 5 assigned short cut keys plus the left click!!!!
I assigned short cut keys to Right & Left scroll also!
Great, Thanks,
Joseph