There ’s been a batch of debate about Apple ’s new multi - button Mighty Mouse over the past few week , but one of the most rough-cut complaints is that the Mighty Mouse mouse driver does n’t give ripe users as much control as they would wish . Specifically , Apple ’s number one wood — approachable via the Mouse yellow journalism of the Keyboard & Mouse loony toons of System Preferences — provides only a few selection for the action of each push and limited power to customize tracking and scrolling speeds .
Those who crave more choice should check out PlentyCom System ’s $ 20SteerMouse 2.0 ( ) , a third - party number one wood for Apple ’s novel pointing twist . ( It also works with other mice , but is designed primarily for the Mighty Mouse . )
Once installed , you configure SteerMouse via the SteerMouse utility , which provides options for the Mighty Mouse ’s push button , scroll ball , and cursor movement .
The Buttons blind lets you assign actions to each of the Mighty Mouse ’s four “ button ” : left , right , curlicue chunk , and side . The available actions include :
The Wheel tab let you customize the behavior of the Mighty Mouse ’s scroll testis . you could line up both the scroll swiftness and the scroll quickening , but you could also completely castrate the demeanor of the roll wheel . For model , you could assign keyboard shortcuts to each charge — left , right , up , and down . Or , even more interesting , you may choose to have the scroll ball actuallymove the pointer , making it the world ’s smallest trackball . ( One feature I ’d wish to see is the ability to have unlike scroll lump configurations when you hold down a modifier key ; for exemplar , to scroll when used unremarkably , but to control the pointer when used with the shift key entreat . )
Finally , the Cursor concealment have you customize the black eye cursor ’s pep pill and acceleration much more effectively than Apple ’s driver , and to enable “ Auto move . ” This latter feature causes the black eye cursor to automatically move to a particular location in a fresh - actuate windowpane or dialog : the nonpayment button ; the Cancel button ; the close , minimize , or rapid growth button ; or the resize “ handle ” in the bottom right box of the window . ( If you ’re wonder about the Tilt Wheel tab , it ’s for third - party mice with tiltable roll wheel . )
Like Kensington ’s popularMouseWorkssoftware , SteerMouse let you configure different groups of circumstance for different applications — your Mighty Mouse can function one way in Photoshop and another in the Finder . And SteerMouse offers Panther substance abuser one other welcome feature : Whereas Apple ’s Mighty Mouse drivers work only under OS X 10.4.2 and subsequently , SteerMouse also supports 10.3.9 , let Panther users to customize their Mighty Mice , as well .
( As a side billet , the developer of SteerMouse are non - aboriginal English speaker , so you ’ll find periodic mistakes throughout the port . But these errors manifestly do n’t involve functionality . )
At $ 20 , SteerMouse may seem like a sight to drop when you ’ve just shell out $ 50 for a new shiner , but if you ’re the type who ’ll habituate its extra functionality , it will surely be worth the investment over the long haul .
Note : Another selection for customizing your Mighty Mouse is USB Overdrive 10.4 ; I ’ll be covering that product in a next column .
SteerMouse works with both Tiger and Panther .
