A look at the Mouse preferences pane.
Well, I finally broke down and bought one. A wireless Mighty Mouse.
Because all new desktop Macs come with a Mighty Mouse, I need to be able to write about it for my upcoming Leopard book. So I bought one from Amazon.com last week and it arrived on my doorstep today. I wasted no time opening the box and setting it up.
That Mousy Feeling
Before I go into some detail about Mighty Mouse settings, I want to comment about the feel of this mouse. Anyone who spends a lot of time at a computer gets used to the feel of the mouse he uses. I’m almost embarrassed to say that I’ve been using the standard Apple USB mouse that came with my Dual G5 since I bought the machine in 2003. I’m familiar with the way it feels under my hand and I have grown to like it — even though it only has one button. I have two other mice that I use with my laptops; I reviewed and commented on them in one of this site’s most popular articles, “Mouse Wars: Microsoft vs. Logitech.” Although I have hooked up one of these mice to my Dual G5 in the past, I went back to the original mouse after a very short time.
Now I’m getting ready for my next desktop Mac purchase, which is likely to be a 24″ iMac. I plan to buy that with a wireless Mighty Mouse and wireless keyboard. So figured I may as well start getting used to the feel of the mouse by using it on my G5 now.
In general, the Mighty Mouse feels good under my hand. It has much the same shape as the old USB mouse, so it’s familiar. Apple didn’t try to go ergonomic (like Microsoft and Logitech did), so it didn’t fail miserably (like Logitech did). Instead, Apple stuck to the same basic design, which should make longtime Mac users like me happy.
Once configured (as instructed below), you can set up a Mighty Mouse as a two-button mouse. That’s what I did. Although the mouse has just one physical button for your fingertips, the mouse can somehow sense which finger you’re using to click. So far, this seems to work pretty well, although I have managed to display a contextual menu more than a few times with what I thought was a left click. Looks like I can’t be sloppy with my clicking when using this mouse. I’ll need some motor skill retraining.
I like the silly little roller ball. It makes it possible to scroll on two axes — horizontally and vertically. It feel tiny and insignificant under my finger — so tiny, in fact, that it tickles. But it works a lot better than I expected it to.
Configuring the Mouse
You configure the Mighty Mouse by setting options in the Mouse panel of the Keyboard & Mouse preferences pane. Choose Apple > System Preferences and click the Keyboard & Mouse icon in the System Preferences window that appears. Then click the Mouse button at the top of the preferences pane. It should look like what you see here.
If the options don’t look like what you see here, here are some things to check:
- Is the Mighty Mouse attached to (if USB) or paired with (if Bluetooth) your computer?
- Is the Mighty Mouse the only mouse attached to or paired with your computer?
- If a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse, is it turned on? Are the batteries properly installed? Do the batteries have power?
- Have you installed the software that came with the Mighty Mouse and followed the installation instructions?
The settings are pretty straightforward.
First of all, you can use pop-up menus to indicate what each button on the mouse should do. While I keep referring to a Mighty Mouse as a “two-button” mouse, it really has four buttons: left, right, scroll, and sides (two buttons counting as one). You can program each of them for specific tasks:
- Primary button is normally the left mouse button on a two-button mouse.
- Secondary button is normally the right mouse button on a two-button mouse. This is usually used to display contextual menus.
- Exposé - All Windows activates the Exposé feature, displaying all windows. This is the same as pressing F9.
- Exposé - App Windows activates the Exposé feature, displaying all application windows. This is the same as pressing F10.
- Exposé - Desktop activates the Exposé feature, displaying the Desktop. This is the same as pressing F11.
- Dashboard activates Dashboard. This is the same as pressing F12.
- Application Switcher activates the application switcher. This is the same as pressing Command-Tab.
- Spotlight activates the Spotlight menu. This is the same as pressing Command-Spacebar.
- Other displays an Open dialog that you can use to choose an item that should be opened when you press the button. This makes it possible to launch applications or open documents by pressing a button on the mouse.
The Scrolling Options menu enables you to specify how the scroll bar should work when you move it (not when you press it). The options include Off, Vertical Only, Vertical and Horizontal, and 360 Degree.
Three sliders at the bottom of the window enable you to set speeds for:
- Tracking is the mouse’s speed across the screen.
- Scrolling is the scroll ball’s scrolling speed.
- Double-Click is the amount of time between clicks to be recognized as a double-click.
At the very bottom of the screen is a check box that, when enabled, activates a program’s zoom feature when a key you specify is held down. You can further fine-tune the zooming feature by clicking the Options button and setting a few extra options.
Make the Most of It
Although you can configure a Mighty Mouse to work just like a regular one-button mouse, doing so would prevent you from getting the most of your mouse. Play around with the settings. I have mine set with primary and secondary buttons, Dashboard on the scroll button, and Exposé on the sides. (I don’t use Exposé much, but I also don’t like squeezing the buttons together.)
If you’ve been using Mighty Mouse for a while and have some tips to share about using it, please use the Comments link to share them. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would be interested in learning more about getting the most of this device.
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28 responses so far ↓
1 Lazydog // Apr 12, 2007 at 9:39 am
The ball tends to get dirt inside and stop working. Very hard to clean.
2 Maria Langer // Apr 12, 2007 at 9:48 am
The ball? The Mighty Mouse I have is optical. There is no ball. Heck, I haven’t had a mouse with a ball in years.
Unless you mean the little optical port where the ball would be if it had a ball. Then yes, I can imagine that being a problem, especially in my dusty Arizona office.
Or do you mean the roller thingie? I guess that IS a ball. I’d better keep my hands clean!
It’s day two of the Mighty Mouse here and the biggest problem I’m encountering is not clicking in the right place. I need to change the way I hold the mouse so my fingertip are in the right position for clicking. Frustrating, but I’m still working on it.
3 David Fritzinger // Apr 12, 2007 at 10:26 am
Two things. The ball does tend to get dirty, but can be easily cleaned. Just unplug the mouse (I use a wired version on my PM G5 and iMac G5) and rub the ball with a lintless piece of cloth, vigorously. I find I need to do that every week or two.
Secondly, I wish Apple would allow different settings for different programs, like a lot of other mouse producers do. There are a couple of programs where the standard settings just don’t work correctly.
4 Kapacik // Apr 12, 2007 at 10:37 am
Default options are nice but not good enough for me. I had to get USB Overdrive. I configured scrollball button to be Double Click which saved me countless clicks and side buttons to be “BACK” in any application. Works in any browser and VERY useful.
5 Carl // Apr 12, 2007 at 11:14 am
The ball (the one on top that you use to scroll), gets dirty very quickly. Even if you wash your hands before using, it doesn’t take long. The first time is a few weeks before scrolling stops.
I fix this by using an eyeglass cleaner cloth, wetting it with alcohol and then rubbing the mouse upside down, pressing firmly and rolling around. The dirt will work its way out.
I find I have to do this every week now. They need to get rid of this and go with the wheel design, or at least something that doesn’t collect dirt.
My 24″ iMac arrived Feb 07/07 and the wireless mighty mouse lithium batteries died on April 7/07. My machine is on all the time, so expect batteries to last 2 months under heavy use.
6 Bob Forsberg // Apr 13, 2007 at 12:15 am
Tried and tried to make it part of my everyday routine ever since I got my new 24″ iMac. If Apple ever should have played follow the leader it was with mice.
I love my Apple wireless keyboard, simplicity is great…but the mouse needs to conform to the norm. A unique design to pencils, pens, paint brushes and mice don’t really fly. Logitech & Microsoft got it right. A white, bluetooth mouse that works like optical mice from the industry leaders should very quietly slip into Apple’s inventory. What Apple has… just doesn’t feel right. Everything can’t be perfect out of the box….even for Apple.
7 Dan // Apr 13, 2007 at 10:37 am
Cleaning the roller ball thingiee clean with alcohol is a great tip. I use a Q-tip dipped in alcohol then use canned air to blow it dry. Another tip I picked up from a Apple user site was to press firmly down on the roller ball while moving it around during the cleaning process. It really helps.
8 Mighty Wireless Windows Mouse « The lost outpost // May 3, 2007 at 3:21 am
[...] How to Configure a Mighty Mouse (in OS X) [...]
9 Jonathan // May 5, 2007 at 9:29 am
I got a wireless mighty mouse and installed the software before I found out it is limited in button function assignment. I am very used to having one of the buttons on my mouse perform as a browser back function. Any idea how I can make this happen now? I can find no solid advice on how to uninstall the MM software. Any help?
10 Mark S // May 12, 2007 at 12:52 pm
I’ve had a mighty mouse for one day, and it’s already part of my routine on my laptop iBook G4. I needed something more precise than the built-in trackpad for Photoshop.
It’s wired, not Bluetooth, but the cord fits under the notebook without causing it to tip. The laser sensor works better than my older optical IR sensor Logitec portable mouse, which sticks and stutters. I can sit in a chair and use the MM on the thigh of my jeans, or at a desk without a pad.
I find the side-squeeze ‘button’ a little odd–it’s a bit stiff to use, but still I sometimes accidently trigger it during other tasks.
I would like a button function to replicate the Return/Enter key for some programs where a double-click is not interchangeable. New software with some more button assignment options (which seem to be in demand!) should be do-able, I hope Apple is listening…
All in all, though, I’m quite pleased with it, easy to use and small enough to pack along.
Mark S.
11 Charles // Jun 1, 2007 at 1:10 pm
How can I assign the “back” button? I use Firefox and I have to right click and click on back…
12 gene // Jun 11, 2007 at 4:20 pm
i use safari and want to know to assign “back ”
button on mighty mouse
13 Maria Langer // Jun 18, 2007 at 7:10 am
Charles and Gene, I don’t think this is possible — at least not without using either AppleScript of some third-party solution. I’ll research this and, if I come up with an answer to help you, will write about it on my site. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful now!
14 SEB // Jul 18, 2007 at 7:46 am
Great stuff Maria,
I also would like to knwo how to “back” in Safari using Button 3 in the scoll ball.
Please update us if you find anything.
15 Enzo Medici // Oct 26, 2007 at 8:31 pm
I think the Mighty Mouse needs to get some proper buttons. I use it, but it doesn’t feel right. I’m hoping to find a wireless replacement mouse that is just as stylish. Any suggestions?
16 Maria Langer // Oct 29, 2007 at 7:41 am
Enzo, you know, I thought that, too. Until I started using it regularly. Once you get your hand “retrained” so your fingers press the correct places on the mouse, it actually works very well.
17 Bien // Jan 2, 2008 at 3:38 am
I’m also looking to assign back to the scroll wheel click. =)
18 Circa 1983 // Mar 13, 2008 at 8:28 am
A little application called Steermouse can do it. I tried it myself and it works great. It lets you completely custom configure the buttons on your Mighty Mouse.
19 Circa 1983 // Mar 13, 2008 at 8:29 am
http://plentycom.jp/en/steermouse/
20 Poozakul // Mar 29, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Can the buttons of a Wireless Mighty Mouse be configured or programmed to copy and paste?
A shortcut to copying and pasting can easily be done in a PC by simply right-clicking the 2-button mouse and choosing cut or paste from the menu. I found out that this cannot be done using a Mighty Mouse (I’m a Mac newbie by the way). I’ve tried changing the settings in the Systems Preferences but no luck.
21 Kernos // Apr 4, 2008 at 5:53 am
Call me an old dog (still using my Mac SE and IIci), but right-clicking is sooo Windows and PC. Control-click, Control-click, Control-click. Even with my Trackballs I Control-click.
22 Maria Langer // Apr 4, 2008 at 9:06 am
I hear ya, Kernos! But, boy, once you get into the habit of right-clicking instead of control-clicking, it really is sweet. One hand does it all.
23 Dowe // Apr 11, 2008 at 11:57 am
When you write your book on Leopard, you may want to consider using more gender neutral language, and not assume the computer user is a male. Just a thought.
24 Maria Langer // Apr 11, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Dowe, you’re kidding, right?
And the Leopard book is already done. It’s been in bookstores since October 2007.
25 Dirk // Apr 17, 2008 at 9:27 am
Can you configure the right mouse button to double click? A Logitech mouse you can.
26 Scott p // Nov 24, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Can someone tell me why I pay $2500 for a new apple and I have to go to a third party vendor to configure my mouse to have a back button? Why is something this simple not included with the mighty mouse? This is the exact reason I was hesitant about switching to apple. They have to make even the simplest applications difficult just so they can be different than windows.
27 dGnome33 // Nov 27, 2008 at 4:22 pm
The biggest problems I have with the Mighty mouse are:
1. The squeeze buttons are too hard to use on a regular basis.
2. Right clicking is simply not reliable enough.
3. It isn’t possible to simultaneously click left and right, meaning functionality for certain apps is compromised.
4. The tracking isnt sensitive enough. I have to have the tracking sensitivity set way up to even get close to the level of sensitivity I am used to. Even then it isn’t quite good enough.
All in all it is a decent mouse, but considering the above problems haven’t been fixed after 3 years, how about some mouse loving Apple?
dGnome33´s last blog post: Name that tune? Now you can with Shazam!
28 Maria Langer // Dec 1, 2008 at 7:20 am
dGnome33, I definitely agree on your first two points. I find that if I stretch my middle finger to the right and “click” the far right side of the mouse, I can get a pretty reliable right-click. I’ve never had a need to click both buttons at the same time, though — what app(s) work with that? And I also have no complaint about sensitivity, although I do notice that it tends to get “stuck” or “skip” once in a while. I own 3 of them now — one wireless (save your money) and two wired. I use a wired one every day at my desk and sometimes take the other wired one on the road to use with my MacBook Pro.
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