Apple Mighty Mouse

Company	:	Apple
Price	:	RM 200
Rating	:

The first thing that strikes you about Apple's new Mighty Mouse, which finally breaks its long-criticised one-button policy, is that it doesn't look like a 'two-button' mouse. In fact, not only does it look similar to the one-button version, it's exactly the same shape and size as the Apple Pro and Wireless mice [see last photo]. What differentiates it from the others is the little scroll ball at the top front. (Oddly enough, I also noticed that when comparing all three side by side, the Apple logo seems to be disappearing with each new mouse!)

Even though you feel like you're clicking a one-button mouse, the two fingers placed on each side of the scroll ball are actually clicking on separate sensors underneath the white plastic shell. And in addition to the two clicks and the scroll ball (which scrolls vertically as well as horizontally), the sides of the mouse can also be squeezed, acting like another button. Therefore, the Mighty Mouse isn't a two-button mouse after all but a multi-button one encased in a single-button design (confused?). Trust Apple to push the boundaries of innovation yet again!

The Mighty Mouse works with Windows and earlier versions of Mac OS X. However, it's full features can only be experienced with OS X 10.4.2 or later. And for this, you need to install the software from the CD included in the box. After installation, you can customize your mouse via the Keyboard & Mouse preferences. This is one of the strengths of the Mighty Mouse: allowing you to personalise its actions. For example, you can enable or disable the horizontal and vertical scrolling, assign primary and secondary (i.e. left-click and right-click) buttons, choose the buttons to activate Exposé or Dashboard, etc, etc.

Using the mouse with all its features takes a little getting use to. But once you get the hang of it, it speeds up your workflow tremendously by cutting out unnecessary clicks. The scroll ball works like a dream especially in applications like Photoshop, GarageBand, Excel and iMovie where you would need to scroll left and right instead of just up and down. And it's so small that after a while you don't feel it under your fingers.

The scroll ball can also be clicked - the default setting activates Exposé. No more having to reach for the keyboard to press F9. And clicking the side buttons (which work together as a single button) launches Dashboard - no F12 required.

In conclusion, the Mighty Mouse is innovative, fun to use and most importantly, provides greater efficiency in the way you use your Mac. However, if I were to nitpick, I would have preferred it to be just a little bit cheaper and for the scroll ball to really scroll like a ball - just like when you drag PDF documents diagonally in Preview or Acrobat Reader.