At first I wasn’t a big fan of the Mighty Mouse that came with my 24” iMac. I didn’t like the small scroll wheel/ball, I didn’t like the one-button action either. But after a little research and some helpful comments on some of the posts here, I’ve finally figured out how to make the most of this wonderful piece of technology.
1. Two buttons are better than one
As a result of my own studies involving at least two people, 100% of the people surveyed agree that two mouse buttons are better than one. Go to your Mac’s System Preferences and then click on Keyboard & Mouse. Then select the right button as “Secondary Button” as shown in this screenie:
Using the right click is a little different than on an old-fashioned two button mouse though. The Mighty Mouse can sense when your index finger is in contact with the mouse. So if you want to click with your middle finger (right clicking) then you have to completely lift your index finger off the mouse. If your index finger is contacting the mouse at all then it will activate a standard left click.
2. Assign an action to the scroll ball
Also visible in the screen shot above you can see that I’ve assigned my Dashboard to the scroll ball. Since it’s really easy to click you should assign something to it which you use often. I use my Dashboard all the time for Twitter and other apps.
3. Squeeze your mouse
The two buttons on either side of your Mighty Mouse can be somewhat awkward to squeeze so whatever you assign to them should be something you don’t use too often, but still use occasionally. I’ve assigned Exposé to mine as you can see from the screenshot below:
4. 360 Scrolling
Also visible in the above screen is the fact that I’ve assigned “360 Degree” to the Scrolling Options. At first it took me a little while to get used to but over time it’s really become useful. You have three options for how your scroll ball works on your Mighty Mouse: Vertical Only, Vertical and Horizontal, 360 Degree. The difference between Vertical and Vertical and Horizontal are fairly obvious. But the difference between Vertical and Horizontal and 360 Degree is a little more nuanced. 360 Degree scrolling allows you to scroll diagonally as well as vertically and horizontally.
I’m sure there are other things that can make your Mighty Mouse truly mighty. What have you done to customize your settings?
P.S. — And as Joel pointed out in the comments below, perhaps the best quality of the Mighty Mouse is the fact that it is usually, if not exclusively, attached to a Mac.
10 Comments
That is pretty darn cool. It\’s amazing how they make that mouse work. I need to get me one for an external mouse.
The only thing I don\’t like about mine is how often the little ball gets dirty and you have to go through such rigamarole to get it to roll smoothly again…
The Mighty Mouse really is a great piece of technology. When my scroll ball gets a little dirty I usually am just able to roll it around with a cloth and it works fine again.
Ben nice little article on the mighty mouse. I\’ve got a bluetooth one which I would not recommend buying, the main reason is I don\’t want to create waste by replacing batteries every time the things dies. So I purchased rechargeables but that\’s become a hassle too, I have to recharge these babies every 3 days! So I\’d much rather have a wired mighty mouse. But otherwise, I like it. I use a paper towel with a little rubbing alcohol on it, and then turn the mouse upside down and roll the ball on the cloth to get the ball working again properly. Oh and I like having the scroll ball keyed to opening a new tab (in the background) in safari when I click on a link.
Hi Ben
I\’m glad your enjoying your mighty mouse at the moment, I did until that little scroll got to the point where even dabbing a cloth with some alcohol didn\’t remove the dirt.
Then there is the possibility of opening it up to clean and that can become a disaster, when your mighty mouse finally dies take a look at the Logitech MX Revolution its an amazing wireless mouse with tons or functionality including two scrolls which comes in very handy!
Thats my opinion anyway, good article though!
@Wess: That\’s a great idea to make the scroll ball open a new tab. I hadn\’t thought of that before.
@Richard: I\’ll definitely look into that Logitech. But I\’ll be honest, I\’m really in love with the Mighty Mouse. When this one dies I\’ll probably just get another
I would say that the largest advantage to having a Mighty Mouse is that it is usually if not exclusively attached to a Mac.
FWIW
Well said, Joel. I agree.
In all honesty, I\’ve had my MM for over a year now, I clean it about once every 2 months or so and that\’s after using it with my macbook which means it gets thrown into my messenger bag about 4 or 5 times a week. It still works like a charm (minus the battery issue) and I\’ve never had to crack it open which I am glad about.
I\’ve had mine for about 5 months now and I\’ve had to clean the ball already. But I won\’t crack it open. I\’ll just buy a new one when this one breaks.