Apple Magic Mouse

===What is it?===
Apple's latest bluetooth mouse, featuring Multi Touch technology. There is one physical button, clicking on the left hand side produces a left click, clicking on the right produces a right click. There is now no longer a scroll wheel (as in the previous Mighty Mouse); instead you can scroll by dragging one finger up/down/left/right on any part of the surface of the mouse.

Additionally you can swipe left or right ...
...browser history.

===What I expected===
Having used the multi touch trackpads on the Macbook range, and the iPhone I had anticipated being able to use the full compliment of finger movements to interact. Particularly the pinching motion to zoom in and out, and four fingers swiping up to hide all windows.

However, it only really supports the two movements: one finger left/right/up/down to scroll around in windows; two ... more

What is it?

Apple's latest bluetooth mouse, featuring Multi Touch technology. There is one physical button, clicking on the left hand side produces a left click, clicking on the right produces a right click. There is now no longer a scroll wheel (as in the previous Mighty Mouse); instead you can scroll by dragging one finger up/down/left/right on any part of the surface of the mouse.

Additionally you can swipe left or right with two fingers to go backwards or forwards in the browser history.

What I expected

Having used the multi touch trackpads on the Macbook range, and the iPhone I had anticipated being able to use the full compliment of finger movements to interact. Particularly the pinching motion to zoom in and out, and four fingers swiping up to hide all windows.

However, it only really supports the two movements: one finger left/right/up/down to scroll around in windows; two fingers left or right to go backwards and forwards in the browser history.

It is understandable why this is the case, it would become increasingly difficult to do more complicated motions as doing so would require you to entirely remove your hand from it, and mean that when you do the motions the mouse would move around on the desk.

How does it compare to the previous model

The biggest problem on the old Mighty Mouse was that the scroll wheels broke easily, and were difficult to use as the finger position required to operate it was awkward. The new scrolling technique is far more natural, and the ability to scroll on any part of the mouse surface means that however you hold the mouse it is comfortable to scroll.

The mouse now has a far longer battery life, with around 4 months on 2 AA batteries as opposed to 2 to 3, mostly due to it automatically turning off the lasers when not in use. However, the old Mighty Mouse had the ability to run on either one or two batteries; the Magic Mouse will only run on two.Additionally, a lot of button functionality has been lost with the new Magic Mouse. On the old one squeezing the sides acted as a button, as did pushing on the scroll wheel. However, both of these features were easily triggered on the old mouse, and so I prefer the new simpler design (even if it has fewer functions).

Other good features

• By being bluetooth it uses technology built into the Mac, so doesn't require a separate USB wireless dongle (which takes up a USB port).
• Extremely well designed packaging, minimal amounts of waste yet really aesthetically attractive.

Other negatives

• It will only work on a Mac running OS X Leopard 10.5.8 or later, there is no PC support at all.
• Pairing it with the computer initially is really simple, but when I attempted to get it to work with a second Mac the process of getting it to forget the old pairing was a bit cumbersome and not obvious.
• For £55 it is a bit steep in price for a mouse, and is definitely a premium product.

Over all

The new low profile, and aluminium base has made it a far more aesthetically pleasing product. It feels far more solid and robust than the older versions, and the extra weight makes it feel better built then virtually every other mouse I've used. Additionally, the plastic surface was very substantial and felt like it would last.The tracking was very accurate and responsive, and I didn't feel the need for a mouse mat.

The new touch sensitive surface was very reliable, and has something called "momentum" scrolling so the quicker you move your finger the quicker it scrolls through: allowing you to scroll precisely when needed, but also get through long documents with minimal flicks.

If you are a PC user then this is obviously a no-go as there is no Windows support. For Mac users there really is only one sticking point: the £55 price. For me I think it was definitely worth it, but it is very much a matter of opinion. It is certainly an upgrade on the old wireless Mighty Mouse. Perhaps for the price tag it wouldn't be worth upgrading if you are happy with your existing mouse: it isn't going to change your life. However, if you need a new mouse for your Mac it is a no brainer and well worth the money. 

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