MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Apr 29, 08 - 02:31 pm Comment from: ericdano

Yeah, exactly what is up with the Product Naming from Sony and HP and to an extent, Dell? Stupid.

BLLLLAHHHHHHHH

Apr 29, 08 - 02:46 pm Comment from: Randian

Bleating again, Paul Z?

Apr 29, 08 - 02:54 pm Comment from: freefromdesign

Help me, I am being forced to use and Lenovo Thinkpad next year because my university business school requires it. I expect major Mac withdrawls within a few weeks.

Apr 29, 08 - 02:56 pm Comment from: qka

Apple should just bite the bullet and start making their laptops with two physical mouse buttons. I am sure it would give their already great sales an even bigger boost. Why make it that complex?

Written on a PowerBook G4, using a Logitech two button mouse.

HAHAH the Sony Tz54154686431 is in stores now!
lmao what a name!!

"(though I'll never get used to not having a right mouse button)" - wow, i thought everyone knew macs could double click in a better way than windows could?

another one has come to the dark side muahahaha!

Apr 29, 08 - 02:58 pm Comment from: Cubert

Yeah, that continued right button click crap really irks me. Apple has supported this since 1997!

As bad as Sony's naming convention, do you really want a plethora of names that the cell companies have been using? Chocolate? EnVy? Krzr? Idiot? Stupid? Moron? Seriously, do we really need more of these aspirational names, where the companies put more time and effort into coming up with, than actually creating a good product?

Apr 29, 08 - 03:09 pm Comment from: Jubei

You see its these pimpled face "i have yet to hit puberty" TROLLS that talk garbage, without hands on use. Then again, they probably have zero hands on use with the opposite sex also. As far as those theoretical journalist who blogs smack about the MBA, I bet their cut from the same cloth as these virgins.

Apr 29, 08 - 03:10 pm Comment from: GizmoDan

How is it harder to say "Sony VAIO Tz 298N" than to say "Apple MacBook Air MB003LL/A"?

Apr 29, 08 - 03:15 pm Comment from: Buster

@GizmoDan....Because if you say the Air, you know the model (you do not need the MB003LL/A number), if you say Vaio, you don't and you HAVE to say Tz 298N



DUH

@GizmoDan

Because if you were to say, hey i have a "Macbook Air" we would know exactly what you are talking about (and the name actually makes sense to the product, Macbook Air = Its Really Really Light)

if i said, "hey i have a Vaio" you would either say "Which one?"
or i would say "hey i have a Vaio Tz 298N" unless i were a real big sony fan, i would have no idea what model or if its even a computer at all. It sounds like a cable box or the a serial code.

or a* serial code

Apr 29, 08 - 03:27 pm Comment from: Jubei

And at its the same token with " I have a Zune " Everyone immediately relates it to piece of brown Turd! LOL

Apr 29, 08 - 03:27 pm Comment from: Predrag

The 'right-click' (secondary click) issue is legitimate, but for a different reason. Anybody growing up on Windows (this sounds like 'growing up on crack and booze'...) has already a well-developed habit of right-clicking and expecting a pop-up of some kind as a consequence. The 'secondary-click' option on MacBook trackpads is NOT a default setting. Is a Windows switcher expected to figure out on his/her own that he/she is to go to system preferences, look for keyboard/mouse/trackpad, read through the panel, figure out that 'secondary click' actually means 'right-click' in his/her own mind and change the option?

It would be very simple to make two finger- secondary-click a default option. That would make a helpful start. An indication somewhere that this is in fact possible could also help Windows switchers. Not much about this notorious subject is available on Apple's switcher site.

Apr 29, 08 - 03:33 pm Comment from: Predrag

Now that I think of it, I wonder if anyone has ever done a poll how many MacBook (pro) users have changed the default setting for the trackpad to enable two-finger secondary click? Of those who haven't done so, how many haven't heard that it is in fact possible? And of the latter group, how many would then change it, once they find out it is in fact possible? I would venture a guess that in all three groups, the number would be close to a 100%.

Message to Apple: make a simple change to a single configuration file in the Leopard Installation DVD and enable two-finger secondary click.

I wholeheartedly agree with the right mouse button issue. My microsoft mouse on my Mac Pro blew up so i am bag to using a horibble mighty mouse thing - the one where you have to disable the side buttons or every time you pick up the mouse your screen disappears behind dashboard. No right button means two hands are required - really Apple, sometimes less is not more (just like in the paltry documentation you ship with your iWork software).

As for three-fingered right clicking on the macbook air trackpad - what next? a foot pedal?

@byronic

The Mighty Mouse has Right click, just go to the Mouse Prefrences and change it. By default it is turned off.


Apple should change that little option, one less thing for me to find when i re-install OS 10.

@Jubei

LMAO! Zune = Brown Turd!!

@byronic... I hope you are kidding.. you can't be that dense.

The secondary-click thing is an issue, but I don't think putting a second mouse button is really the answer.

Rather, Apple needs to do a better job of educating switchers (and even some long-time Mac users) on how secondary-clicking works on a Mac. They need some easy-to-find FAQ page explaining that:
1) control-click always works for secondary click, and
2) MacBook trackpads can be configured for two-finger secondary click.

I'm sure there are tons of people who don't use this feature of OS X simply because they don't know it's there, or (for the trackpad) don't know how to activate it. Apple really ought to address this.

Right-clicking is a handicap brought on by poorly-designed Windows software. People need to learn that contextual menus are shortcuts, and not the only way to access functionality. Software developers need to implement them properly and keep them as options only.

I hope Macs never come with two-button trackpads, as they are confusing as hell.

Apr 29, 08 - 04:03 pm Comment from: Predrag

There is even larger point here which Windows switchers don't understand at the beginning (being conditioned to right-click everywhere in order to find stuff), and which even some Mac evangelists tend to overlook when responding to the 'right-click' questions.

Mac OS X is designed in such a way that you rarely actually need your right-click. Most Mac applications (at least those that behave in a true Mac way) don't rely on secondary click for features and functionality. The three-finger click on trackpad, and the pressure-sensitive zone on the mighty mouse, are perfectly adequate solutions for the little right-clicking that is occasionally needed on a Mac. A small (minuscule) subset of Mac users involved with applications whose GUI is extensive and relies more on right-clicking can of course get a $9 mouse with a physical right button (and a wheel for a scroll wheel, instead of a scroll ball). Vast majority of the rest will not have a serious issue with three-finger right-clicking (or with mighty mouse).

Apr 29, 08 - 04:09 pm Comment from: Brau

"The Mighty Mouse has Right click, just go to the Mouse Prefrences and change it. By default it is turned off.

Apple should change that little option, one less thing for me to find when i re-install OS 10."

I couldn't agree more! This has been the biggest complaint I have seen from new switchers, and a big reason why some say they won't switch under a erroneous impression that Macs don't even have the ability. The right click is one idea that MS got right.

Apr 29, 08 - 04:10 pm Comment from: Spark

Gabriel has summed it concisely. I see no reason for the trackpad option for two-fingered double click to be switched off my default. Put an "Activate Right Button Control in System Preference" sticker on the laptops and mice. Even many long-time Mac users are unaware of the trackpad shortcut, and those that are used to earlier Mac mice may not realize that the Mighty Mouse is a programmable, multibutton mouse (Apple has gone to unnecessary effort to hide that fact).

Love the single button on my the 4 Apple notebooks I've owned. Always have. Navigate with the index finger, click with the thumb, without taking my eyes off the screen. Whenever I try that with a Windows laptop, I hit the wrong button 50% of the time. The Windows sufferers are doing 1 of 2 things, either navigating with one hand and clicking with the other, or taking their eyes off the screen to carefully look at the button before they click (slow).

I don't think it's stubbornness on Apple's part. The single button, on a laptop at least, is easier.

@ freefromdesign

Go to Apple.com and install Safari, iTunes and QuickTime on it. It'll make your time while you're stuck with the ThinkPad slightly less painful anyway. Best of luck.

Apr 29, 08 - 05:01 pm Comment from: Predrag

another thought for freefromdesign: if that Thinkpad of yours has 120GB or more, and if you are courageous and patient (and have plenty of free time) partition it and install that 'hackintosh' disk on it. If you're lucky, your wireless, audio and ethernet will work and you'll be able to do things in Mac OS most of the time. This is obviously not quite legal, but as a Mac fan, you'd be evangelising (in a Mac-less environment), so in terms of karma, it could be positive...

I really dig Apple (I have a Macbook and an intel 24" iMac and have owned a Powerbook, older iMac and Mac Mini previously) but I really miss having a right mouse button on my Macbook.

I think a physical button is the superior way to access the contextual menu.

I am well aware of Apple's solution, I just don't like it.

It shocks me how many people rush to 'correct' folks who like the right mouse button.

Apr 29, 08 - 05:09 pm Comment from: standardmess

Apple should pop up a window when you first turn on the computer that informs the user about the virtual right-click ability and provides the option to turn it on.

I never liked the preprogrammed trackpads on Apple notebooks. Especially since I have an older Powerbook. Thats what the app Sidetrack is for.

Sidetrack enables one finger scrolling (vertical and horizontal) on these older models and also puts it on newer MBP (2008 MBA and MBP TBA). A coworker hated the two finger scroll, tried Sidetrack on my PB, and immediately bought it. At only $15, it's invaluable to utilizing my Mac. And whats so hard about ctrl+tap for right clicks? Sheesh some people are just born to bitch, eh?

http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/

I don't work for them, just a happy customer!

Apr 29, 08 - 05:14 pm Comment from: MrScrith

The mighty mouse option to only have one button has actually helped my Mom get used to a Mac. On a PC I'd instruct her on how to do something and every click would be "right or left???", now it's just "Click" and continue. Mom has even gone on exploring a bit and has figured out how to do a few things on her own, which raises her confidence a lot, for a 70+ year old person learning a new operating system this is a good thing!

Um - isn't there a better right-click option on Macbooks? If you have your cursor over a button (or other selectable thing like a hyperlink or icon) all you have to do is tap the touchpad with two fingers to activate right-click and open the contextual menu. You don't have to click the button at all until you are ready to select the option you want. There's no looking down, and it saves you having to think about whether or not you have two fingers on the pad, one, or none before you click.

Try it - you'll be amazed.

Two fingers and the trackpad and a click is the easiest thing I have ever used for a "right click"function.

Better than right click.

Some trolls have problems with their fingers... all have problems with their brain!

Apr 30, 08 - 02:55 am Comment from: CC of Oz

By ensuring that all Macs have a one button mouse as standard issue (the mighty mouse can be used as dual and single buttons), Apple forces developers to make their applications work properly within the OS X interface guidelines. If they didn't then users would get context menu overload in their applications in the same way Windows users do. Developers would ignore the menu bar and force everyone to right click for every little thing they do. Right clicking is optional on a Mac and is not the rule. Remember also that the Mac interface is designed to have one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard (using keyboard shortcuts). This can be a really efficient way of using the computer and has been part of the Mac's design from the very beginning.

Apr 30, 08 - 05:21 am Comment from: Brit

Well, I have been using Apple laptops since forever, and that secondary-click thing was news to me - so, thank you, MDN.

As someone who has used windows laptops for a long time, and then switched a few years ago... I much rather use the two-finger right click trick than having two buttons.

Apr 30, 08 - 08:41 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

We're back to the two-button thing?
Goddam, I thought that was a non-issue at this point.

So some people think Apple should split the trackpad button in two? GREAT.

If Apple followed such stellar advice, Mac laptops would end up looking like some of those Dell, Toshiba or HP DOSBoxes with a million buttons, lights, slots and stickers on them, plus twice the thickness and near double the weight, all wrapped in glorious black plastic.

We've all seen them at Starbucks, so, you want to CARRY one? You actually want to be SEEN with one. Every time I see one, I get a good chuckle… and clutch my macbook Pro a little tighter.

Actually, I'd like to see Apple add a little pamphlet in every box…
Cool Shit Your Mac Can Do… Right NOW!

Complete with little explanations and illustrations of those mystery features that aren't so apparent or craftily hidden.

There are two explanations for her secondary click comment.
1. Scroll is default, secondary click from trackpad, not.
2. She was talking about the BUTTON, not the function.