Why Mac only has one mouse button?

Why Mac only have one mouse button and how do you simulate right click when running Windows?

 

1. because two buttons are a waste of space when one button can perform multiple types of clicks anyway.

2. in windows, put two fingers on the trackpad and press down. external mouse works normally.

(in mac, tap on the trackpad with one finger for a normal click, like any normal computer. tap on the trackpad with two fingers for a right click. you can also place two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button down for a right click in mac. the second method is the only working method in windows.)

3. right clicking is approximately as essential in mac osx as it is in windows. it helps a lot.

 

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/

hooray!

 

i should stop answering stupid questions.

hmm.

not stupid, just uninformed to the nth degree. 3-5 minutes of along time with google, or even this site, could answer 90% of the questions asked...

 

Would not capitalizing a sentence be considered proper grammar?

 

no (it would not be proper grammar). grammar includes syntax. its more than just simple morphology.

 

Oh Jesus...

 

In my opinion it is a valid question. At least, it was a valid question because all new Macbooks and MBP have a right click now. Just press the touchpad down in the bottom right corner.

And there's the option of using the two finger tap as right click. Works well.

The only thing I did not like with the new touchpad was that it did not work as well as in Windows as in OS X, but that may have improved.

Maybe they were not native english speakers. There are many international people here.

 

There is still no tap to click in Windows at least not on my MBP. Which is just annoying as I have to use 3 fingers to click.

 

English isn't always someone's first language.

Is it just me, or are manners and common courtesy lacking in these forums lately? No? It must be just you then who need to brush up on these points.

Seriously.....all of your posts are condescending, demeaning, and just plain rude. You come across as though you have some superiority complex and everyone else is a moron in comparison. What is your problem? Do you have a stick stuck somewhere? Has someone removed your stick and perhaps you miss it?

The guy asked a simple question. If you can't provide a reply without having it dripping with attitude, please just shut your computer down and go find something else to do!

 

@OP:
. product and process designs decided the ONE mouse button

. I find that getting a mighty mouse is the simplest way to "simulate" the 2 mouse functionality of Windows. Or:

. http://www.simplehelp.net/2007/06/12/how-to-add-commands-to-the-os-x-right-click-menu/

cheers ...

 

And what about desktop macs with no trackpad?

Apple has supported two button mice, right out of the box since OS 8.x. The fact that they still only produce a one button mouse is due to more than one reason.

1. Macs are typically marketed as easy to use computers and the one button fits into this philosophy.

2. Apple insists every function in any software running on a Mac OS must be accessible from a menu item.

3. People who like multi-button mice likely want more than 2 buttons anyways and will go out and buy a 3rd party mouse to fit their needs.

 

I find that the problem with one physical button for both left and right click is that you can't press both at the same time (or can you???). I mean, when you're in shooters, for example, you right-click to aim down the sight and hold the right-click then you left-click to shoot, while still holding the right-click. Can you do that with the mighty mouse?

 

you don't want to play a shooter with a mighty mouse.

you don't want to play a shooter with a trackpad either.

but i see your point about the mighty mouse. don't know, never bought one.

 

Buy a 2 button mouse.

As for the mighty mouse, I've never had a need to press both buttons at the same time so I'm really not sure how/if would work.

 

Yeh, apple supports two button mouse. I can only use a Mac with a two button mouse and if I don't have one, I press down really hard on the external mac mouse to the right so it forces a right button execution. I can't work with one button, too slow for my taste.

And anyone else I see working on a Mac with the single button work so slow. I really don't see the benefits of it. But I guess its just a statement to be different. Oh well.

 

I remember reading an article that was titled "Steve Jobs hates buttons". And it mentioned the Mighty Mouse, now the Mac notebook trackpads, the iPhone, how the iPod doesn't really have dedicated buttons, and it says Steve Jobs just doesn't like buttons. So I guess that could explain it .

But I don't find it a big issue, really. With the old trackpads like my MacBook, where there still is a trackpad button, two-finger tap is perfectly fine.

 

Somebody is grumpy.

 

With the new glass trackpad, I can work just as fast doing both left and right clicks compared to using a 2 button mouse. It's become second nature now that I get screwed up when I have to use a Windows laptop.

 

I was quite fast on my last gen macbook

 

Just my note on that, I tried out the new MacBook and I could barely tell it was glass...it just felt like my worn-out MacBook trackpad .

 

^wasn't it smoother?

 

Smoother to an extent, I think . My MacBook trackpad has been quite worn out after a solid year and a half of use, so it seems quite the same to me!

 

I see....but which one you liked more?

 

I really love this new trackpad, you get used to it very fast
Not good for games though...

 

I like the new touchpad, when I game, I must attach a mouse anyways.

There's no way to perform certain actions in a game easily without secondary buttons. That's why I use a Logitech G5.

 

no trackpad is good for gaming razer FTW

 

Yay razer!! but I got mine stolen

 

^?really?how sick/in need must you be to still a mouse?

 

There is tap to click in Windows. I use it on my MBA. In Windows you select the the option in Bootcamp preferences.

 

Different Macs have different options in Bootcamp.

 

Yeah, the external mouse solves EVERY single 'problem'.

Oh and, Razer FTW!

 

Well, very few mac users have the spine to confess that one button trackpad and having to tap, or click trackpad button + keyboard button to rightclick, kind of sucked compared to just click the right button of a trackpad.

I like Apple's new approach with a buttonless trackpad, which actually rightclicks if you click on the right side. Much natural. I guess it was Apple's way of returning to simple right click without directly confessing that their previous approach was not optimal. Of course, Apple disables this natural right click in Windows. Small things like this, with the purpose to only annoy Windows users, contributes to a rotten Apple in my point of view.

 

2 finger tap for right click is much better than having an actual right click button. You dont have to move your thumb to right click. Using another finger is very intuitive.

 

I'm sorry but is the best you can do? Seriously, you make it sound like right-click is a bad thing so you try to make an excuse for why it's bad . Sounds like a personal attack on Windows...how are two buttons are a waste of space when one big button spends the same amount of space? I hope you were joking, cause the comment was just dumb. One button is great, two buttons are different, that is all, not two buttons are a waste of space.

 

Dude, chill man. No need to get all personal for some buttons...

Everybody has an opinion, and if you want yours to be respected, you should respect other's opinions too.

 

Yeah I took it a little too far but I just didnt understand how 2 buttons on 1 mouse is a waste of space...

 

Well, he kinda has a point, I'm thinking of how I'm using it too:

I actually like the one click being larger so I can click anywhere and have complete control over what kind of click (left or right) gets registered.

Maybe I wanna click on the right side of the pad but STILL want it to be a left click

I know it's a paradox, but I find myself clicking in the right side of the pad more often when I have the laptop in my lap, and clicking on the left side of the pad when my laptop is on my desk...

 

That's just ridiculous! I much prefer the trackpad on my new Mac which has no buttons. I don't even use the feature to assign a right click to the right corner of the trackpad. It's so natural to use two fingers to click for a right click I don't even have to think about it.

Think about what you're saying before you make yourself look silly.

 

Blast! haha, thanks for the heads up ZaZ

I will let it slide this time just for the sake of continuity. and I will remove my comment as it is rather un-becoming I suppose. I did it after watching Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, so I blame British crime.

When questions like this come up, it is probably wisest to point people in the direction of information that is already out there, rather than repeating it over and over. and doing it in a way that is respectful is important. so I apologize.

But from my experience, not being a native speaker has little to do with grammar on the Internet, it often is due to laziness. For example, my grammar is absolutely terrible due to the process of learning other languages, I often leave out seemingly non-important things like "the", "a", "does", etc. I am serious.

 

Not to sound harsh to people on here who use bad grammar but I have to agree with Circa86 on this one. When people post on here with problems they have no issue at all getting their point across in perfect english especially when they are ranting. If english isn't your first language than that poster's spelling would be poor and may even use the wrong words but that's hardly ever the case. Bad grammar is not a result of not knowing english well, it's about laziness.
Personally I hate it when some posters use words like "Prolly" for probably, use numbers in place of words like "2" instead of too. Just my opinion.

 

not to mention that a majority of the people that I know that aren't native English speakers, which is a majority of the people I know, actually have much better grammar overall, than actual native speakers, mainly because of how they were taught the language.

 

Hate to tell you, but this is the way Internet forums work. Sometime the same questions get asked over and over and will be answered over and over. There are always new people coming and seasoned people leaving so this process is destined to repeat itself.

I hope your new found respect for others, continues on and doesn't fade away.

 

Because when you are using MAC OSX, you hardly ever use secondary clicks so you only need one mouse button. For windows, it's the other way around.....you use more secondary clicks and especially for games. Now, the current products like the MM and macbook glass trackpad do have secondary (right) click.....so mac is not entirely one mouse button only

 

Macs only have one button because it looks neater aesthetically and personally I'm glad that they stuck with 1 button as the 2 finger via multitouch works even better.

 

I like the one button trackpad because of the multi-touch gestures, I have more room overall, and I like the sound it makes.

 

On some websites for stock quotes you have to right click to be able to view other options. Does the new Macbook allow you to actually "right click" on these websites now?

 

Why didn't it allow you to right click before?

 

Because Steve Jobs forbids right clicking!

 

or hiding the fact that he is sleeping with his bf in the pool of cash

design is the only factor, physical or software. however, with the recent softwares that you use, you will always use your 2 fingers just like the right click anyways, the difference between apple and windows is narrowing.

it is funny to see people saying 1 button is superior, the trackpad is superior, not the buttons