Mac 101: Right-click on a laptop
Oh, the one-button mouse. You either love it or you hate it. Veteran Mac users adore the elegance and simplicity; switchers bemoan the loss of a second (or third) mouse button. Of course, the problem is easily fixed by either holding down the Control button or -- wait for it -- buying a two-button mouse.On a laptop, you've got another option. MacSupport points out this simple method of using a "two-finger tap" in place of a right click. To set things up, follow these steps.
In the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, select "Trackpad Gestures" under the Trackpad section. From there, select "Tap trackpad using two fingers for secondary click" and you're all set. Now, tapping the trackpad with two fingers will execute a right click.
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Oh, the one-button mouse. You either love it or you hate it. Veteran Mac users adore the elegance and simplicity; switchers bemoan the loss...
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I am a veteran of the Mac since 1984. I think the lack of a two-button mouse has been silly. Its good functionality to have it. I also think the mighty mouse confuses people.
May 28 2008 at 6:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyUhhh are you effin kidding me?
Mighty mouse bro...
Don't you write for TUAW ?? Shouldn't you know a thing or two about apple products?
the mighty mouse is a programmable mouse. system preferences->kboard and mouse->mouse->left set to primary click, right set to secondary click(this is the right click). for a track pad you can control it from the same system preference you dont have to double tap. in fact its easy to set it where by just having two fingers on the trackpad and clicking like normal becomes a right click. come on people this is not hard or sneaky. it just shows that people have "preferences"
May 28 2008 at 11:55 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAm I missing something? I don't appear to have "Tap trackpad using two fingers for secondary click." I do have a "For secondary clicks, place two fingers on the trackpad and then click the button." Should there be an option where I can just tap the trackpad with two fingers? Am I looking in the wrong place? I'm running 10.5.2...
May 28 2008 at 11:00 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI hate tap-to-click as I'm constantly clicking by accident. However what I love is the option to send a secondary click when 2 fingers are on the trackpad - I actually prefer this to a real second button on a trackpad as I don't have to move my thumb into an uncomfortable position to right-click.
May 28 2008 at 10:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou might want to try the 3rd party "SideTrack" driver which has more options for accidently clicking and assign clicks to corners of the trackpad, among other features.
May 28 2008 at 11:13 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy is this not working under Bootcamp?
You've to put to fingers on the Pad AND click the Button.
Why that!?
I use the two fingers on the trackpad while clicking the button version, and I love it. And the cmd key is not too far away to be easily reached for a Mouse 3 click. I think the way it's set up now is just as easy as using a 3-button mouse.
May 28 2008 at 10:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply"Veteran Mac users adore the elegance and simplicity"
Very un-true and biased. I've owned nothing but Apple since the Apple II+ and think the one-button mouse/trackpad is just about the most stupid thing that Apple clings to.
Hear, hear! After using the second button, it's pretty hard to go back to using a 1-button mouse—though I'm not sure adding a second button to a laptop's trackpad is really the answer. I've seen less computer savvy people really struggle with the trackpad and adding another button might be confusing to them. Then again, usually these people end up adding a mouse anyway.
However, on the desktops, Apple should enable the contextual menu by default these days. Go hit up an Apple store and within 10 minutes, you'll probably hear someone ask a genius "My right click doesn't work... " Genius: "Oh, you can turn that on in your preferences. I'll show you on the iMac over here..." Even Mac users know what "right click" means (even if they're left-handd and they've set up their mouse to be opposite.).
This is by far the best way to right click on a laptop. I wonder why this option is not enabled by default. The same accounts for enabling tabs in Safari. Why would they disable this by default??
May 28 2008 at 10:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyTabs are disabled by default?
May 28 2008 at 9:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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