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 The wired Mighty Mouse. |
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| Manufacturer | Apple |
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| Type | Mouse |
| Release date | August 2, 2005 |
| Predecessor | Apple Wireless Mouse |
| Power | USB (Wired) Either 1 or 2 AA (Wireless) |
| Connectivity | USB (Wired) Bluetooth (Wireless) |
| Related articles | Apple Keyboard Apple Wireless Keyboard |
The Apple Mighty Mouse is a multi-button USB or Bluetooth mouse manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced and sold for the first time on August 2, 2005. Before the Mighty Mouse, Apple had sold only one-button mice with its computers, beginning with the Apple Lisa 22 years earlier.
Apple's single button mouse was seen as one of the things that set Apple computers apart from their competition. Therefore, the release of the multi-button "Mighty Mouse" is seen as a significant event in Apple's history.
The name of the mouse is used under license from CBS Operations, owner of the Mighty Mouse cartoon series.
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The Mighty Mouse is made of white plastic and has a recessed Apple logo on the mouse's face. The mouse has four functional buttons: a left button, a right button, a clickable scroll ball and side squeeze buttons. The scroll ball enables users to scroll a page or document in every direction by rolling the ball in the desired direction. It should be noted that two of the above-mentioned buttons are not physical "buttons." Rather, the touch-sensitive topshell (mentioned below) allows the mouse to detect which side is being pressed down.
Currently Mac OS X is the only operating system that fully supports the mouse. When used with Mac OS X the buttons can be set to launch applications or trigger features of the Apple operating system, such as Dashboard and Exposé. If not used with Mac OS X, the mouse behaves as a four button mouse with a vertical and horizontal scroll wheel. There are third-party drivers (XMouse[1], AppleM[2]) that provide more functions to Windows users.
The Mighty Mouse does not report whether the right and left mouse button is pressed simultaneously. This means that the Mighty Mouse cannot support mouse chording, used by CAD software, games, web browsers, and other applications where multiple functions are mapped to the mouse.
Although the Mighty Mouse can sense both right and left clicks, it is not possible to press both buttons simultaneously. In addition, right clicks cannot be made while the user's finger is on the left touch sensor.[5] There have also been complaints from users of the scrollball getting clogged up with dirt and requiring cleaning.[6]
On May 21, 2008 it was announced that Man & Machine Inc., a supplier of keyboards and mice to laboratories and hospitals, sued Apple Inc. for trademark infringement over its use of the name Mighty Mouse.[7]
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