The Magic Mouse is a multi-touch

Multi-touch

In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...

 mouse

Mouse (computing)

In computing, a mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of an object held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons...

 manufactured and sold by Apple, and it was announced and sold for the first time on October 20, 2009. The Magic Mouse is the first consumer mouse to have multi-touch

Multi-touch

In computing, multi-touch refers to a touch sensing surface's ability to recognize the presence of two or more points of contact with the surface...

 capabilities. Taking after the iPhone

IPhone

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...

, iPad

IPad

The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...

, iPod Touch

IPod Touch

The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...

, and multi-touch trackpads, the Magic Mouse allows the use of gestures

Gesture recognition

Gesture recognition is a topic in computer science and language technology with the goal of interpreting human gestures via mathematical algorithms. Gestures can originate from any bodily motion or state but commonly originate from the face or hand. Current focuses in the field include emotion...

 such as swiping and scrolling across the top surface of the mouse to interact with desktop computers. It connects via Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

 and runs on two AA batteries.

The mouse requires at least Mac OS X 10.5.8

Mac OS X v10.5

Mac OS X Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on 26 October 2007 as the successor of Tiger , and is available in two variants: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a...

. It can be configured as a two-buttoned left-handed or right-handed mouse, but the default is a single button. It uses laser tracking for increased pointer accuracy over previous generation Apple mice. Since its release, it has been included along with a wireless keyboard with the 2009 generation of iMac

IMac

The iMac is a range of all-in-one Macintosh desktop computers built by Apple. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its introduction in 1998, and has evolved through five distinct forms....

s, and with a wired keyboard with the 2010 Mac Pro workstations. It can also be purchased separately.

Initial reception to the Magic Mouse was mixed, with positive reactions to its scrolling functions but negative reactions to its inability to middle click (without any additional software), or trigger Exposé

Exposé (Mac OS X)

Exposé is a feature of the Mac OS X operating system. First previewed on 23 June 2003 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference as a feature of the then forthcoming Mac OS X v10.3, Exposé allows a user to quickly locate an open window, or to hide all windows and show the desktop without the need...

, Dashboard or Spaces

Spaces (software)

Spaces was a virtual desktop feature of Mac OS X, introduced in version 10.5 "Leopard". It was announced by Steve Jobs during the opening keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7, 2006...

 (features offered by its predecessor

Apple Mighty Mouse

The Apple Mouse is a multi-button USB mouse manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced and sold for the first time on August 2, 2005, and a Bluetooth version was available from 2006 to 2009...

). Many of those features can be enabled on the Magic Mouse with the use of third party

Third-party software component

In computer programming, a third-party software component is a reusable software component developed to be either freely distributed or sold by an entity other than the original vendor of the development platform...

 tools.
In 2009, a couple of Mac news sites reported that the Magic Mouse had issues with maintaining a stable connection to Mac Pro workstations.

Gestures

Not all gestures are supported on all operating systems:

• Click
• Two-button click
• 360°-scroll
• Screen zoom
• Screen pan
• Two-finger swipe
• One finger swipe
• Two-finger double tap
• One-finger double tap

By using third party software, gestures can be customized and added.

Inertia scrolling is said to be available in Snow Leopard only after installing a software update, but it could also be enabled in Leopard with a terminal command.

Operating system support

• Mac OS X v10.5.8, v10.6.1 or later with Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0. This update is essential for the Magic Mouse to work.
• Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Vista using Boot Camp tools under Mac OS X. To work with Windows 7, Mac OS X Snow Leopard is required as the latest drivers are available only with a version of Boot Camp that is installable on Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
• Extracted from Boot Camp native Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 drivers, 32-bit and 64-bit (not supported by Apple).
• Linux as of kernel 2.6.34-rc1

External links

• Magic Mouse – Apple Store (U.S.)