If you want to use it as a simple two button mouse with scroll wheel, plug it into any computer with a USB port, and it will start functioning. However, if you want to program the buttons to do your bidding, you must have Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later installed. Then the settings will be available in the Mouse & Keyboard System Preferences (no software install needed).

For years Windows users have been complaining about Apple's steadfast allegiance to single button mice. On August 2nd of 2005, Apple finally dropped its "one button mice are easier for new users" charade, and introduced the Mighty Mouse. No longer can PC users scoff at Mac users for being "too dumb to use multiple buttons."

The design of Mighty Mouse looks very similar to the Apple Pro mouse which it replaced. In fact, the top shell is one big piece with a little scroll ball sticking out at the customary location. At first glance, you might not even realize this mouse has multiple buttons. This simplistic design really makes the Mighty Mouse stand out from most mice, but what else would you expect from Apple?

So, if the shell is solid, you might be wondering how it can have multiple buttons. Underneath the shell there exists touch sensors which indicate to the mouse which finger is pressing down on the top. If your finger is touching the left mouse button section during a click, a left click is executed. Similarly, the right click is activated when your finger is on the right mouse area (and a finger is NOT on the left click area). When "clicked" the mouse uses a little speaker to simulate a very soft clicking sound.

The only "blemish" in the touch sensitive shell is the scroll ball between the left and right click areas. Instead of a scroll wheel which only scrolls in one direction, the scroll ball can scroll in every direction with ease. It's really cool being able to pan over a zoomed image, or move around a battlefield (in a game) with only one finger.

Unfortunately, the scroll ball (which when pressed acts as the third button) feels incredibly frail. I'm afraid that it will not only easily fill up with gunk (oils and dirt from your fingers), but it will also break after a couple months of use. According to reports around the web, my fears are backed up by experiences, as multiple users are exchanging their Mighty Mouse because of broken scroll balls.

Ok, now that we have three of the four buttons under our belt, where might that last one be hiding? If you look to the sides of the Mighty Mouse, you will see two silver colored hemispheres. If you squeeze the mouse while touching those pads, the fourth button will be activated. It's a cool idea in theory, but in practice it doesn't work all that well. I could never get the squeeze to consistently work. Similarly, the touch areas on the top shell didn't always function as expected, which is frustrating.

One the other hand, no pun intended, one big positive characteristic is how ambidextrous this mouse is. The design is perfectly symmetrical, so both right and left handed people can use the same mouse effortlessly. This is a great benefit if you are currently sporting two mice on your desk.

Finally, if you are running Mac OS X 10.4.2 or later, then Mighty Mouse is customizable. You can configure any of the four buttons to launch Dashboard, Spotlight, Exposè, or any application of your choosing. The software will also let you control vertical and horizontal scroll speeds separately. Regrettably, there is no way to assign specific key actions or save a group of settings based on the currently active application. In fact, Apple should not only add this feature to Mighty Mouse, but make it a standard feature of Mac OS X.

I saw now issues caused by the presence of this mouse.

Mighty Mouse is a pretty cool mouse to finally get Apple into the world beyond single button mice. But the usability problems, weak scroll ball, and lack of Bluetooth support keeps this mouse from being an elite product.

Pros	Cons
Four programmable buttons 360° Scroll wheel to scroll in any direction with one finger Software to program it is built into Mac OS X 10.4.2 and later Cool design looks like a single button mouse Ambidextrous operation Built in sound for audible feedback	No Bluetooth Support Side buttons are extremely hard to use Sometimes the touch sensitive shell would record the wrong mouse click Scroll ball feels like it is going to fall out No per-application customization settings
6.5/10 stars