Earlier this month, Softpedia picked up a story saying Apple Magic Mouse owners were whining about the peripheral’s poor performance, and even its strange shape. At the time, we had a look at Apple’s Discussions board as it was getting filled with negative Magic Mouse-related posts, many of which appeared to note compatibility issues with older Macs.

During the course of these events (posts), the folks at TUAW showed that a simple keyword search on the forums pulled up numerous threads with one collective complaint – Magic Mouse was not all that magic. So, we did our own coverage and moved on to the next burning topic that day.

Now, we’re not contradicting our old report (since there are still quite a few Apple Discussions threads bashing the Magic Mouse), but the issue that seems to be plaguing these users is Mouse-drivers-not-installed. It doesn’t seem to be affecting Softpedia users, though. We like to think we’re doing a great job at keeping fans of our website aware of the latest software updates, as well as any additional necessary downloads. And it does look like our readers know their software updates when they see them. Admittedly, there are but four comments posted in response to “Apple’s New Magic Mouse Continues to Spur Complaints” (at the time of this writing), but all of them are positively positive!


Comment #1 by: Mike R. on 09 Nov 2009, 13:52 GMT

Works fine for me. And if someone can't figure out how to go to Apple's site and get a driver, which the manual that comes with it says on the first page, then they really ought to let their kids take care of their computer for them.

Comment #1.1 by: Brueck on 09 Nov 2009, 16:54 GMT

Works fine for me too...Actually it's the best mous [sic] i've [sic] ever used. I like everything about it so far. And it works much better than the wireless mighty mouse.

Comment #2 by: morcheeba on 09 Nov 2009, 16:28 GMT

I've had no problems; this is pretty simple - the mouse will only point & click until the drivers are installed. The multitouch processing happens in the computer, not the mouse, so that's why special drivers are needed.

Comment #3 by: Anton Boreas on 29 Nov 2009, 10:56 GMT

Not only does the mouse work perfectly, it is one of the best things I have ever laid my hand on. One reviewer went on about the 'styling' of the mouse. It is not styled, it is sculpted, not for looks but for tactile rightness. The weight is not a problem (2 AA batteries) if you think of it as a means to haptic precision. The scrolling is still surprisingly satisfying after 2 weeks of steady use with a new iMac.


Wow, pretty convincing stuff! Of course, we can’t put our finger on these claims 100%, but not seeing a single comment saying, “Mine blows” does make us wonder: could most of the reported issues be just tied to compatibility?

An Apple staffer showing the particularities of the Magic Mouse in a demonstration video over at the Mac maker’s website. In the clip, the peripheral is used with the system it is natively supported on - a new-generation iMac.

Credits: Apple

We've said this before, but we’ll say it again, just to be on the safe side – Apple has confirmed that, in all cases, those who are not using one of the new iMacs introduced this past October are required to download and install Wireless Mouse Software Update 1.0, so they can gain full operability with the device. The update is required on Mac OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) systems, while Snow Leopard 10.6.2 (the latest major incremental update) includes the respective driver “out-of-the-box.” In the case of those running Windows on a Mac (via Boot Camp), additional software needs to be installed.

We’d really like to get to the bottom of this, so, trying to reach out to even more Mac owners and users of the new Magic Mouse, we ask you (again): how’s your experience (after applying the required software updates)?