Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:13696 comp.windows.misc:224
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!pyramid!voder!apple!lsr
From: lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: 2 button mouse
Message-ID: <7602@apple.Apple.Com>
Date: 9 Mar 88 03:00:08 GMT
References: <4129@hoptoad.uucp> <283@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu> <1710@ssc-vax.UUCP> <241@eos.UUCP> <1735@ssc-vax.UUCP> <5674@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu> <7481@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein)
Organization: Advanced Technology Group, Apple Computer
Lines: 37
Keywords: window human computer interface

In article <7481@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> mwm@eris.UUCP (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) writes:

>button. If you've got popup menus, how do you distinguish between a
>click to go to an application and a menu click? I like having a
>"follow-mouse" interface, instead of a "click-to-type" interface.

Clearly, if you have an interface in which you activate a window just by
moving over it, then you can't put mouse-sensitive areas anywhere on the
screen.  In this case, using 2 buttons would make sense.

The Apple human interface guidelines say that moving the mouse with the
button up is not supposed to do anything (such as activating a window),
except possibly changing the cursor shape.  It requires an explicit click on
the button to activate a window.

It seems to me that the mouse can get moved accidentally while typing, and
that would cause windows to be activated.  For me (a long-time Mac user),
this would take some getting use to, but I can see how some people would
prefer in order to reduce the number of clicks.

>two-button mouse with no problem. Until you demonstrate that a
>two-button interface (pop up menus + followmouse, or some such) can be
>adequately dealt with (by that, I mean that you don't have to drive
>the window manager with two hands) on a one-button mouse, the
>one-button mouse will have to be considered inferior. 

This doesn't make sense.  There is no question that the interface you
describe would not work well on a machine with 1 mouse button.  That doesn't
make a 2-button mouse or a 2-button interface better.  You would have to do
an experiment with the Mac interface and the Amiga or Sun interface and see
how well people perform on the same tasks (ie, selecting a menu item,
copying data from 1 window to another, etc.).

-- 
		 Larry Rosenstein,  Object Specialist
 Apple Computer, Inc.  20525 Mariani Ave, MS 32E  Cupertino, CA 95014
	    AppleLink:Rosenstein1    domain:lsr@Apple.COM
		UUCP:{sun,voder,nsc,decwrl}!apple!lsr