BetterTouchTool allows you to customize many different types of gestures. On the Magic Mouse, these include pinch in/out (zoom), single finger tap left, single finger tap right, single finger tap, two finger tap, two finger click, two finger swipe (up/down/left/right), three finger tap, three finger click, three finger swipe (up/down/left/right) and ‘TipTap’ left/right.

On a Touchpad, it allows you to configure three finger swipes (up/down/left/right), three finger tap, four finger.

http://bettertouchtool.en.softonic.com/mac

The multi-touch enabled Magic Trackpad has no buttons but you can tap anywhere on its large surface to click or double-click. You can use two fingers to scroll pages while swiping with four fingers will let you switch between open applications.

Using Magic Trackpad with a Windows PC
The stuff looks tempting but Apple’s marketing brochure clearly states that you need a Bluetooth-enabled Mac computer running Mac OS X Snow Leopard in order to use the Magic Trackpad. There’s absolutely no mention of Windows anywhere in the specs.

That said, you can actually use Apple’s Magic Trackpad with your Windows desktop. First comes this confirmation from CNET:

Though the wording on the box claims a Mac is necessary, we successfully paired the Magic Trackpad with a Windows PC. Unfortunately, Windows functionality is limited to single-touch and click functions only – we couldn’t get multitouch settings such as pinch-to-zoom and tap-to-click to work on the Magic Trackpad.

Will Smith too got the Trackpad to work with Windows without Boot Camp. He writes:

Magic Trackpad isn’t particularly magic on Windows, unless you’re boot camping.

iPad and iPhone developer Mat Gemmell writes:

I installed the Magic Trackpad driver in Windows 7 last night, and it works just fine. No rotate, pinch, 3- or 4- finger gestures though.

While none of these people sound too excited about using the Magic Trackpad on Windows, if you would still like to get the thing working on your “pure” Windows machine (not through Boot Camp), here are the exact steps involved as shared by an Engadget reader.

Step 1: Download this patch (available for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit) from the Apple website but don’t run it yet. It’s an executable file but it won’t run on your Windows Desktop since it is intended only for users who are running Windows inside a Mac desktop using Boot Camp.

Step 2. Download a copy of 7-zip and extract the contents of the exe file that you’ve downloaded in the previous step.

Step 3. This will create a new file called “BootCampUpdate32.msp” – extract the contents of this file as well using 7-zip again.

Step 4. You’ll now have several sub-folders that are named like BootCamp3135*. One of these folders will have a file called “Binary.AppleWirelessTrackpad_Bin” – just add a .exe extension to this file and then double-click to run it.

This will install the Apple Wireless Trackpad driver on your Windows machine without requiring Boot Camp and you should now be able to pair the Magic Trackpad with the PC.

The Trackpad device driver is available for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 computers. As some readers pointed out, the same approach can be used to get your Magic Mouse work with Windows.

http://www.labnol.org/software/apple-magic-trackpad-with-windows/14158/

Congratulations on joining the growing number of people who have already discovered the ease and benefit of owning a Magic Connector!  Using this cleverly designed adapter will immensely enhance your Wireless Apple Keyboard and Magic Trackpad experience.

Getting Connected
1. First put your Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard (powered down) and Magic Connector on a table or firm, flat surface.

2. Next, clean the underside of your trackpad and keyboard with rubbing alcohol or degreaser, especially where adhesive tape (pre-applied to magnets) will stick on.
This step is crucial, as oils can prevent the adhesive tape from sticking properly.

As you prepare to connect you should be looking at the bottom of the Magic Trackpad on the LEFT and the bottom of the Keyboard on the RIGHT (if you are right handed – Vise versa for lefties.)

3. Once the backing is removed from the three magnets, position the connector over the keyboard and trackpad with the connector centered. The short edge of the connector should be resting against the battery compartment.

Apply downward pressure on the connector pushing the adhesive onto the keyboard and trackpad for ten seconds.

The 3M adhesive tape will be removable until it cures (50% adhesion strength immediately 75% after 1 hour and 95% after 24 hours).

You can disconnect the keyboard and trackpad by sliding them off to the left or right.

The magnets are extremely high strength and and the is adhesive used to bond glass to steel in skyscrapers. They are useful for a wide variety of applications and can be purchased separately in our store.

Enjoy the freedom and convenience of using your keyboard and trackpad anywhere with your Magic Connector!

Our Service

It’s uncommon for us to make a manufacturing mistake (the product is hand made in the USA) but when we do we correct the problem immediately. See what our customers say about our great service:

“I just received the replacement connector today and let me tell you! I’m in love with this thing Thank you so much!”

“Best seller I ever dealt with! FAST, GREAT w/ return of defective product”

“Excellent service! Highly recommend seller and product is working well”

Troubleshooting

Thought this is a simple product to install and use, we occasionally have had people email for support. Read on for answers to uncommon issues

OS X: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

iLife
iPhoto: http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto/shortcuts/
iMovie: http://www.apple.com/support/imovie/shortcuts/
Garageband http://www.apple.com/support/garageband/shortcuts/
iWeb http://www.apple.com/support/iweb/shortcuts/

iWork
Numbers: http://www.apple.com/support/numbers/shortcuts/
Pages: http://www.apple.com/support/pages/shortcuts/
Keynote: http://www.apple.com/support/keynote/shortcuts/

Apple has already demonstrated a variety of changes on the way for Mac OS X Lion’s Dock, Dashboard, Exposé, and Spaces, but there are a variety of interesting details about how these components will work together, and how new multitouch gestures will make them effortlessly available.

One of the biggest new features of Mac OS X Lion is the rethinking of how Dashboard, Exposé and Spaces work. These features, originally added to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard, respectively, are now being freshly presented in Lion with a direct influence from iOS.

A previous report on the new Dock, Finder and Desktop outlined some of the iOS-influenced changes Apple will be making in Lion, which mirror the upward borrowing of features that has occurred between iPhoto and Aperture, as well as iMovie 6 and the new Final Cut Pro X.

The iOS redesign of Mac OS X

In particular, Dashboard is being transformed from a nebulous widget layer that appears above the Mac desktop into a utility area that slides in from the left of the desktop, much like the iOS controls that slide in from the left of the multitasking bar to present volume, brightness, audio playback controls, and a screen orientation lock.

Secondly, Exposé is being made more accessible. Rather than having four Exposé modes (tile all windows, tile windows of one app, hide all windows to show desktop, and show Dashboard) invoked by key commands or mouse buttons, Lion improves upon Snow Leopard’s multitouch gestures to make tapping into Exposé even easier.

In Snow Leopard, Apple made Exposé’s F9 “all windows” mode accessible with a ‘four fingers down’ trackpad gesture, and the F11 “hide all windows, show desktop” mode available with ‘four fingers up.’ The same gesture when made right or left invokes the App Switcher. The company is experimenting with similar gestures for iOS.

Lion takes this a step further by renaming and enhancing Expose’s F9 “all windows” mode under the new moniker Mission Control, which further integrates Spaces and Dashboard, showing both all open windows and all alternative desktops (including Dashboard) within any parallel Spaces being used.

Changes in Lion System Preferences

As part of a trend that appears to feature multitouch gestures over mouse button clicks, the Exposé panel of System Preferences now presents a single hot key menu for each function (set by default to F9, F10, F11 and F12), with a list of options that no longer include invoking the various Exposé modes with the secondary or middle mouse button. Gestures for invoking Exposé features can be configured from the Trackpad pane.

An additional option has been added to the Active Screen Corner menus which now lets users invoke Launchpad from one of the corner hotspots.

Additionally, Spaces is no longer an “expert” feature that must be turned on manually. In Lion, it’s always on, and made more accessible to novice users though the iOS-like use of Full Screen Apps, which take up an entire Space. So rather than juggling a variety of virtual desktops (an idea that is often confusingly complex, particularly for less technical users), Spaces is now a very visual tool for moving between a number of Full Screen Apps, much more akin to the iPad.

Power users can continue to manage multiple Spaces configured with specific apps, and more easily switch between them using Mission Control. But even users who have a hard time conceptualizing different virtual desktops can now take multiple apps (such as Mail, Safari, Preview, iCal, and so on) Full Screen and easily swap between them, just as one might jump between iOS apps running in the background.

New multitouch gestures in Lion: 2 finger F10

Apple has also made it easier to access these functions, using intuitive new multitouch gestures. The first is a two fingered upward swipe on a Dock icon, which now invokes the F10 “app windows Exposé,” displaying that app’s windows currently on the desktop and presenting smaller proxies of its currently Dock-minimized windows.

For some apps, this gesture works even when the app isn’t running. There’s no way (and no sense) in invoking F10 for an app that isn’t actively running, but in Lion, a two finger swipe up on certain Dock icons (such as Preview) shows recently opened files, even when the app isn’t running.

When launched, Lion’s F10 shows the app’s active and Dock-minimized windows, as well as this new row of recent documents you might want to open again (as is visible below for Preview, which has one window open and shows several recent documents below it).

This new feature is not presented anywhere in the interface, including the Dock System Preferences pane, but works even on older machines with limited multitouch capabilities.

This new gesture replaces the “mouse click and hold” method of invoking the same thing. In Lion, a click and hold on a Dock icon brings up its standard contextual menu (identical to control clicking), with one new option to “Show All Windows,” a manual method of invoking the same thing as the two finger swipe or an F10 key press.

New multitouch gestures in Lion: 3 & 4 fingers

Apple has also reconfigured three and four finger gestures in Lion (which do require a newer trackpad capable of registering more than two fingered touch points).

Previously, three fingered gestures were used to drag windows without having to click on them (although this only worked when targeting the window’s menu bar). A secondary option allows for multitouch navigation (such as swiping between album photos).

Both of those previous options are still there in Lion, but the default option for three finger swipes now invokes F9 Mission Control when made upward, or F10 single app windows Exposé when made downward.

When made side to side, three finger swipes pull in Dashboard from the left, or swipe through active Spaces to the right (including any active Full Screen apps). Each Space smoothly animates in from the right or left (shown mid-swipe, below).

Four fingered swipes formerly invoked F9 upward and F11 show desktop downward. The default setting in Lion developer builds now sets four finger swipe to the same settings as three fingers, described above. Also, the four finger swipe side to side in Snow Leopard formerly brought up the App Switcher, but now it swipes in Dashboard or Spaces, a faster way to rapidly move between open, Full Screen apps.

Another new four finger gesture actually works best with five fingers: pinching all your fingers together now invokes Launchpad, the new Mac analog of the iOS Home page of launchable app icons. Expanding your fingers back out dismisses Launchpad and returns you to the desktop. From the desktop, spreading four or five fingers out performs an F11 “hide all windows/show desktop.”

All of these gestures feel more intuitive and sensible, but it’s not clear why three and four fingered gestures are set to perform the same task (although both can be reconfigured to perform different tasks to the preference of the user; this wasn’t the case in Snow Leopard).

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/04/14/mac_os_x_10_7_lion_new_multitouch_gestures_dock_integration_for_expos_launchpad_mission_control.html&page=3

CNN) — Lion, the latest version of Apple’s operating software for its Mac computers, was released to the public on Wednesday. It’s an update that continues to blur the line between software on mobile devices and desktop computers.
Marking the eighth major release of new software for Apple computers, Mac OS X Lion offers 250 new features, according to the company.
With multi-touch gesturing, full-screen app display and access to the Mac App Store built directly into the software, the system was clearly designed to make working on a Mac more similar to working on an iPad.
“Lion is the best version of OS X yet, and we’re thrilled that users around the world can download it starting today,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a written statement.
“Lion makes upgrading a Mac easier than ever before; just launch the Mac App Store, buy Lion with your iTunes account, and the download and install process will begin automatically.”
Walt Mossberg of All Things Digital called Lion Apple’s “most radical new MacIntosh operating system in years,” calling it a “giant step in the merger of the personal computer and post-PC devices like tablets and smartphones.”
The new system, however, does not run iPhone or iPad apps (at least, not yet) and it does run Adobe Flash — something Steve Jobs and company have summarily banished from their mobile devices.
Its touch features use a touchpad, making them similar, but not exactly the same, as what iPhone and iPad users may be used to on their touchscreens.
Mossberg said he likes the system, but warned that new users may suffer during their transition.
“Switching to Lion will require a major adjustment even for veteran Mac users, though it will be easier for those who use iPhones or iPads,” he wrote. “Lion will significantly increase the learning curve for Windows users switching to the Mac.”
Brian X. Chen of Wired wrote that “some of Lion’s iOS-like features scale up very well, while others behave very poorly in a desktop environment.”
He found the software’s iPad-like scrolling feature distracting and dizzying (he eventually disabled it) but said he enjoyed the system’s app-opening full-screen mode and praised new sharing and auto-save functions.
Mac OS X Lion is available as a $29.99 upgrade for people with the latest version of the Snow Leopard operating system. It will be available at Apple Stores in August for $69.99.
Lion is the latest in a long line of cat-named operating systems rolled out by Apple for its computers. Past versions have included Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard.
Whether the king of the jungle marks the last version of feline-named software remains to be seen — but we’re still holding out hope for Jaguarundi.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/07/20/apple.lion.osx/

More
Multitouch support was another much-predicted feature for Lion, but Jobs was careful to state that it wouldn’t be in the form the pundits expected. Apple researchers determined that multitouch doesn’t work on vertical screens, because of arm fatigue. Instead, Lion’s multitouch support will be for larger trackpads. If you want multitouch on an actual screen, you’ll have to get an iPad.
Over 7 billion iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps have been downloaded from the Apple App store, and the company saw that and wondered, why not the Mac, too? Jobs noted that there will still be places other than the store to get Mac apps. Installation will be as easy as it is on the iPhone, and developers will get the same 70 percent of revenue on paid apps. Updating will be automatic, and you can use an app on any of your personal computers. You’ll also be able to see ratings from users and popularity of downloads. But it remains to be seen how traditional Mac apps not obtained from the new App Store live comfortably side by side. One wonders if their developers will have to recode them for the new system.
Not only will you get the apps from a store, similar to that for the iDevices, but you’ll also page through their icons using a Launchpad, which resembles the home screen of an iDevice. Launchpad also lets you group apps into folders the way you do on those smaller machines. The apps themselves will behave more like iPad and iPhone apps—running in full-screen, autosaving when you leave them and auto-resuming next time you start them up. Full screen in particular is something that Windows has long been able to do easily with a tap of the F11 key. But Lion will use multitouch gestures to navigate between full-screen apps and the desktop.
Another major new interface feature in Lion, Mission Control, could actually can change the way you use the surfaces of your Mac. This will combine the goodness of four desktop organization-navigation features: Exposé, Dashboard, Spaces, and the aforementioned new full-screen apps. Apple vice president Craig Federighi demonstrated the feature at the event. Mission Control gives you access to apps and widgets and lets you flick through them with multitouch gestures. This organizer makes it easier to navigate between your Spaces, full-screen apps, and Dashboard in an elegant and clever way typical of Apple.
“We think bringing some of these things back [from the iPad] to the Mac, with some fresh new things like Mission Control, will really delight Mac users,” Jobs said. With all the attention bestowed on the iPad and iPhone, it’s about time Mac users get to enjoy some of the delight. This was just a first glimpse, but it’s promising. We’ll be there when it debuts.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs also revealed that Apple has tried a number of options for desktop touchscreens, but he said that touch needs to be horizontal. So, in other words, don’t expect an iMac with a giant touch display any time soon.

Though Windows is yet to offer multi-touch trackpad use, the Touchegg app has brought this feature to Ubuntu, as well as other compatible Linux distros. This app, like nearly all other Linux apps, is free to download from its project website at Google Code.

The download is available as a .deb file designed specifically for Ubuntu, though it will also run on Debian, which also uses .deb files. Simply download the .deb file and double-click to install. If you don’t have Ubuntu but want to give Touchegg a try, you can also download the raw source code and compile it using the Terminal in your personal distro.

Once installed, it will be preset with basic window actions, such as a three-finger pinch to minimize a window. You can change what the different finger moves and swipes mean by changing the configuration file (which is easier than it sounds), but you can’t change the movements themselves. Touchegg is programmed to recognize nine different finger movements and commands. You can learn those commands by visiting the Touchegg wiki manual Gestures page.

The nine gestures include: a 2/3/4/5 finger tap, a 2/3/4/5 drag up, down and side to side, and a three-finger pinch, which is a three-finger movement where the bottom finger moves away from the other two fingers.

here are no currently known issues or bugs with Toughegg, though that is likely due to the new status of the app. I tested this app on my Ubuntu install, which was recently updated to 10.10, and experienced no errors

or issues. The program worked as advertised, and was very responsive to touch, though it does take some practice to get the finger movements right. If you come across a bug during your normal usage, you can email the developer via the app’s project page, or submit the bug on the project page’s Issue section. Click “New Issue” and report the problem as clearly and concisely as possible.

If you enjoy Touchegg, you might also want to check out EggWM, which is a Linux Windows Manager based on QT4 developed by the creator of Touchegg.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7692118/touchegg_app_adds_multitouch_trackpad.html?cat=15

Apple launched its Magic Trackpad with little fanfare, just a press release; even that prioritised the new iMacs over this new control device. Despite the quiet launch, the Magic Trackpad could be a game changer in many ways.

Here are some ways that the Magic Trackpad could transform the world of computing forever.

1. Death to the mouse

We’ve all grown used to using the mouse as our main control device for desktop computers but that doesn’t mean it’s here to stay.

In just a few short years we’ve seen mobile phones stripped of their buttons. In many Western countries you’ll struggle to find much choice if you want a phone with a traditional keypad. Beyond the most basic handsets it’s often touchscreen or bust. That’s all down to the overnight success of the iPhone in 2007. It was the other handset manufacturers switching to touchscreens as a result that caused the near death of keypads in many markets though

If the big, cheap PC vendors like Dell take to the trackpad idea, there could be no stopping it. Three years from now we could be wondering why we ever bothered with a mouse. Ten years from now, when businesses have all completely replaced their computing hardware, the mouse could be dead forever.

2. The next generation TV remote control

We’ve discussed the potential for the next generation of the Apple TV set top box before. Imagine running iOS on your TV, complete with a wide range of Apple TV-optimised apps. How are you going to control that? A standard Apple remote control? No way – it just wouldn’t work for an OS with touch control at its core. That’s where the Magic Trackpad comes in, making controlling all those apps as natural as tapping on an iPhone screen.

It could be the perfect way to get the masses into interactive TV; they might not all opt for Apple’s solution but as with the iPod, iPhone and iPad, once the public sees it they’ll all want something similar, kickstarting the next generation of TV in the process.

3. Apple can break into the console market

When it comes to play, iOS is currently mainly about casual gaming. That’s more down the portable nature of the devices it runs on that anything else.

Stick the OS on a widescreen, HD TV and all sorts of things become possible. With the Magic Trackpad as its control device, Apple could take on the casual end of the home console market, especially with everything else that an Apple TV or even a Mac Mini attached to your TV, can do. For all but the most hardcore gamers, that could be a highly attractive proposition.

It could even lead traditional console manufacturers to consider buttonless controllers themselves. The success of Nintendo’s Wii motion controls leading to similar controllers from from Sony and Microsoft shows that console manufacturers don’t want to miss out on a good thing.

4. iOS on Mac. Yes, really

As we mentioned above, the Magic Trackpad is the perfect device for bringing iOS control to the TV, so why not the Mac too? iOS is a goldmine for Apple; the App Store, iAds, iBooks – it all adds up to a locked-down moneymaking machine.

While the idea of running iOS on a desktop machine won’t appeal to everyone, it could be a great way of giving users the option of running apps and games in a ‘safe’ environment that’s almost guaranteed to run smoothly without crashing. That’s something you can’t say about OSX. If you throw in the money to be made from iOS it seems to make sense that Apple will be considering allowing Macs to boot into the same version of iOS that future Apple TV boxes are likely to run on.

In the shorter term, iBooks for OSX seems highly likely.

5. A whole new wave of computer art

This might seem at first glance like a bit of duff suggestion but think about it…

Tablets are great for drawing while a mouse isn’t. Computer artists have bought specialist tablets to create stunning, intricate work for years. If we’re suddenly all using tablets, we could be looking at a whole new world of computer art that’s accessible to everyone. There would need to be a pen designed to work with the Magic Trackpad but that’s not insurmountable.

While the ‘professionals’ will always have an advantage thanks to their talent and passion, the very fact that we’ll all be using tablets could make it akin to the way the digital camera revolution suddenly gave everyone the opportunity to be a better photographer overnight.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/07/29/5-ways-apples-magic-trackpad-could-change-the-world/