I’ve been using the new Apple Magic Mouse for a couple of weeks now. That isn’t long enough to fully judge the product, but I know what I like, and I like the Magic Mouse.

It isn’t perfect, but after using Apple’s previous attempt at a wireless mouse, the Magic Mouse is a huge improvement.

Even the box is pretty. Pretty, but not very functional. Like newer iPod packaging, it’s clear plastic and just big enough to house the product and those tiny manuals, but the mouse is stuck into the box with what is basically a self-adhesive plastic sheet, the kind they use to seal the boxes. Removing the plastic can leave a little residue on the bottom of the mouse if you’re not careful. Peel slowly!

Once out, the batteries are already installed, so it’s a simple case of flicking the power switch to get started. The power switch is similar to the hold switch on newer iPod models and much better than the plastic thing on the wireless Mighty Mouse.

Overall, the Magic Mouse feels solid and looks great. The low profile might take some adjusting to, but it seems like it will be easier on the wrist; there’s much less arching of the hand going on. The top is a clear acrylic-like material which adds a nice shine to the surface and protects the Apple logo. The aluminium base is sturdy and doesn’t flex if you have a tight grip.

The mouse has two hard rubber-like strips on the base which eliminates the horrible scraping noise of the older mouse. It isn’t silent as you drag it across the desk, but it’s far from unbearable. It will also, I imagine, not wear away as easily as the grey ring on the Mighty Mouse did.

Set up wasn’t as simple as it could have been. Pairing with my Mac took seconds, but as we’re still waiting for 10.6.2, the touch-sensitive scrolling and swiping required a software update. I did check seconds before turning the mouse on for the first time and got nothing, but checking after pairing the mouse revealed the update. Not a problem, but could confuse some people.

You can switch between left and right handed setups in the new Mouse System Preferences pane, as well as enabling scrolling with momentum and two finger swiping and setting the tracking, scrolling and double click speed.

Clicking works. I don’t know what could possibly go wrong with that. You still need to adopt a rocking motion when secondary clicking. If you secondary click with a finger on the primary “button”, you’ll get a primary click. Lifting your primary clicker finger before a secondary click solves the problem, as before, and if you’re used to the Mighty Mouse it will feel natural. The surface is sensitive to clicks in the top half, so small hands should be okay using the mouse.

Scrolling. I haven’t been able to do this for a while so it’s quite exciting. It works well and after getting over the lack of physical scroll ball/wheel, I started to really like it. Like the Mighty Mouse, it has full 360º scrolling, but unlike the old thing, it actually works perfectly. Throwing a large image around in Photoshop takes a few flicks on the top half of the mouse, although the surface is sensitive to scrolling gestures right down to the Apple logo. If you need to be more precise, smaller movements are easily made by, well, not moving your finger so much.

Scrolling with momentum is good. WIth a single flick you can move to the bottom of a long document or webpage, another flick taking you back to the top. It doesn’t work with everything though, Tweetie being a good example.

Two finger swiping is useful when web browsing for back/forward, but I haven’t used it for anything else yet. It will certainly work for moving through a batch of images in Preview or iPhoto or flicking between emails, so if you do a lot of that, it could save you some time. Like scrolling, the mouse is sensitive to swiping right down to the Apple logo.

I miss the side buttons for Exposé and I had the middle button mapped to Overflow, so getting used to using the keyboard for these things again is a little frustrating, but in time I’m sure it will be fine. Three finger swiping up/down would have been great to invoke Exposé, the application switcher or, like with the Mighty Mouse, an application of your choice.

The Magic Mouse is a huge improvement over Apple’s last effort. At £55, it’s certainly not the cheapest mouse in the world, but it’s far from being outrageously expensive. Whether it’s worth it or not is up to the individual, I suppose. If you want an Apple mouse that’s solid, looks good and lets you scroll again, and you have £55 to spend, go buy one. I’d definitely play with one for a while first though. It feels different, and the lack of physical scroll ball and buttons 3 and 4 might put people off.

Related posts:

1. Review: MindNode Pro
2. Want to see my Dock? Sure you do!
3. Mac web development made easy

Planning your next project? Throwing out feature ideas for your next web app or planning the plot for a future bestseller?

If you prefer visual, non-linear note taking like me, you’ve probably given mind maps a try. If this involves pulling out your Sharpies and scribbling away on paper, next time you might want to consider reaching for your Mac.

For software to replace pen and paper, the application must be uncomplicated and not get in the way of what you’re trying to achieve, and MindNode Pro is exactly that kind of application.

On launching MindNode Pro, you’re presented with an almost blank canvas. Just one main node and a simple instruction, “Drag to create a new node”. There is a full help section and even a link to a couple of video tutorials, but to get started, one instruction is all you need.

Rename the main node, then drag out or click the plus (+) sign to quickly create new nodes, linked to the main node by coloured branches. The new node’s text is already highlighted ready for you to type over with your own content. If you’re not a fan of the mouse, MindNode Pro is just as easy to use with the keyboard alone, navigating the map structure and adding and editing nodes with just a few easy to remember keyboard shortcuts.

You are free to arrange nodes however you please, but if you like consistency, neatly organising all nodes is easily done by selecting the nodes you wish to arrange and hitting ⌥⌘R.

The appearance of nodes and connections can be modified using the Node Inspector. Changes can be made to the font and text colour, the width, style and colour of branches and, if using cross connections, the start and end point styles. The main background colour of the mind map can be changed in the Document Inspector along with the Spotlight information, essential if you have a Documents folder full of MindNode documents.

If your thoughts require multiple mind maps but are still centred around the same general subject, multiple main nodes are supported in MindNode Pro. This allows you to create several small (or large) mind maps within the same MindNode Pro document. Nodes on unrelated branches can be linked using cross connections.

As brainstorming can often be a frantic time, you’re likely to put frequent saving to the back of your mind. Luckily, MindNode Pro has a very handy autosave feature. By default, MindNode Pro documents will be autosaved every minute, so if your Mac explodes or, more likely, there’s a power cut, you’re not going to lose many of those great ideas.

If your research includes a lot of referencing of external material, MindNode Pro allows the creation of hyperlinks to webpages and files on your hard drive, as well as links to create new email messages.

If you need to share your thoughts with others, MindNode Pro offers several export options, including PDF, PNG and TIFF, but also FreeMind, OPML, HTML and RTF. I would like to see an option to export a PDF without a background (transparent). Adding mind maps to Keynote or Pages documents is something I do quite a lot, and the white background of the exported PDF just gets in the way. I currently open the PDF in Adobe Illustrator and remove the background easily, but eliminating this step would be nice, especially for those without something like Illustrator.

I would also like to be able to embed images in MindNode Pro documents, not full-size, that would destroy the simple feel of the application, but perhaps with small icons, clicking to reveal the image in a Quick Look style window, similar to that of Finder. Files can be opened using hyperlinks within MindNode Pro documents, but if you accidentally delete or move a file you’re going to have problems. Embedding the images would be, in my view, a much better option.

MindNode (touch) for iPhone will arrive in the iTunes App Store tomorrow. I’ll be interested to see how nicely the iPhone and Mac versions play together, and will be sure to review MindNode (touch) soon after its release.

If you have used the free version of MindNode, the upgrade to the Pro version is certainly worth it, adding several new features to the basic application including cross connections, node folding, hyperlinks and node reorganising.

As a simple way to gather thoughts and develop ideas, MindNode Pro is perfect, and for less than $15 is amazing value. It’s an application that will always sit at the top of my recommendations list.

Related posts:

1. Magic Mouse: First impressions
2. Want to see my Dock? Sure you do!
3. Mac web development made easy