MagicPrefs is quite stable and reliable, and will likely be versatile and powerful enough for most users' needs. Pull-down lists for gesture actions include icons and keep more advanced features tucked away in a submenu at the bottom where they won't bother users who don't care about them. MagicPrefs eschews listing the many variables used to calculate gestures in favor of a single "touch sensitivity" control slider. The preference pane is attractive and easy to follow (two major Apple design philosophies Mac users will undoubtedly appreciate). Also, while MagicPrefs' source code has not yet been released, Alexa writes on his site that he is a "believer in open source." MagicPrefsÄeveloped by software engineer Vlad Alexa, MagicPrefs is free and will remain so, according to Alexa's FAQ for the tool. BetterTouchTool, with its multitude of fine-tunable options, will appeal to more advanced users. MagicPrefs, with its polished and simple preference pane, will likely appeal to beginner and novice users. Both MagicPrefs and BetterTouchTool greatly expand the range of recognizable gestures, and each of them has its unique benefits. Unfortunately, the only multitouch gestures Apple's software recognizes are two finger swipes left or right. The multitouch shell of the Magic Mouse is as sensitive and responsive as the iPhone's screen it's capable of sensing five or more fingers (if you can fit them on the surface) and distinguishing between light and heavy touches. Here are our first impressions of two such free utilities: MagicPrefs and BetterTouchTool. It was only a matter of time before OS X software developers picked up the slack and released tools to expand on Apple's limited preferences. Apple released the multitouch capable Magic Mouse back in October, but as we wrote at the time, the software that ships with the mouse barely taps its hardware's potential.
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