Input device maker Kensington is offering adventurous souls first crack at a beta version of its MouseWorks drivers for Mac OS X. Users interested in downloading the public beta can grab it from Kensington’s Web site now.
Kensington’s line of input devices include multi-button mice and trackballs of various shapes, sizes and configurations — and the company has long offered Mac OS users a custom driver called MouseWorks to help program special features of the devices — alternate button actions, button chording functions, performance, and more. The new beta version of MouseWorks for Mac OS X offers added functionality for Kensington input device users who have installed Apple’s new OS, but it’s a long way from feature-comparable with its OS 8 and 9 versions.
Kensington notes that due to various technical limitations of the current operating system, time constraints, and other technical issues, a variety of features won’t be implemented with the first version of MouseWorks for Mac OS X. Chording is absent, and users can’t program application-specific settings, or perform fine adjustments to acceleration settings. User defined pop-up menus aren’t there, and mouse-button page up/page down scrolling is absent, too. That’s not all — the whole list of missing features is written up in the Read Me file included with the driver.
“We will work on expanding the capabilities of MouseWorks for OS X in the coming months, as the OS matures and better development tools and information become available,” said Kensington. “Please note, however, that we cannot promise if or when any particular feature will be available.”
MouseWorks for OS X supports all Kensington USB and ADB mice, except for the Turbo Mouse 1.0 – 4.0 and the one-button Kensington ADB or USB mice. Also, MouseWorks doesn’t currently support the Griffin iMate ADB-to-USB adapter. MouseWorks for Mac OS X will only support ADB devices connected to an ADB port (as is installed on various Power Mac G3 models).
MouseWorks for Mac OS X users are encouraged to send in bug reports describing problems, but please make sure to read the included documentation thoroughly to make sure the problem you’re interested in reporting isn’t something Kensington is already aware of. And as always, remember — it’s a beta, so set your expectations accordingly.
More info || Download MouseWorks Beta for Mac OS X [2.0MB]
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