15 year Windows guy here, slowly going full Mac on everything and enjoying it.
But there's one thing that's killing me: the USB mouse acceleration curve in Snow Leopard drives me crazy. I've looked at utilities that claim to change it, but I haven't found anything that works (thanks Apple for removing the mouse acceleration curve function). I really want my mouse to move like it did in Windows.
What I have discovered is that different mice seem to have slightly different acceleration (or I'm going insane). I use a cheap Dell optical mouse at work that's fairly similar to what I'm used to in Windows. But my Razer Imperator at home, despite costing a fortune, moves like molasses through OS X.
I've tried the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad and have been unsatisfied with both.
Is this actually an issue? I may be very well be imagining it. Have any other ex-Windows guys experienced this?
Best Answer
No, unless you buy a specific mouse
The option to define custom mouse acceleration curves was present in OS X 10.4, but apple simplified it in 10.5, and removed it entirely in 10.6.
Mouse Curve is a supposedly forthcoming pref-pane that completely replaces the OS X mouse HID kext. However, development is really slow, or stalled.
Personally, I have poked about a bit in the kernel myself, but am unfamiliar with kernel programming. Fixing the mouse acceleration on OS X will at minimum require a custom kext, which is non-trivial to code.
The option that is out there is to buy a Microsoft mouse, and use it on OS X. Microsoft has released custom drivers for their mice that mimic the mouse behavior on windows.
Essentially, the windows "Enhance Pointer Precision" option applies linear velocity-based acceleration to the mouse movements, e.g. the distance moved is proportional to the speed the mouse moves. Think of it as basically having the DPI of the mouse inversely proportional to the mouse's speed.
OS X on the other hand, has a stepped acceleration curve, where the mouse moves at one DPI when slow, and another when moved faster then a threshold.
There are pref-panes that let you disable OS X's acceleration curve, but none that allow you to substitute windows.
As far as I can tell (and this is opinion), this curve is optimized for trackpads. In my opinion, it is more then useless for mice (using a mac mouse actually damaged my mousing efficacy on windows, which really affects my work (CAD Stuff)).
Personally, I have entirely dispensed with the idea of using a mouse on OS X, and ust bought a Magic Trackpad.