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November 1, 2007

hardware

Leopard brings two-finger tapping to PowerBooks/iBooks?

Posted Nov. 1, ’07, 9:05 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Hardware

Two-finger clickingReader Raul wrote us to say that he uncovered a hitherto undiscovered option in his Keyboard & Mouse preference pane that enabled two-finger tapping. When I responded that this had been around since the advent of the original MacBooks, he pointed out that he was seeing this on his (cue dramatic music please) iBook G4.

Now, I don’t recall this being an option in Tiger on older hardware (I’d thought, in fact, that this wasn’t supported by earlier trackpads), but maybe I’m wrong. So I ask you, dear readers: have you installed Leopard on your iBook or PowerBook? Is there two-finger clicking where once there was none? Let us know in the comments below.


17 Comments

Anonymous said:

Don't have that option on my G4 PB with Leopard :(

November 1, 2007 9:24 AM
Marc Salzberg said:

Just tried it, and it works on my iBook G4.

Nice.

November 1, 2007 9:33 AM
Matt said:

I have a final-revision iBook G4 that has a scrolling trackpad. Ever since the two-finger tap option debuted on the macbook, I've been jealous of it. Leopard enables this feature on iBooks/PowerBooks that support the two-finger scrolling feature.

November 1, 2007 10:21 AM
Zak said:

Yes, i have a late generation PowerBook G4 and I just enabled it. Thank you for the heads-up =)

November 1, 2007 10:30 AM
Tom said:

uh no. doesn't work on this ibook g4

November 1, 2007 11:35 AM
Anonymous said:

What about 2 finger scrolling?

November 1, 2007 11:54 AM
Marcos said:

I think there's an issue if the hardware is capable and then is the driver capable. There was a utility called "iscroll" that brought two fingered dragging to my iBook G4 - it became a must-have.

My iBook G4 has since gone off to the big Mac museum in the sky so I can't test it, though.

November 1, 2007 1:06 PM
Vance Butler said:

Sorry, not an option on my iBook G4

November 1, 2007 1:50 PM
The Unix Geek said:

Um... that already existed in Tiger. I used it all the time.

The Unix Geek

November 1, 2007 2:22 PM
jsk said:

Actually, all the Al PowerBooks are capable of much of the "two finger" actions (it's possible that it may only apply to scrolling, I don't remember); it just wasn't "supported" by Apple. It was an arbitrary marketing distinction between PowerBook models when a new model came out.

This can be activated on older PowerBooks in Tiger using a third party hack. I used to use it, but found it annoying after a while. And, no, I don't remember the name of the hack or it's developer.

November 1, 2007 2:33 PM
dusi said:

yeah installed Leopard on my G4 PowerBook 12" and the option IS available and working...but what seems more funny is that the menu-bar which should be semi-transparent and hated by most people isn't in fact that semi-transparent..in other words it's grey with 100% opacity..i wonder if this is due to the graphic card used in the latest line of PowerBooks line??

November 1, 2007 3:14 PM
STL said:

OSX 10.4.10 System Preferences provides me 2 options to choose from for secondary, aka, right clicking on my MacBook Pro (MBP).

If "Clicking" Selected
o Tap trackpad using 2 fingers for secondary click
or
If "Clicking" Not Selected
o Place 2 fingers on trackpad and click button for secondary click

2.2GHz 2GRAM. Bought new Aug 2007.

November 1, 2007 4:05 PM
Jesper Author Profile Page said:

Don't see it on my wife's iBook G4 (1.33GHz / 14-inch / Late 2004 model). It's probably only on the 2005 models, as they have scrolling trackpads.

November 1, 2007 4:18 PM
Dave-O said:

This morning I was running Tiger, no two-finger click. This evening I am running Leopard, two-finger click is on. This is on a 12" PowerBook G4. This and subscription lists in Mail definitely make Leopard worth the price.

November 1, 2007 7:58 PM
Neil Anderson Author Profile Page said:

That would be an excellent addition. I've been jealous of friends' newer Books. :)

November 3, 2007 10:55 AM
Ivoree said:

This option is fully dependent on which model you have and if that model has a trackpad that is capable of executing this feature. Some will be able to do it and some won't. Those that have the proper hardware will have this option added to their system preferences. Those that don't won't show it. I have the first Aluminum 12 inch PowerBook that runs at 867 MHZ and it won't work on this trackpad, while I think it works on every other 12 inch PowerBook. Coming from a MacBook that has two finger scrolling and two finger tap this is very hard to get used to not having it after using it quite alot in the last year and a half.

November 10, 2007 6:10 PM
chris said:

sadly, i don't have this available. :(

my trackpad DOES support 2finger scrolling through iscroll, but but what's the deal here??

1.5ghz powerbook 17"

November 28, 2007 5:35 PM

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