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By now the web is littered with out-of-the box reviews of Apple’s new Mighty Mouse. I won’t repeat the video blow by blow found here, or the packaging description found here (though, I’ll confess I viewed them both with anticipation). You’ll also find more photos here, so I won’t bother offering you any pictures. What follows are my first impressions about usability. Was this mouse worth the wait (and wait, and wait, and wait)?

In a word, yes.

But I think it’s going to take some getting used to. I’m moving from an Apple Wireless Mouse. I got used to the extra weight that 2 AA batteries added to the mouse; it might have been extra work pushing it around, but it had a solid feel, like a good German automobile. The Mighty Mouse is considerably lighter, so I’m a little heavy handed with it. The cursor zips around the screen (of course, the tracking speed is adjustable, but I don’t think it will take long for me to readjust).

The second issue is the cord. Aside from burning through batteries, I loved having a wireless mouse. A corded mouse has a way of crimping just enough to require a little shaking out every now and then. And I tend to pile stuff in front of my computer (unpaid bills, reading glasses, Post-It notepads, flags, pens, Moleskines, a loupe, a Virgin Airlines rubber ducky, etc.), making it something of an obstacle course. I’ve had to move this paraphernalia out of the way to make room for the cord (let’s see how long I can go before entropy sets in again). But I think it is probably only a matter of time before we see a Bluetooth Mighty Mouse.

The smooth surface of the Mighty Mouse is interrupted only by the pea-sized Scroll Ball and two thumb-sized buttons on either side. All of the buttons are easily configured via a System Preference pane, which must be installed from the installation disc. Pop-up menus let you quickly choose between Primary and Secondary buttons, Exposé actions, Dashboard, Application Switcher, or Spotlight. You can also choose Other and assign another application (Mail or Safari, for example) to a button.

In practice, the Mighty Mouse has no problem detecting left and right mouse clicks, in spite of the apparent lack of discrete buttons. Pushing down on the Scroll Ball also acts as a button, as do the side buttons, which must be pressed simultaneously. You barely need to press on the Scroll Ball to activate it as a button, but the side buttons require a fair amount of pressure. I think this is a good thing. These same buttons are part of the design of the Apple Wireless Mouse, even though they served no apparent purpose, and I often found myself resting my fingers there. If they were easier to activate on the Mighty Mouse, I might find myself inadvertently showing the Desktop with Exposé, which is the action I’ve assigned to them.

The Scroll Ball itself is smooth, but it feels a little… flimsy. It makes a whisper of a clicking sound, like a tiny zipper, as you scroll. It feels a little delicate and requires a very light touch (press too hard and you’ll trigger the button action assigned to it). Other than assigning the side buttons to display the Desktop with Exposé, this was the one adjustment I made to the settings: I cranked the scrolling speed slider to the max. Scrolling vertically is very smooth, while scrolling horizontally is a little less natural. But that’s a function of anatomy, not a fault of the Mighty Mouse (if you’ve got a Mighty Mouse, try horizontal scrolling here or here). A simulation of diagonal scrolling is possible, but it’s not very smooth. Think Etch A Sketch.

The biggest problem I’m experiencing is that I keep hitting the damn Control key when I go to click the right mouse button. But in a couple of days, the only thing that will make me part with this Mighty Mouse is a mightier Apple Bluetooth Wireless Mighty Mouse.