I'm a big fan of saving time when using my computer. Simply because such a large portion of my day is spend in front of one, as such the most miniscule improvements save me a substantial amount of time. A couple of months back I covered keyboard shortcuts which I have used for many years and this week I want to talk to you about mouse gestures.
Popularized by the Opera browser, the mouse gesture is slowly but surely gaining support from both software developers and users. The idea is that rather than having to click on an icon or use a keyboard shortcut, the user instead holds down a mouse button (usually the right) then moves the mouse in a certain gesture (for example from right to left) and then released the button. This gesture is then converted in to relevant command, for example the commend 'go back' in a browser window. Whilst still not big in personal computing, gestures are already very popular on devices such as a PDA's (Personal Digital Assistants) as the omission of a keyboard means that conventional keyboard shortcuts aren't available as an alternative to laboriously clicking icons.
To get a feel for the potential uses of mouse gestures let's take a look at those already present in the popular Opera internet browser. The gestures below require the right mouse button to be held down leaving you free to execute your chosen gesture:
Previous Page - Move mouse left
Next Page - Move mouse right
Home Page - Double click right mouse button
Open New Document - Move down
Reload Page - Move up, then down
Maximise Window - Move up, then right
Minimise Window - Move down, then left
Close Document - Move down, then right
For those of you that missed my review of this popular and capable browser check out www.computerarticles.co.uk to download a copy.
Mouse gestures have been supported by Opera for nearly 10 years now and it is sad to see neither IE nor Firefox have seen fit to offer such functionality as standard. However an additional download can be obtained to enable gestures in for both of these browsers. So please head over to http://optimoz.mozdev.org for Firefox and for Internet Explorer check out www.ysgyfarnog.co.uk. Naturally both utilities are small ad free and most importantly won't cost you a penny.
Software support outside of the browser market is quite limited due to the fact that whilst most people use an Internet Browser in a similar fashion, most other applications are used in a very individual fashion and as such shortcuts for repetitive commands aren't as relevant. I'd like to see more Operating System support for mouse gestures and I'm surprised that Vista didn't have anything significant included; it wouldn't revolutionise the user interface but would have been a nice touch.
Admittedly the possible range of commands that can be used in this fashion are limited but when you are used to executing mouse gestures, I am absolutely positive you can reduce the amount of time you spend performing repetitive tasks.
Author Resource:-
Chris Holgate writes a weekly article of all things tech related. He is a director and copyrighter of the online computer consumables business Refresh Cartridges who sell cheap ink cartridges, toner cartridges, computer hardware and other computer consumables online. An archive of his work can be found at www.computerarticles.co.uk.
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