My first brush with mouse gestures on the Opera browser was an accident, but the ability to quickly move backward or forward in the browser history, open new windows, close tabs, and more without using the menus or moving the mouse toward the navigation toolbar won me over immediately. Nowadays, this feature is available in Firefox and Konqueror too, and you can even configure mouse gestures for GNOME and KDE desktop environments.

For some time I have wondered how well the Logitech MX Air mouse really works. It claims to let you control your computer simply by holding your mouse in the air, pointing it at your computer, and waving it around. Recently, I have gotten the chance to check it out.

For some reason, mouse gestures have never fully caught on with desktop users. Movements of the mouse that launch a command or simulate a combination of keys are ideal for those who prefer not to move their hands constantly between the mouse and the keyboard, or who have trouble typing because of some physical challenge.

Pictures and specifications for the first computer mouse - dated approximately 1964

gestikk provides mouse gestures for you, supporting many linux window managers. With gestikk, you can easily control your PC by drawing gestures with the mouse: mouse gestures. Gestikk allows to define an infinite number of gestures, which start applications or simulate key presses. Versions >= 0.5 uses PyGTK for GUI and python-virtkey for keypresses.

Popular open source office suite OpenOffice has partnered with a company named WarMouse to release the first mouse built specifically for the application. The mouse features a whopping 18 programmable buttons with double-click functionality.

Running buntu (Linux)? Well tell me you arent using the same old default mouse cursor theme still are you? Learn how to get and install free mouse cursors for Ubuntu.

"In ratpoison and stumpwm, there's a 'banish' command that exiles the mouse pointer to a corner of the screen. It's quite useful when you don't want the mouse to distract you or clobber the text you are writing [...] emacs has a more sophisticated way to do it..."

When you have shelled out for a swanky mouse like the Logitech VX Nano, you want to make the most out of your investment, which means making its programmable buttons work. However, many Linux distributions recognize most mice as generic pointing devices, so none of the fancy extra buttons work right out of the box. The btnx utility can help you to turn your mouse into the versatile tool it is meant to be.