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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?

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  • Yes, I use a newer Logitech mouse and no matter what I do I can't replicate the same motion/acceleration/speed I'm used to in Windows. I do think this is a function of the driver/utility from Logitech though.
    – mindless.panda
    Commented Jun 22, 2011 at 1:35

6 Answers 6

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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.

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    Up vote for magic trackpad or Microsoft mouse options. The only ways to go IMHO.
    – Steve Moser
    Commented Jun 22, 2011 at 12:42
  • That website seems to recommend the Arc mouse. Is it possible to use another Microsoft mouse with that same Intellipoint software?
    – Jordan Roher
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 0:20
  • I think the intellipoint drivers work with any (or most) microsoft mice.
    – Fake Name
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 0:53
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Yes, using the command line of iMouseFix

The command line version of mousefix/iMouseFix is working for me on 10.6 with the Apple MagicMouse (some of the other suggested solutions don't work for the MagicMouse). I can quickly move the mouse between displays, but also do fine work with a setting of 8.

/Application/mousefix/mousefix 8

I have added the following to my .profile as they suggest in the README

FYI, The binary download is mousefix.tbz2 at http://code.google.com/p/mousefix-10-6/downloads/list.

Also see the similar question at superuser - https://superuser.com/a/446200/66255

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I recently bought a Razer DeathAdder, and after a LOT of tweaking in Razer's own driver panel, it works beautifully with my Mac.

You should definitely check out http://www.razersupport.com/ and download the Mac driver.

Different mice respond differently to begin with, and send that information back to the OS in any number of different resolutions. A gaming mouse especially is going to be sending MUCH different information back to your system than a typical desktop mouse. Razer's driver should have an acceleration slider that you can tweak to your liking, and should also be able to process that device's input in a way that makes more sense to your system.

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Check out Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane.

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  • Tried that one. It's no good without the ability to set curves.
    – Jordan Roher
    Commented Jun 23, 2011 at 0:14
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a solution i posted in another question should help.

No third party software required.

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There may be news about a prospective mouse fix for Mac OS X: Project SmoothMouse.

From the developer’s website (emphasis mine):

The current development phase is “pre-alpha”. The foundation is done for the most part, and we’re now looking to fix the bugs and extend the functionality. [On Sept 10, 2012] we started the first round of private testing among the developers.

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  • This is pre-alpha software. Have you found it to be reliable under any Mac OS version?
    – bmike ♦
    Commented Sep 27, 2012 at 16:06
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    Welcome to Ask Different! Answers on Ask Different need to be more than just a link. It's okay to include a link, but please summarize or excerpt it in the answer. The idea is to make the answer stand alone. Please take a look at the FAQs for more info.
    – gentmatt
    Commented Sep 27, 2012 at 18:43

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