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Comment by turtlebits | Hacker News Reader

While I'm not going to argue your preference for a trackpoint, dragging with a trackpad is not as you describe. You just leave your thumb "clicked" and reposition your index finger.

IME, using a trackpoint is okay for smaller laptop screens, but going from monitor to monitor kinda sucks.

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macOS has an option (in the accessibility prefs) to enable three-finger trackpad dragging.

It's incredible to use, especially in concert with Magnet (a window management app). Three-finger-drag a window to the top of the screen and it's instantly maximized. Selecting text is also a breeze.

Does that not get in the way of the 3 finger swipe-up to open the activities screen?

Do you mean Mission Control? That can be configured in Trackpad prefs to respond to 4 finger swipe-up instead.

Yeah! Didn't know the mac name for it.

Mission Control and App Exposé change to 4-finger gestures after 3-finger dragging is enabled.

Ah, makes sense. That's handy then

Wow, thanks for that tip. It's awesome and feels so natural.

I really hope Ubuntu and friends get "inspired" by all the touchpad gestures in macOS.

Agreed. If I were to switch to a Framework laptop, the Mac trackpad would be the loss I'd feel the most (closely followed by the DisplayPostscript-powered macOS window manager).

Gnome is all about touchpad gestures—every time I reinstall fedora from scratch (admittedly not very often) I have to go fiddling around to get the “traditional” trackpad buttons and what not working.

> Three-finger-drag a window to the top of the screen and it's instantly maximized.

Sounds like a lot of work compared to any good tiling window manager. Windows should be automatically maximized on opening, unless there are others on the desktop, in which case just hitting a two finger key chord should do it without requiring contorting a wrist or moving an entire forearm away from the home row.

I don't do this often, but when I do I appreciate how smooth it is and don't feel at all like I'm contorting a wrist or anything.

I do most of my window rearranging when I'm switching workflows or connecting an external monotor.

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