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Comment by cageface | Hacker News Reader

I haven't found any non-Apple laptop with a trackpad that's even close. Everything I've tried on the Windows/Linux side has been bad enough to be a deal-breaker.

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True. However on Linux and Windows I don't need to use the touchpad as often.

Or OS X if you learn the shortcuts.

When I use Windows I feel like everything is inside a damn context menu that's difficult to access with the keyboard.

(imo of course) OS X beats Linux for keyboard shortcuts because they are more consistent. My ranking is: 1. OS X, 2. Linux, 3. Windows.

I'm a keyboard junkie, to a fault sometimes, but I find that I use the trackpad on my MacBook quite a bit because it's so useful with all the gestures and such.

> context menu that's difficult to access with the keyboard

Hmm, I guess you're right. Without the dedicated context menu key, you have to use SHIFT+F10. That's a pain.

Yes cumbersome would have been a better word than difficult. Once open it's pretty straightforward to navigate, though I really wish you could type the name of any menu item and jump to it like you can on OS X. If there's no alt shortcut on Windows you have to use the arrow keys which are off the home row, which still disrupts me every so slightly.

This was a major reason I got an MBA. It is honestly the first laptop I've used where I feel absolutely no need to plug a USB mouse in. The trackpad is one of the most fundamental ways to interact from a UI perspective, -it's a big deal to have it done right.

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