They make it hard to see the size of a document and as you said: operating the scrollbar is fiddly. You can't just grab it. First you have to make it expand, then you have to move the mouse again to grab it, but don't move the mouse too much or the scrollbar will shrink again!
This is on both Linux and Windows. I have no idea what it is like on OSX.
So to grab a scrollbar in MacOS you first have to scroll the document to make the scrollbar appear. Then you have under two seconds to move the pointer on top of the narrow scrollbar so it expands allowing you to grab it before it disappears again.
You feel every click, and it is translated to aproximately a three line scroll in the document.
It is a very discrete signal, instead of a continuous signal.
Touchpads have this right, the scroll is very smooth, and you can scroll by tiny amounts if you want.
In a way, it is a limitation of the 25+ years old technology. Why it has not been updated to something smoother is a mystery to me.
1. go to about:config
2. find widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.size.override
3. Change to some pixel value (I have mine set at 26).
voila!
I do not understand why the default is so thin. Really bucks the trend of every UI element being touch-screen large nowadays!
For scroll/touch users, the scrollbar has become an indicator only, and not so much a tool for scrolling, to show where on the document the window is.
If it's literally anywhere else on the screen, then no, Fitts's Law applies, and it's a bad target. It has height but no width.
This is especially true for those with motor or visual handicaps, or both.
It's damned near unusable even with very modest levels of distraction or other factors, e.g., using a device as a passenger on a moving vehicle, as with a boat, train, or airplane.
It is. Visually there's space between the scroll handle and the window edge, but if you actually point the cursor in that space it'll highlight the handle.
I guess thinking about it this is a very reasonable compromise, but it feels weird to start scrolling up and down with a cursor that shows a left-right arrow and that is technically pointing outside of the scroll bar.
It ... doesn't work for any Linux desktop, most especially those using Focus Follows Mouse (certainly for strict, often for lazy) policy.
Though that's useful to know.
Though I'm using click-to-focus, not focus-follows-mouse, so YMMV.
If I have a window positioned to the right edge of the screen ... the scrollbar is draggable only when my mouse pointer is positioned directly over the scroll grabber. Not when pushed to the edge of the screen.
This seems to apply generally for windows best I can tell.
TL;DR: The behaviour you describe is not at all what I see.
My preferred informational / programming layout is browser on left, terminal on right.
And in any multi-window layout, any window not aligned with the right-hand display border remains difficult to target.
This one has 20 buttons (including 3 big ones and a scrollwheel): https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mice/g600-mm...
> This one has 20 buttons (including 3 big ones and a scrollwheel): https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/gaming-mice/g600-mm... I really like this mouse https://natec-zone.com/press/euphonie I really appreciate vertical form factor. It's one the cheap side, but it's good for my hands.
Here's a few key points:
* Select text & middle-click it (or just select with the middle button & release) to execute a program. I just keep a file full of common commands open at all times and fire them off as needed.
* The "acmego" tool automatically formats my Go code & adds imports as needed whenever I save. The "A" tool can find the definition of any function/type/variable I'm looking at and open the source file to an appropriate line. (yes I know these things are available in other editors)
does a gaming mouse work? I'm currently using a $10 gaming mouse that has 4 buttons and a scroll wheel. Two of them are thumb-buttons that function very well and are not in the way at all.
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/eol/mx-anywhere-2s-mouse.910-...
Many trackwheels on are also slow at of you want to flick many pages down.
I rely mostly in keyboard.
This is why the Apple Magic Mouse is so great - it's essentially a phone surface instead of physical buttons.
Middle Click -> Scroll on the web
Page Up/Page down everywhere else
https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/mx-ergo-wireles...
There’s also the slightly smaller Deft Pro (https://switchandclick.com/elecom-deft-pro-review/) which I also own and use for travel — it has a superior scroll wheel and therefore may be a superior choice for you.
For me the Huge has a perfect form factor that outweighs all else.
On mac I use steermouse to map the buttons.
I promise to stop being a trackball pusher now.
Excluding touch/gesture mice like the Magic Mouse, I don't think I've seen a mouse without a scroll wheel in maybe 15 years. Is it just a hardy relic, or do you have some kind of special design for accessibility?
Edit: Nevermind, sorry I just noticed the other reply that asked the same thing. It's still a very unusual confluence of requirements, but I kinda get it with a track-ball.
Swiping is a pain if you need to jump up and down on larger pages.