Lefties and touch-pads
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I am not a leftie but I regularly swap mouse hands so I don't end up to wonky. I don't swap the mouse button assignment, I simply move my index finger across to use the left mouse button - it means I don't have to remember to swap to using a middle finger.
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GuyThiebaut wrote:
I don't swap the mouse button assignment, I simply move my index finger across to use the left mouse button - it means I don't have to remember to swap to using a middle finger.
I did that for about 10-15 years starting in the mid 90s; but RSI. :(( Since then I've used various re-mappings: first at the OS level; more recently either done in hardware (Razer left handed mice), or in fancy mice via device specific configuration software (Logitech G903). I know the former worked great with RDP both incoming and outgoing from my machine, although with the only left handed mouse Razer sells at present being new old stock from a decade ago and their reliability being kinda meh I hesitate to recommend them today. I'm not sure how the G903 would behave with remote sessions; but AFAIK it's reprogramming what the mouse itself sends to the OS, so I'd assume it's transparent.
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I think I'm not the only lefty with a laptop so please fellow lefty coders how have you solved this problem: when I use a mouse I do what most lefties do and swap the mouse buttons so my primary button is on the right. On my laptop and on most laptops I've seen in recent years, the touchpad is in the middle and the primary button is to the left where my 'good' hand is, so I don't have a need to swap buttons. The biggest problem is when I RDP into my desktop where the mouse buttons are swapped because I use a mouse on the desktop. I have to 'un-swap' the buttons only to be annoyed the next time I go to my desktop and have to swap them again. I think I found the shortest key combination in Windows to swap mouse buttons (try: Winkey+I, 'm', 'o', down arrow, enter, 'r' or 'l') but it is still annoying. Apart from enduring, do you have other solutions? Thanks
The other options are either practical or making fun of it. The solution, in fact, is to place the laptop down on the surface you are using to hold it and then walk around to the other side so that left and right are reversed with respect to the laptop. Don't over-complicate when the simple and obvious will suffice.
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I am a lefty and I use my right hand on a mouse and on the touchpad (never needed to swap buttons). That leaves my left hand free for typing, eating and drinking.
Same here. Additional benefit is that I can walk up to someone else's machine and not be thrown off by the mouse (mentoring/support/etc.). Think it started with my initial exposure to PCs being machines that were shared and mouse was always to the right-hand side of the keyboard. Reinforced when started getting "egronomic" mice that couldn't have buttons swapped and be physically comfortable for left-handed use. Plus I believe "lefties" are generally more ambidextrous than "righties" - but couldn't say if this is due more to genetics or conditioning from necessity. Thankfully, was never forced to write with my right hand - THAT would have been a disaster!
