After years with single-key mice, Apple Computer has unveiled its first mouse that sports four functional buttons as well as advanced 360-degree clickable scroll ball, which allows to quickly and efficiently scroll the content that does not fit to particular screen resolution. The new mouse is also compatible with Windows operating system.

The Mighty Mouse from Apple has four buttons, which are programmable and can have different functionality. The primary buttons are located on the front side of the mouse and look like a single button, something which Apple’s mice featured for decades. Two additional buttons are located on the sides of the mouse and can be pressed when the mouse is “squeezed”. The 360-degree scroll ball is a substitute for conventional scroll wheel, but which is more comfortable to use to scroll.

Illustration by Apple Computer

Apple’s Mighty Mouse is optical and wired, whereas the most advanced pointing devices today use laser and Bluetooth wireless interconnection. Apple did not reveal resolution of the Mighty Mouse optics.

The Mighty Mouse is designed for modern Mac OS X operating systems starting from 10.3.8 (Jaguar) versions, but unleash all its potential with the latest 10.4.2 (Tiger) version, where users can enable scrolling, assign primary and secondary buttons, activate Exposй app, display Dashboard software, open Spotlight program, switch applications or open applications. Other Mac OS X operating systems do not feature that broad functionality with Apple’s Mighty Mouse. Mighty Mouse uses the standard, multi-button mouse driver included in the Windows 2000 and Windows XP operating systems and plugs into any USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port.

Apple Mighty Mouse is available today for $49.