Support for Logitech mice in KDE 3.4
A few days ago I installed beta 2 of KDE 3.4, and really enjoy the small improvements that has been done all over the desktop since 3.3. Some are very visible, like the improved KPDF, but other changes are more subtle, like the new "Translucency" tab in the "Window behaviour" configuration. If the X server has the composite extension loaded, it will allow you to enable window shadows and transparency. It looks pretty nice, but as the whole concept of the composite extension is relatively new, it is not 100% stable yet. Hopefully, the next versions of X.org will improve that.

Since I am quite a Logitech fan, I am glad to see the new additions to the mouse configuration in the control center. Brad Hards has added recognition of 17 Logitech mice and wireless receivers, Some mice, like the MX510 I use daily, support sensor resolution switching between 400 and 800 DPI (Dots per inch). The MX510 defaults to 400 DPI, but with the new mouse configuration tool it can be switched to 800 DPI, making the mouse report more detailed info, which again makes it more precise. Anyone who plays first-person shooters (Like Enemy Territory) will have a great advantage of this mode.

Since I also have a MX1000 Laser mouse and a Cordless Optical Mouse (M-RM67A) lying around, I also tested them. As you can see from the screenshot, when a wireless mouse receiver is connected, you will also be able to see the remaining battery capacity of the mouse. If the receiver is dual channel - as those that come in kits with both mouse and keyboard - it will show what channel the mouse currently is using.

Just to see if I could confuse the configuration screen, I tried having both the MX510 and MX1000 plugged in at the same time. I was pleasantly surprised. It seems like someone already had thought of that, as all the control center module did was add a new tab. Both mice worked instantly without a hitch.

I really hope someone will follow up with something similar for keyboards, i.e. battery status of wireless ones, and especially easier configuration of multimedia keys. There are options to configure them in the control center, but they can be a bit confusing, and requires that the X server knows the layout of the extra buttons. Gnome seems to have handled it in a different way, as all my girlfriend's laptop mm keys was mapped in a minute under Ubuntu.

There are also work to be done to make the configuration of the extra mousebuttons easier. As it is now, the left/right mouse buttons and scroll wheel always works fine by default, but additional buttons require manually editing configuration files. A lot of people has requested a configuration tool for mice in KDE's wishlist system, but the developers have pointed out that it can not yet be added to KDE because of limitations in QT (The UI toolkit used by KDE).

KDE 3.4 is scheduled to be released on March 16th. I might add more info here if I find something else worth mentioning.
- posted by Mikal @ 20:45