Today's tip is simple: Multi-button mice (and trackballs) rule. I rarely say stuff like this about Windows, but the two-button mouse was/is one of the few things Windows got right. For one thing, contextual menus beg for two buttons. For another, there are many other frequently-performed actions that are better when accessed from the mouse. Finally, OS X supports scroll wheels, though Apple's mice don't have'em.

Alas, if you're anything like me, you'll soon be suffering from a serious case of button envy. Two buttons won't be enough for you anymore. My last mouse was the excellent four-button Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer. But it only had four buttons. Today, my main mouse isn't even a mouse, it's a Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro Wireless trackball. It's my favorite pointing device yet and not just 'cause of its 10 buttons. And a scroll wheel.

No, it's my favorite because it does so much. I have mouse buttons that Click, Control-Click, Option-Click, and Command-Click. I have one button that pops up a menu of all the currently open programs (thanks to the excellent Kensington MouseWorks software). I have three buttons for zooming: An on/off toggle and a button each for zooming in and out, and they work in every program I use (OS X 10.2 feature). And I have a button that closes windows. In Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Finder, I have Forward and Back buttons on the mouse.

If you've always been satisfied with the Apple one (or zero) button mouse, you owe it to yourself to see what all the fuss is about. When I have to use an Apple zero button mouse I always feel like I'm computing with one hand tied behind my back.

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Bob LeVitus is a leading authority on Mac OS and the author of 39 books, including Mac OS X For Dummies and The Little iTunes Book.