V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

Q: A NEW TRACKPAD DRIVER IS OUT

I've got a good news for Macbook Pro / Air owners: a new multitouch trackpad driver for Windows 7 is out.

This driver (codenamed 'Trackpad++') neither contains, nor modifies the original Apple code.
However, it relies on Apple drivers stack for raw hardware access, that's why Boot Camp 3.1 shall be installed first.

Features of the Trackpad++ driver (vs. Boot Camp 3.1 driver):

1. Improved pointer ballistics (pointer movement can be very slow or very fast, depending on the finger speed);

2. Dramatically improved two-finger scrolling experience: Mac OS X-similar (accelerated) scrolling model implemented;

3. Elimination of the most annoying Windows issue of Apple Multitouch Trackpad, i.e. false detection of drag'n'drop actions;

4. Trackpad++ Control Module for adjusting the Trackpad settings.

Supported Macbook Pro generations: Early 2008, Late 2008, Early 2009, Mid 2009;
Supported Macbook Air generations: all generations;
Supported Windows versions: Windows 7 32-bit, Windows 7 64-bit (Boot Camp 3.1 shall be installed first).

You may visit http://trackpad.powerplan7.com for details.

Just by the way: there was an extensive beta-testing phase, and a lot of volunteers have tried Trackpad++ already, so I can assure You that the driver is rock-stable.

P.S. I wrote this driver. My another project is Power Plan Assistant - a popular utility for Boot Camp-enabled Macbook Pro and Air notebooks.

Cheers, and enjoy Trackpad++, something Apple definitely have had to implement a while ago... but I know and You know - it never would...

Posted on May 21, 2010 1:05 AM

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Q: A NEW TRACKPAD DRIVER IS OUT

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  • by V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r,

    V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Dec 5, 2013 11:49 PM in response to timmytim82
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 5, 2013 11:49 PM in response to timmytim82

    @timmytim82: Web site is actually not down, but I suspect your ISP has blocked it. I wish I knew why. It could be that some 'third' party does not want people to access the driver because it makes Windows on a Mac so competitive with OS X. Anyways, there are some workarounds. First, please try to use the official clone of the original web site hosted by US-based provider (while the original web site is hosted in Europe):

    http://powerplan7-mirror-official.0usa.com/

    Finally, you could try to browse via free web proxy, e.g. http://newipnow.com

    By the way, if you succeed with either proxy or the mirror, you have the legitimate right to ask why the web site is not available inside your ISP's network. I'm very curious to know, especially regarding the mirror, because it's hosted in USA.

  • by FrederiQ,

    FrederiQ FrederiQ Dec 7, 2013 12:52 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 7, 2013 12:52 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    @V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r: I'm currently playing with "a la mission control" software for Windows 8.1, such as Dexpot and Emcee. Especially I like Emcee... If I could somehow assign the "4-finger swipe up" Trackpad++ gesture to imitate "Ctrl-Tab" Emcee shortcut, the overall windows navigation experience would become coherent with OS X. Just thinking out loud

  • by V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r,

    V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Dec 9, 2013 2:11 AM in response to FrederiQ
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 2:11 AM in response to FrederiQ

    @Frederiq, @ALL: Thanks for the tip. Actually, I have started to work on the gesture customization. This requires a lot of work, but I do hope to release the new version 'not-late' in 2014. Also, a small announce: I have just managed to enable the very specific '5-finger click' (click, not tap) gesture, in the future it can be used to e.g. switch between the gesture sets on the fly without the need to bring up the Trackpad++ Control Module, or it can serve as some Windows OS function toggle (with no risk of being triggered accidentally). So, 5-finger click will probably be added as a configurable gesture in the mentioned next version of the Trackpad++.

  • by thwap,

    thwap thwap Dec 9, 2013 4:09 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 9, 2013 4:09 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    That sounds like a brilliant solution Vladimir, if you mean switching between '3-finger middle click/4-finger drag' (2.3d 3-finger style) and '3-finger drag/4-finger middle click' - that would be the ultimate!

  • by nybbles,

    nybbles nybbles Dec 11, 2013 6:48 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Dec 11, 2013 6:48 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Hi Vladimir,

     

    Just want to say I was using TP++ when 2.3 version came out.  I liked it, donated but then started to find it start acting funny after a few months... A year laterish, I decided to try out 2.4, and it was "ok" and much more usable... but then I started using it in 2.3d mode, which was also "ok"... but didn't have the bugs that made me stop using it.  Odd... I know.

     

    The reason I am posting... this latest version, 2.5a is great! I'm not huge on 3-finger dragging, but I can still use the old style dragging without any problems, which I couldn't do before.  And my weird text moving away issue (hard to explain, it certainly had to do with the driver, but it happened like 2 or 3 times a week, otherwise it was working fine) seems to have disappeared!

     

    Kudos.... can't wait to see what comes next!

     

    Thank-you!

     

    Btw, I should mention, I'm using Win 7 Pro SP1 on Early-2011 MBP.

  • by V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r,

    V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Dec 12, 2013 5:45 AM in response to nybbles
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 5:45 AM in response to nybbles

    @nybbles: Thank you! You will not be disappointed by what is coming in 2014. I hope to add gesture customization firstly. Something tasty secondly. And something super-tasty later again

  • by TOMillr,

    TOMillr TOMillr Dec 12, 2013 5:52 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 5:52 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Hey Vladimir, any chance that you might be adding support for users of a MagicTrackpad or older, non-unibody Macbook Pros in the future?

  • by nybbles,

    nybbles nybbles Dec 12, 2013 6:05 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 6:05 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Sounds great.  But I was wrong about that weird bug that's hard to describe.  It's back, thankfully not often.  But sometimes, it'll jump to another place where I'm not typing..  Not even remotely close... and then of course what was already written will just disappear.

     

    Another weird bug that is new and I'm quite certain is related to the new 2-finger pinch gesture.  In Microsoft Office 2013 products (at least) doing so creates a dash "-".  It also doesn't zoom in or out....  Is there a way to disable the 2-finger pinch... I keep creating dashes everywhere... the gesture is quite sensitive.  It doesn't seem to happen outside of Office.  Also in Windows Explorer windows the pinch resizes columns in details view to fit all, but not zoom in or out....

  • by nybbles,

    nybbles nybbles Dec 12, 2013 6:08 AM in response to nybbles
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 6:08 AM in response to nybbles

    In Excel... the pinch is causing it to issue the delete cell command, or the insert cell command.

  • by nybbles,

    nybbles nybbles Dec 12, 2013 6:11 AM in response to nybbles
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 6:11 AM in response to nybbles

    SOrry, last post, I swear....  (I think...)  Is it issuing control+ and control- commands???  I think that explains it.  And is there a way to disable it by program?  It works great in web browsing....

  • by V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r,

    V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Dec 12, 2013 7:11 AM in response to nybbles
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 12, 2013 7:11 AM in response to nybbles

    @TOMillr: Magic Trackpad could hopefully be supported in the future. Right now the main problem is, it's drastically different (internally) from the built-in trackpad. And Bluetooth stack adds even more differences, so no way to simply port the Trackpad++. Regarding the old non-Unibody models, they are at least 6 year old, and have different trackpad. So I would stay focused on the Mid-2009 and later models...

     

    @nybbles: Indeed, zoom is achieved as Ctrl+/Ctrl-. This works not only in browsers, but also in image viewers and other applications. But it does not work in MS Office (unless you customize the keyboard shortcuts in Office). An issue is, there is no truly universal zoom thing across Windows 7/8/8.1.

     

    Regarding your mystical bug: Trackpad++ option to eliminate accidental trackpad input when typing allows 99% of it to be filtered out. Maybe you use the keyboard input really hard, and this 1% shows up sometimes. Also, some people rarely touch the trackpad accidentally, maybe this is why nobody had ever reported the same issue.

     

    Strange, I already got some emails from people who wanted the zoom gesture to be tuned so that it becomes MORE sensitive! The sensitivity of the older/newer/MBA/MBP trackpads is different, that's probably the answer.

     

    Like I mentioned earlier, an ability to disable and customize the gestures is coming in the next version. If you need to disable 2-finger zoom right now, I have posted the workaround for reverting to 2.3d gestures using the 2.5a installer on the previous page of this topic.

  • by llamapower13,

    llamapower13 llamapower13 Dec 15, 2013 9:16 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 15, 2013 9:16 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Hi Vladimir

     

    I'm using power plan 7 and I turned off bluetooth one time and now I can no longer get it to turn on (I click on where it says how much battery percentage I have remaining then go to the wireless sub menu, the bluetooth then on but the icon for bluetooth never reapears).

     

    How can I get it back without reinstalling the whole OS?

     

    Thanks!

     

    One other questions: is powerplan and trackpad++ pay what you want? Does one donation get me registration keys for both? What about major updates (do I have to pay again for them)?

  • by V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r,

    V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r Dec 15, 2013 11:21 AM in response to llamapower13
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Dec 15, 2013 11:21 AM in response to llamapower13

    @llamapower13: Thanks for reporting an issue. You do not have to worry, and neither to reinstall OS. Does the issue persist after reboot? If so, please take a look in the Windows Device Manager, if there is a disabled Bluetooth device, right-click it and choose to enable.

     

    Trackpad++ and Power Plan Assistant are both 'donationware'. They are not 'shareware', because a) by reinstalling you can use them really infinitely without paying a cent, and b) the size of donation is determined by a donator himself. I do have the recommendation to donate at least 15-20 USD to really support the project, but, again, this is just the recommendation. And, to address your last question, yes, all of the future updates will remain free.

     

    Cheers,
    Vladimir

  • by pratnala,

    pratnala pratnala Dec 15, 2013 7:19 PM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 15, 2013 7:19 PM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Vlad, there is a big bug with the pinch-to-zoom gesture.

     

    Whenever I try to drag - not with 3 fingers, but the other way: clicking and dragging - half the time, it mistakenly thinks I am trying to zoom and zooms either in or out. I have to use this click and drag because 3 finger drag doesn't work in most Metro apps and anyways, I am not that comfortable with 3 finger drag.

     

    Please solve this. I hope the solution will not be disabling pinch to zoom.

  • by nybbles,

    nybbles nybbles Dec 15, 2013 9:34 PM in response to pratnala
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Dec 15, 2013 9:34 PM in response to pratnala

    I think I'm experiencing this too.  I still say pinch-to-zoom is a bit on the sensitive side, too easy to trigger...

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