V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
Level 1 (14 points)

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

by Vlad-imir,Solvedanswer
Vlad-imir Vlad-imir
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

@ALL: I recommend to verify the installer with VirusTotal.com, you will see that the package is 100% clean, as reported by more than 50 antivirus and antimalware engines. As for the reputation scores, they are not the best measure - e.g. I update the files weekly, so there will never be enough users of the same (bit exact) executable to really gain the reputation thing, as calculated by some institutions. Website hosting location does not really matter, because the files are anyways hosted via FileCluster.com, with the mirrors both in the USA and EU.

 

Yes, I agree, the thread is too old, and too outdated. Not only the first pages, but I would say pages 1 to 60 contain the discussions which are not relevant anymore. The software has evolved dramatically, and now has the simple automatic installation, fully configurable multitouch gestures, etc., etc. - all of the things it had obviously missed initially.

 

So I feel it's time to close the topic. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the discussion! For any questions, feedback, critics :), please feel free to contact me directly via support email.

 

Cheers,

Vladimir

Posted on Jul 21, 2014 2:46 AM

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

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 Oct 30, 2012 2:07 AM in response to miknz
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Oct 30, 2012 2:07 AM in response to miknz

    @miknz: This is your problem... The fix cannot decide what is the locale. Note that the fix 100% works for en-us... Maybe try to 'unify' the locale, so that it's EN-US everywhere.

  • 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 Oct 30, 2012 2:22 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Oct 30, 2012 2:22 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    @pratnala: I have noticed your question... First of all, just to remind, here are the current capabilities of the Trackpad++ for Windows 8:

     

    Improved basics:

    1.) Accelerated/natural scrolling model implemented;

    2.) Better pointer ballistics (i.e. how a pointer speed depends on a finger speed; six optimal presets built-in);

    3.) Bug-free dragging with two fingers (both fingers allowed to move freely, unlike with Boot Camp-native driver), plus a unique option to increase the pointer speed while dragging;

    4.) User-customizable option to ignore accidental trackpad input when typing, option to eliminate accidental drag'n'drop actions (for tap-style dragging);

     

    Advanced multitouch gestures:

    1.)   Horizontal 2-finger swiping to the left from outside the right edge (action: show/hide Charms Bar, the gesture shall be performed like this: http://powerplan7.com/OutsideSwipe.gif)

    2.)   Horizontal 2-finger swiping to the right from outside the left edge (action: show/hide Metro Switcher if at least 1 Metro app is running)

    3.)   Horizontal 3-finger swiping (action: back / forward)

    4.)   Vertical 3-finger swiping (action: zoom in / zoom out)

    5.)   3-finger tap (action: middle mouse button)

    6.)   Horizontal 4-finger swiping (action: show/hide Charms Bar)

    7.)   Vertical 4-finger swiping (action: minimize/restore open windows)

    8.)   4-finger tap (action: show/hide Start screen)

     

    Supported Apple Macbook Pro generations:  Early 2009,  Mid 2009,  Mid 2010,  Early 2011,  Late 2011,  Mid 2012 / Retina.

    Supported Apple Macbook Air generations:  Mid 2009,  Late 2010,  Mid 2011,  Mid 2012.

     

    As for the future plans, yes, I'm working on some very cool new features! I think I will release them in 2013. But don't ask me when exactly... A lot of work is required, that's all I can tell.

  • by FrederiQ,

    FrederiQ FrederiQ Oct 31, 2012 2:51 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 31, 2012 2:51 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    I've always been the real fan of your tools, Vlad. The new version of your driver for Windows 8 just rocks! I received rMBP a few days ago and made a clean install of the full retail Windows 8 as suggested and put BootCamp drivers for Windows 7. Then I've put Power Plan Assist and Trackpad++. Everything's working like charm. As always with your beautiful tools, Vlad! And the edge-gesures are so native, my congrats for making this possible!!!

     

    Just one feature request, if you don't mind: Please add a dragging with 3 fingers. That would be soooo awesome!

     

    K.R.,

    Fred

  • 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 Nov 1, 2012 12:21 AM in response to FrederiQ
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Nov 1, 2012 12:21 AM in response to FrederiQ

    Thank you... An important thing everyone should realize about the 3-finger dragging in Trackpad++: 3-finger dragging would disable the much beloved 3-finger back/forward gesture plus it will disable 3-finger up/down, which is currently set to "discrete zoom in/out". Are you ready to sacrifice those? Also note that ordinary dragging (with physical click) is working perfectly with Trackpad++, it's strictly identical ot OS X. It's not the Boot Camp **** where you can move fingers in the very limited bottom area of the trackpad only, otherwise the false right-click is triggered.

  • by pratnala,

    pratnala pratnala Nov 1, 2012 3:50 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 1, 2012 3:50 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    I think till you can implement a pinch and zoom gesture, three finger zoom must stay!! And I don't miss 3 finger dragging anyway.

     

    Vlad, I had an off-topic question for you. On your Windows on a Mac machines, does the Bluetooth work? For me, it just adds the device and nothing else. No way to transfer files or anything. Please let me know

  • 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 Nov 2, 2012 1:01 AM in response to pratnala
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Nov 2, 2012 1:01 AM in response to pratnala

    Regarding your off-topic question: all I can tell you, my Bluetooth mouse is working fine in Boot Camp. Maybe seek for some Bluetooth file transfer relevant topics at this forum. If they exist

  • by pratnala,

    pratnala pratnala Nov 2, 2012 1:15 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 2, 2012 1:15 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Well, I'm asking about file transfers and the like. I found a topic but that's for Windows 7 and it doesn't work on Windows 8. That's why I asked you

     

    Or, probably you could code a driver

  • by FrederiQ,

    FrederiQ FrederiQ Nov 3, 2012 10:17 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 3, 2012 10:17 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Now I realize, three-finger back/forward navigation is the feature I use most of all the Trackpad++ goods! And three-finger tap to open web tabs in background is brilliant, too! So I wouldn't sacrifice those for three-finger dragging! Now I realize! Thank you for explanation Vladimir!!

     

    K.R.,

    Fred

  • by ajp_anton,

    ajp_anton ajp_anton Nov 5, 2012 8:59 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2012 8:59 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Zoom is something I never use, so I'm using Autohotkey to map it to scrolling to top/bottom instead, but It's far from perfect with my workarounds for working on non-selected but hovered windows. It pretty much only works in the web browser, and not inside folders.

    Still hoping for an option to choose what to do with different gestures.

     

    Anyway, another feature request:

    Can you make tap-to-click to work in the Windows login screen?

  • by ajp_anton,

    ajp_anton ajp_anton Nov 5, 2012 9:20 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 5, 2012 9:20 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Also (just installed the new version so had to go through my settings again), I still need to invert the direction of

    4-finger gestures (which I don't use at all) in order to invert the vertical 3-finger gesture.

     

    And another question, since you mentioned doing something with the backlight:

    Could you make the backlight strength NOT dependent on whether AC is connected or not?

    More often than you'd think I'm in a dark room with the backlight at minimum, and then I need to charge the battery, and boom, the backlight goes to maximum (as that's what it was last time the power cord was connected) and I'm temporarily blind.

    Maybe a Power Plan Assistant feature?

  • 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 Nov 7, 2012 1:03 AM in response to ajp_anton
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 1:03 AM in response to ajp_anton

    Yes, Boot Camp-native screen brightness management is too far from perfect. And yes, one of the "cool features" I dream of is the total fix for the poor brightness control offered by Apple to us Windows users. And there are good hopes to have this implemented in the future!

  • by ajp_anton,

    ajp_anton ajp_anton Nov 7, 2012 3:14 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 3:14 AM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Hm, how is it Apple's fault? There are independent brightness controls under Power Options for "On battery" and "Plugged in", and they are independent for each power plan (High perf, Balanced, Power saver), so by default there are actually 6 independent brightness controls.

    So I wasn't really hoping for an Apple-specific fix, but more like an extra independent "hack"/fix for Microsoft's stupidity. I've been searching for a solution for a long time and found nothing...

    So yeah, it's a bit off-topic, but since you brought up the brightness control, I thought I'd mention it =).

  • 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 Nov 7, 2012 11:40 PM in response to ajp_anton
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Nov 7, 2012 11:40 PM in response to ajp_anton

    @ajp_anton:  I have understood you. As for the fault of Apple: step between the brightness states is too big. And actually at a half of the scale it nearly matches 80% of OS X scale.

     

    @All:  Back to the Trackpad++ . The most popular new question from the users is "what is the difference between the Trackpad++ for Windows 7 and Windows 8". So I think I will provide the answer right here.

     

    Windows 8-only features:

    1.)   Horizontal 2-finger swipe to the left from outside the right edge (action: show/hide Charms Bar, the gesture shall be performed like this: http://powerplan7.com/OutsideSwipe.gif)

    2.)   Horizontal 2-finger swipe to the right from outside the left edge (action: show/hide Metro Switcher if at least 1 Metro app is running)

    3.)   Horizontal 4-finger swipe (action: show/hide Charms Bar)

    4.)   4-finger tap (action: show/hide Start screen)

    5.)   Option to "respect focus" for scrolling in an underlying window regardless of the focus state (it's always on in Windows 7, but made user-configurable in Windows 8, because of the incompatibility with certain Metro apps)

     

    Windows 7-only features:

    1.)   Vertical 4-finger swipe down (action: show all windows using the Windows Flip 3D feature)

    2.)   Horizontal 4-finger swipe (action: Alt-Tab alternative)

    Note: both features cannot be involved programmically in Windows 8 (one was thrown away by Microsoft, and the second, unlike in Windows 7 requires the signed code to be called from!)

     

    Common features (available both in Windows 7 and Windows 8):

    1.)   Horizontal 3-finger swipe (action: back / forward)

    2.)   Vertical 3-finger swipe (action: zoom in / zoom out)

    3.)   3-finger tap (action: middle mouse button)

    4.)   Vertical 4-finger swiping (action: minimize/restore open windows, although the method is different per OS, see above)

    5.)   Accelerated/natural scrolling model implemented

    6.)   Better pointer ballistics (i.e. how a pointer speed depends on a finger speed; six optimal presets built-in)

    7.)   Bug-free dragging with two fingers (both fingers allowed to move freely, unlike with Boot Camp-native driver), plus a unique option to increase the pointer speed while dragging

    8.)   User-customizable option to ignore accidental trackpad input when typing, option to eliminate accidental drag'n'drop actions (for tap-style dragging)

  • by FrederiQ,

    FrederiQ FrederiQ Nov 8, 2012 11:22 PM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 8, 2012 11:22 PM in response to V-l-a-d-i-m-i-r

    Hey Vladimir,

     

    It's me again! Any chance to utilize 5-finger gestures for something? In Windows 8! Just wondering. Thanks!

     

    K.R.,

    Fred

  • 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 Nov 10, 2012 1:39 AM in response to FrederiQ
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Nov 10, 2012 1:39 AM in response to FrederiQ

    @Frederiq: In fact, the Trackpad++ driver is capable of detecting up to 11 fingers . The question is, how convenient is it to perform such gestures... so, probably up 4 fingers (like it is now) is an optimal setup. Yet I do not deny some 5-finger gestures will be utilized in the future versions of the Trackpad++ for Windows 8.

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