Four-finger gestures hacked into older MacBooks
By Darren Murph 
posted November 15th 2008 4:11PM
posted November 15th 2008 4:11PM
You know good and well you were instantly jealous of the multi-finger gesture support announced for those minty fresh new Mac laptops, and if you're finally ready to ditch that envy you've been harboring and just get even, have a look. Without even resorting to gangsterism, users of pre-October 2008 Apple laptops can get the four-finger Exposé and Application Switching working -- all's that required is the install disc from a unibody MacBook, a little tweak of the registry and a pinch of patience. We can't say for sure how far back this hack will go (we're guessing your PowerBook G3 is out of luck), but we do know that it works just fine with a January '08 MacBook Air. Give it a go if you're a risk taker, but don't blame us if your atoms start to melt. [Via MacRumors]
How do you do that?
Indeed, using Multiclutch on my Air I have the following setup...
Three finger left or right moves through spaces.
Three finger down triggers/hides expose.
Three fingers up shows all spaces and then re-hides them.
Anti-clockwise two fingers closes the current window, clockwise opens a new window.
So natural to use, I can do so much without moving my fingers to the function keys.
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/03/04/enjoy-gestures-across-applications-with-multiclutch/ Aaron-just use this... and although I dont have the same setup (obviously), I totally agree Rob!
a unibody macbook is a question which takes longer to type than simply searching google for the term, and tends to irritate others.
tha was a reply to Ryan.Well, that's what it was suppsed to be. Weblogs, sort your bloody shit out.
"...all's that required is the install disc from a unibody MacBook..."
Well if I had one of those this would be really nice. My guess is that most people that want to do this do not have the necessary disk or connections with Blue Beard and his co-horts.
I own the old MBP model which only has two-finger gesture, when my friend bought the 2008 early MBA model I borrowed the install disc from him tried to install on my MBP, but the install disc hasn't been recognized by MBP.
Check out the read link, it explains this.
@Aaron
"Well if I had one of those this would be really nice. My guess is that most people that want to do this do not have the necessary disk or connections with Blue Beard and his co-horts."
Then you shall wait like the rest of the world. However, those of us that regularly drink grog with BB and the boys appreciate these kinds of tips.
@Ruben
Not sure what iBook you have, but my 1.42Ghz iBook (last G4 model they made) supports 2 finger scrolling out of the box (Leopard - I bought used and never installed Tiger). Possibly your hacked drivers still have some residual stuff preventing the actual OS to do the job?
It was a 1.25 GHz iBook (I think. Either 1.25 or 1.2, i forget).
I freshly installed Leopard. No two finger support built in. I had to do the driver hack. I no longer have the laptop, so i don't care any more.
Actually, it's a Pref Pane. Just verified this on the iBook by opening SysPrefs, Mouse & Keyboard, Trackpad, and checking the options under 'Trackpad Gestures'.
Hope this helps for anyone else looking for 2-finger gestures.
Ahhhh ... makes me love my EEE PC more. Simple and much more effective multitouch without having to worry about goofy controllers or whatever. All in the touchpad and the wonderful drivers.
Asus 1
Apple 0
@David
who said the multi touch gestures on the previous macbooks aren't simple....
this is just for ppl who wan their touch pad to be upgraded so it can has newer functions like the ones on the newer models
and ya... u can go have fun with that small touch pad on the netbooks...
lol don't you love PC fanboys that troll Mac related posts just to make some pompous remark? Guess what Dave, most of us Mac users have a PC also, but don't worry I understand your envy.
I have a feeling this may only work on the larger Macbook pro and macbook air trackpads, but none of the macbooks/pros before that...
so does this include santa rosa macbook pros or not? i have a feeling it doesn't since the peryn based were the first ones to include dual finger zoom in/out... but if someone can confirm it, that'd be great...
I feel really stupid but how do i set multiclutch to tie a gesture to expose? Everytime I try to setup the command in the gesture list (using f3 for expose) it triggers expose and doesn't take...
anyone wanna help? Please?!
Simple - not needing to figure out if you have the necessary chip on your motherboard to support the multitouch gestures. With the EEE PC, all you need to see is if you have an EEE PC. Then just download the drivers from Elantech, install them, and voila - all multitouch gestures unlocked. Or if you are a poor soul with a 900A, just go and buy a touchpad from a bricked 701/900 or find a factory replacement unit on the Net, they typically run about €30. No need to hunt for a reinstall disc or pray that Apple will release the fix in the next OS that you'll have to pay for ...
I can honestly say the multi-touch thing does very little for me, from watching people in various situations using the zoom gesture for instance it seems clumsy and getting old VERY quick.
Not that it isn't something they should offer, but to get all excited.. nope.
how to download this? after the disc and ..?
But will it work on regular Macbooks?