[phkahler]

>> The Solvespace UI is a long, long way from being the sort of UI a contemporary kid has any kind of comfort with...

Respectfully, I disagree. Even adults have used the word "fun" to describe using solvespace. But I don't actually have feedback from kids, hence the question to OP.

[dofm]

Don't get me wrong, I think Solvespace is really important and I am glad you are keeping it ticking over, but it is the least fun UI I have ever encountered, I'm afraid (kind of obtuse on a trackpad too)

Not saying any of this is easy — Shapr3D on an iPad, expensive and marketed on its extraordinary usability, is just utterly perplexing!

[phkahler]

>> kind of obtuse on a trackpad too

Oh, I actually hate trying to use solvespace with anything other than a 3-button mouse. Unfortunate because the web version can actually run on my phone but is unusable in practice.

[dofm]

I guess this is, sort of, the filter through which I experience the frustrations; it may be magnifying them even.

I've not used a three button mouse in thirty years. Probably only used a mouse for a dozen hours in the last 15 years.

[Silamoth]

Not the person you were responding to, but genuine question: How are you interacting with computers without practically ever using a mouse? And how do you expect to use CAD software without a mouse?

[dofm]

Trackpad?

I have used Macbooks with good trackpads since 2003. The models from the 2008 unibody Macbook and onwards are so very obviously superior to mice, that I simply have never wanted to use a mouse since.

My preference for mice was two-button Microsoft Mouse models (I had the magnificent early "dove bar" Microsoft mouse, which I regretfully had to replace with a 2.0 at some point). On the Mac, you only had one-button mice anyway.

For Linux I did try a nicely made Logitech three-button mouse, but ended up giving it away because some quirk of my neurology or physiology simply will not let me consistently independently address the middle button while holding or moving the mouse. I will almost always end up pressing one or other finger either side as well (sometimes enough to click it).

Scroll wheel mice are slightly better because the middle button is physically different (and often slightly raised). I do have one stored away in case I need it.

On a trackpad I do have individual fingertip tap control, for some reason.

I also use a wacom pen for photo editing, but those are not really much use for CAD. (Honestly, I don't get how people think Shapr3D is usable on the iPad with the Pencil; it is not)

For CAD: FreeCAD's "Gesture" control mode is superb! The "touchpad" control mode not bad. I've toyed with the idea of getting a Spacemouse for my left hand (or making one of the DIY ones) but I have never really felt enough need, because the Gesture mode is so fluid and instinctive.

[phkahler]

>> Scroll wheel mice are slightly better because the middle button is physically different (and often slightly raised). I do have one stored away in case I need it.

Solvespace does great with a scroll-wheel mouse. Scroll = zoom.