I’m sitting here using my PowerBook, reading SDMB. In the ‘modest dream car collection’ thread I clicked on a link to an image. A page came up saying ‘Oops! This image belongs to someone else!’ No problem. I’ll just right-click and get the URL from ‘Properties’ – except there is no right-click!
Is there a way to open a link’s properties on a Mac, so that you can cut’n’ paste it?
Try holding down the control or command key when you click. (“Command” is the apple key.) Depending on what browser you’re using, one of those ought to do the trick. In Firefox, Ctrl-click gets you a menu from which you can select “Copy Link Location.”
Ah, so that’s what the CNTL key is for! I tried it with the command key originally, but it opened a new browser (Safari). CNTL gives me a menu.
Thanks.
Usually, you can get the same results as a right click just by holding down the button for a little longer.
Or buy a two-button mouse and plug it in. Mac OS X will support it driverless, and 8 & 9 will support it with drivers.
please note: IME it’s more accurate to say that CTRL-click simulates the effects of right-click than actually sending the right-click signal. That is, Netscape on Mac is told to do the same thing when it gets CTRL-click as it does with right-click on Windows. If you’re using a java applet that asks for an honest-to-god right-click, it won’t take CTRL-click.
I believe I read somewhere that Mac software is generally designed to not require right clicks to do anything that a Windows-based computer needs right clicks for. Is that correct? If so, maybe there’s an “uber-rule” that can cover most situations like the OP’s.
You can’t right-click a Mac. It’s a one-click pony. 
As Timewinder pointed out, Macs do in fact support multi-button mice. However the system has been designed so that you don’t need them.
That said, right-clicking is a lot simpler and quicker than ctrl-clicking. Buying a two-button mouse, preferably with a scroll wheel, is good advice.
As a follow-up, will OS X support three-button mice or click-wheel mice? Is there any native use for the third button or click-wheel, or would a new control panel show up to let me configure its behavior?
It should support most with no configuration. I have a Logitec wireless thumb trackball with two buttons, a scroll-wheel, and a click function on the scroll wheel. It recognized everything with no drivers, but there was no way to configure the click actions. If you need to re-map click actions, you probably need a driver or configuration program from the manufacturer.
I think the “uber-rule,” if there is one, is what I mentioned before – click and hold. It certainly works for hypertext links.
Actually, I’ve got the exact trackball you’re talking about sitting around from a while back. Does the click-wheel do anything without configuration, either clicking or rolling?
Um, not on my Powerbook it doesn’t. I’m clicking and holding hyperlinks here and it’s not behaving at all like a right-click. Also, it definitely doesn’t send the right-click signal, as testing with a java applet that wants a real right-click shows.
It doesn’t work for me. I chose a couple of links on the page. The first, I clicked and held. Nothing happened until I released the button, then it went to the page. The second time, I clicked and held and nothing happned. This time, I moved the cursor off of the hyperlink before releasing the button. It did not go to the page. So it looks like CNTL+click is the way to do it, and hold-click doesn’t work (on this machine).
As for the mouse. I’m sitting in my comfy-chair right now. No place to use a mouse. However, I do have an external drive that I’ll use once I get some content that needs editing. It will be easier to use a mouse if I’m editing at a desk. But for now, the track pad is fine.
I’m using a third-party wheel mouse on my Mac right now. The wheel-roll and right click behave as expected: The wheel scrolls a window, and the right-click does whatever right-click is supposed to do in an application (usually a menu). Clicking the scrollwheel, however, has no effect, and I don’t see any way in System Preferences to change that. In various games with configurable controls, I can make it have an effect, and I think that later versions of OSX (I’m using 10.2) give more options.
Somewhere, I’ve seen an app that converts the far right edge of the trackpad to a right-click area.
Now that I could make use of this, I can’t remember what it was called; 
Anyone recognize this?
I use a Logitech two-button scrollwheel mouse with my Mac. No drivers, no hacks, everything works. I even got the scrollwheel mapped to invoke Expose when clicked, for the ultimate convenience.
Yep. 99.95% of all Mac applications can run perfectly fine with a one-button mouse, since every command is available either from a menu or a toolbar or something similar. This makes things easier for computer novices, who (still!) frequently get confused over when to left-click or right-click things. The right-click is a convenience, not a necessity.
And control-click isn’t the only click-trick you can do with a Mac – combinations of command-, control-, and/or shift-clicking stuff is a common convenience in many programs. For fun, try holding down the shift key while clicking on a window’s “minimize” button (the yellow one), or while invoking Expose… 
For even more functionality for mice with more than two buttons, you can use a shareware product such as USB Overdrive (just google it). It’ll let you assign functions to each of the additional buttons on a global and per-program basis.
Also I use the middle button on my scroll mouse for Expose – this is supported without any drivers, as it is for the Dashboard. Also for video games that use the official Apple IO human interface device kit, multi-button mice (including those with a lot of buttons) work if you use the in-game setup.
I couldn’t imagine using a one-button mouse on a Mac. :: shudder ::
The only little thing I do miss that Windows has, though, is better access to virtually everything with the keyboard. I hate having to grab for the mouse for everything.
I haven’t checked, but I think you can turn on full keyboard controls with MacOS X 10.4 (“Tiger”). Check the System Preferences under “Universal Access.”