A way of controlling the
GUI with the
mouse that doesn't involve interacting with a particular
widget.
Black and White seemed to be the first to implement this.
Opera browser now supports them as well, adding to its list of impressive features.
Here are some examples of Opera's mouse gestures. They all require you to hold down the right mouse button while performing the action.
- Back: Move the mouse from right to left.
- Forward: Move the mouse from left to right.
- Close window: Move the mouse down then right.
- Open link in new window: Hold the right mouse button over the link and then move down, up.
- (See the manual for the full list.)
Mouse gestures simplify life significantly, as they are much easier to perform than clicking a tiny
button or switching to the keyboard to press a key combination. While the question of
accidental gestures may arise, I've found these to happen very rarely. (Not more often than accidentally clicking a link or any other kind of accidental action.)