Alternate Mouse - Kensington Expert Mouse
The Kensington Expert Mouse is BY FAR the best alternate pointer I’ve used for general tasks. I’ve owned some variation of it since it was first released in (I think) 1986, when I got one to use with my Apple IIgs. Back then, it was just a block with cue ball in it and two rectangular buttons. The design has, over a few iterations, evolved to become more vaguely breast-like, so it fits comfortably in the hand. I think I’ve gone through about twelve of them over the years, mostly replaced because of the release of a better design (only one model - the Expert Mouse Pro - has broken, and they were very good about just replacing them when that happened). It’s very precise (great for games), and if you suffer from any sort of wrist soreness, as I do on occasion, it may help you. (As always, if you have symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome or other repetetive stress injury, see a doctor.)
I wasn’t so convinced about the latest addition - the scroll ring around the ball - but after using it for a day or so, I quickly became accustomed to it, and I now find regular scroll wheels a little unnatural and strange. The other buttons are arranged nicely. I use the tip of my forefinger and middle finger together to move the ball. I use my ring finger to move the wheel with my thumb as a guide and picking up the slack when I reach the end of the range of a
particular motion. So basically, your fingers lie over the whole surface of the mouse. I use my thumb and pinky on the left and right buttons, and extend my index and ring fingers for the top two buttons.
I found that the included wrist rest wasn’t quite high enough, and I added another gel pad on top of it. That’s personal opinion though.
The driver software for Windows is very very very customizable, but if you use an alternate OS, it will still work fine - it’s standard MS mouse compatible. I have one on my linux desktop, and it’s great.
There are better pointing devices for different purposes (like a tablet for drawing), but this is my favorite general one.