dock doesn't pop up easily when using a mouse and external monitors

[meanjimbeam]

I'm new to Mac after 25 years on a PC. I have two external monitors and the Mac displays in play. using Logitech mouse. when i move cursor to bottom of screen, the dock doesn't always pop up. i have to repeat the movement multiple times and sometimes the doc won't pop at all. frustrating.

 

[AppleSmack]

This seems to be caused by some annoying interaction between the OS and the mouse's dongle. A search for this recommends using a USB extension cable with the dongle on the end. Since I moved the dongle for mine to the end of a USB 2 extension, and then positioned it further away from the hub, it's been more reliable, but still not 100% reliable. At other times, you need to disconnect, reconnect the dongle.

Symptoms of when it doesn't work:
-Dock doesn't appear when you move mouse to bottom of screen.
-Any mouseover behaviour on menus or links doesn't work.
-The mouse pointer changes to a pointy finger in the current app window when there are clickable links on the browser window *behind* the app.

 

[meanjimbeam]

wow. that seems to be it. unfortunately, my mouse doesn't use a dongle. it's bluetooth and self-contained. I've got a magic mouse but don't like it. but maybe that's the only solution. thanks

 

[AppleSmack]

wow. that seems to be it. unfortunately, my mouse doesn't use a dongle. it's bluetooth and self-contained. I've got a magic mouse but don't like it. but maybe that's the only solution. thanks

Sorry to hear that it doesn't even work reliably using built in Bluetooth. In that case, try turning Bluetooth off then on. Agreed, I've tried the magic mouse and didn't like it either.
I guess that means using the trackpad if there's one, or having a wired mouse just to toggle Bluetooth. "It just works" never was true with Macs.

Apart from the mouse, how has the transition been? There's much to like/dislike about each platform.

 

[meanjimbeam]

Thanks for the guidance. The transition was one of the most disruptive things I've done in my career, partially because it happened on Day One of a big reorg. I got a Mac as a second computer last summer to do some creative work, e.g. video recording and editing. I was forced off my PC in one day because my COVID puppy chewed my power cord. Most of the issues I'm having are probably due to the fact that I "think PC" logic; not Mac logic. I have an iphone and ipad and love them but after two months I still don't "think Mac". I don't like the Directory compared to Msft explorer. I had to install Chrome because Safari was amazingly worthless. I use Msft Outlook because Mail is so clunky. with PC, you can just grab a browser window and move it to another screen. don't have to minimize first. With PC, I used an external keyboard. I could do that with the Mac but then I'd lose I couple of the features I actually like about Mac. but my hands are too big for the Mac keyboard so i make myriad typos. I feel like I'm trying to make my Mac into a PC.

 

[satcomer]

Crome is Dog especially on memories on an Intel Macs! Better off going with Chromium based browser and it will work much better!
I personally like the browser Brave because it even has a M1, even FireFox just went to M1 too!