I finally got this feature to work on my Surface 4 Pro tablet. It’s called double-tap-and-drag or tap and a half. I cursed this tablet for a few reasons since I got it. Little picky things. Annoying habits that it has that … well, I’m just not used to it! “That’s not going forwards – that’s going backwards!” Well, it’s fixed. Just a setting in the touchpad settings.
Why is that so danged important? Productivity, for one. It’s faster than the two-handed click and drag method. Yes, two hands. I’m used to a touch pad. Touch pads are faster, more convenient. Yes, I know, I’m bucking the world on this one. So be it. If mice were suddenly brought upon the market now, they’d be laughed at. “They’re just so dumb,” I’m confident I’d hear. They’re a separate device. You have to carry them around with you, and they you have to plug them into a USB. You’ve gotta move your hand away from the keyboard, the ultimate in productivity (yes, I know, spoken like a true DOS lover, which in actual fact I’m not), … where was I? Oh, yes … away from the keyboard, to another separate device, and then back again to the keyboard, only to do it all over again. What a drag. (Get it? Drag?) It’s like intentionally buying a manual shift automobile after years and years of automatics. Oh, yah, there are actually people out there who actually do do that. <ahem> “I want a brand new Apple Bell and Howell. With a mouse.”
Secondly, an integrated touchpad click built into the actual touchpad just doesn’t, in my humble opinion, work. You can’t poise your finger on top of the left click button while moving your thumb across the touch pad. One of them will screw up. I’ve seen multiple times when I’m actually moving my thumb or finger around the touchpad without the dang arrow doing anything – just sitting there being confused. “Oh, … not sure what to do … there’s another finger touching me … I’m so confused.” Hmm. Isn’t this touchpad supposed to see multiple touches? And not be confused?
Oh, I could go on, but then I’d have to make a new category for my blog. Something like “rant” or “nit-pick”. … Ooh, not a bad idea. Anyway, I’m closer to liking my Surface 4 Pro again. Warm and fuzzy.