Somehow, I managed to overlook the fact that Wacom have released a new driver for older Intuos tablets like mine. I’m pleased to see that they have finally ditched the clunky old OS 9 style control panel for a swanky Aqua Preference Pane (about time too). The release notes (PDF) list several other changes to improve reliability.

The Wacom drivers have come in for a lot of stick over the years on sites like Version Tracker, but personally I have never had any problems with installation or reliability; especially since Wacom added support for Fast User Switching in the previous release. The latest driver installed without a hitch, and works flawlessly. Perhaps this is because I only use the tablet when I’m working. I don’t use a mouse unless I’m playing the Unreal Tournament 2004 Demo. In that case, I have to unplug the Wacom tablet, as there seems to be a minor but irritating conflict that causes the pointer to suddenly jump across the screen every few minutes. I don’t know if it’s a driver conflict or a hardware problem, but unplugging the Intuos solves the problem and makes playing UT a little less challenging.

If you ever have trouble with the Wacom drivers, I recommend the following trouble shooting steps:

1. Use the Wacom installer to uninstall the current driver.
2. Repair permissions.
3. Restart.
4. Install the new Wacom driver.
5. Enjoy.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13th, 2005 at 2:59 am and is filed under Apple, Hardware, Illustration, Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.