Quicktip: Zoom to Mouse in Blender 2.5

In the latest versions of Blender you can go to file -> User Preferences to select a whole bunch of things, including a new mouse zoom mode that’s a lot more like what you’ve come to expect from other CAD tools, such as SolidWorks.  These options are under the Interface tab of the User Preferences dialog.

Checking the Zoom to Mouse Position and Rotate Around Selection boxes will cause the zoom function (scroll the mouse wheel) to be centered on the mouse position, and rotating the view (click the middle mouse button or alt-left click) will move around whatever you have selected.  (For alt-left clicking in new versions you’ll also have to enable Emulate 3-button Mouse in the Input tab.)