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Actually,
a mouse is just one type of pointer device used by
various machines to input data. It's by far the most
popular, first developed by the Xerox PARC team in the
1970s, introduced to the PC market by Apple for the
Macintosh in 1984 (in the notorious one-button version) and
carrying on strongly ever since.
Different mice are used for
different machines: Mac mice depend on a single button, UNIX
mice use three, and most PC mice use two buttons, with some
manufacturers assigning custom functions to a third button
and many sporting a central "wheel" for scrolling. Today's
mice no longer use the serial port or a bus card to connect,
preferring to connect either through a USB port or directly
to the motherboard. Windows has a standard mouse driver
program inbuilt to drive a mouse, but that generic driver is
replaced by whatever driver comes with the mouse currently
installed. That's why you can't just plug in an alien mouse
and blast away; each mouse uses a specific driver, usually
provided on a floppy or CD. Trackballs are very similar to
mice, except they roll inside a socket instead of freely on
a mouse pad. Trackballs are even more susceptible to dirt
and gunk than a mouse, which can go down within hours in a
dirty environment. Track points and touch pads are other
versions of pointing devices similar to trackballs, and are
even less popular than the trackball. Mice are by far the
preferred pointing device currently available. New on the
market: wireless mice, which replaces wires with optical
interfaces. Really new on the market: much smaller mice that
are designed to work with laptop and notebook devices.
You can configure your mouse's functions by going through
the Control Panel applet (in XP, the Mouse tab is under
Printers and other hardware). Note: different mouse
software gives users different options. You can control the
speed of your mouse's sensitivity to double-clicking, or
even set the mouse to open items with a single click. If you
have something called "Click Lock," you can have the mouse
click drag by simply holding down the button for a moment or
two, and release the dragged item with another click. You
can control the rate and sensitivity of your mouse's
scrolling; if you have a wheel mouse but you're missing the
"Wheel" tab or its equivalent, you may need to download a
newer driver from your mouse maker's Web site. Pressing the
wheel on some mice may activate "panning" or a variant of
the "AutoScroll" feature. You can adjust the speed at which
your cursor moves in response to the mouse. You can also
make your cursor instantly appear over the default option
when you open a dialog box, though this option can make you
hunt for your cursor over and over again. Win ME labels this
option "Smart Move," while 2K and XP call it "Snap To" or
"Snap To Default." You can have the cursor disappear when it
isn't in use, or not. You can have the Ctrl key, or another
key, locate the cursor with a visual effect when pressed.
You can enable or disable pointer trails that display behind
your mouse (especially good on small screens like
notebooks). You can have the mouse controlled by the
keyboard if you really hate using the mouse, by enabling an
option called "MouseKeys." And of course, you can change the
various cursors as you like -- if you really want to get
fancy, there are plenty of animated cursors and fun things
available on the Web to spice up your cursors.
How
to use the mouse in old DOS games? Win 98 has a "Mouse_in_DOS"
command that can be inserted into the SYS.INI file, but that
doesn't help the rest of us. There are several ways to
stroke this particular cat. Your system may include a
MOUSE.EXE or MOUSE.COM file -- essentially an old mouse
driver utility for DOS. Or, you can grab a mouse driver for
free from most download sites online, including
dos.li5.org/downloads/drv.htm. The more-or-less
universal Microsoft mouse driver is here:
downloads.zdnet.co.uk/downloads/detail/1002-2110-900552.html.
Most other mouse vendors' sites also have brand-specific
drivers, if you need them. Warning: a mouse connected to a
mouse port -- or even an old serial mouse connected to a
comm. port -- will work fine in DOS with the right driver.
But USB devices generally don't work in DOS, and that
includes USB mice. Lots of sites offer how-to info on
installing and using a mouse driver.
Here's
a good chunk of info on the optical mouse, adapted from
Vince
Underwood's piece on the subject in his November
2002 newsletter. Thanks, Vince!
Developed by Agilent Technologies and introduced to the
world in late 1999, optical mouse sensor technology works by
taking thousands of digital pictures per second with a
resolution of up to 800count/in to determine the movement of
the on-screen cursor. These individual images are then sent
to the digital signal processor (DSP), which compares each
picture with the last to detect movement. In doing so, the
processor executes 18 million instructions per second. The
mouse then outputs the signal to the computer via a USB or
PS/2 port, and the software handles the rest of the work.
What this translates to is a more accurate representation of
the mouse's movements and a more accurate implementation of
what the user wants to do with the mouse. Gamers will reap
the benefits of these mice as they are very quick and
accurate in their aiming ability. Optical mice avoid the
need for a mouse pad and offer more precise pointing and
movement than mechanical mice, as long as you don't put the
mouse on a surface that reflects or shines. The mouse needs
to report back to the processor with comparison images, so
placing it on a reflective surface or even a glass surface
will produce the exact same images when moved across this
surface. And since optical mice have no ball or cavity, no
cleaning is necessary, making them more reliable and longer
lasting. They provide automatic power conservation during
periods when the mouse is not moved, and controlled drive
for the LED light source. Optical mice operate on a single
power supply and feature on-chip LED drive and power
conservation mode during times of no movement.
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