Serial Port Mouse Driver
The Microsoft Serial Mouse component provides support for the Microsoft Mouse device. This component supplies the Microsoft Serial Mouse Driver, contained in the sermouse.sys file. This component also supplies registry information and the msmouse.inf file, which is the system-supplied INF (information) file for the mouse device setup class.
Mar 08, 2013 Hello, I am trying to create an MS-DOS only machine but I cannot get my serial mouse to work in DOS. I've installed the drivers and enabled com ports in. Vetra's PS/2 and Serial Mouse. For optimum operation use the appropriate serial mouse driver. The unit is powered from from the PC's PS/2 mouse port.
Services There are no services associated with this component. Associated Components No other components interact with this component. Settings There are no configurable settings for this component.
A computer mouse with the most common features: two buttons (left and right) and a scroll wheel, which can also act as a third button. A computer mouse is a hand-held that detects motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a on a, which allows a smooth control of the. The first public demonstration of a mouse controlling a computer system was in 1968. Originally wired to a computer, modern mice are often cordless, relying on short-range radio communication with the connected system.
Mice originally used a ball rolling on a surface to detect motion, but modern mice often have optical sensors that have no moving parts. In addition to moving a cursor, computer mice have one or more buttons to allow operations such as selection of a menu item on a display. Mice often also feature other elements, such as touch surfaces and 'wheels', which enable additional control and dimensional input. Contents.
Naming The earliest known publication of the term mouse as referring to a computer pointing device is in July 1965 publication, 'Computer-Aided Display Control'. The plural for the small rodent is always 'mice' in modern usage. The plural of a computer mouse is 'mouses' and 'mice' according to most dictionaries, but 'mice' being more common. The first recorded plural usage is 'mice'; the online Oxford Dictionaries cites a 1984 use, and earlier uses include 's 'The Computer as a Communication Device' of 1968. History The, a related pointing device, was invented in 1946 by as part of a post-era plotting system called (CDS).
Benjamin was then working for the British Scientific Service. Benjamin's project used to calculate the future position of target aircraft based on several initial input points provided by a user with a. Benjamin felt that a more elegant input device was needed and invented what they called a 'roller ball' for this purpose. The device was patented in 1947, but only a prototype using a metal ball rolling on two rubber-coated wheels was ever built, and the device was kept as a military secret. Another early trackball was built by British in collaboration with Tom Cranston and Fred Longstaff. Taylor was part of the original, working on the 's (Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving) system in 1952.
DATAR was similar in concept to Benjamin's display. The trackball used four disks to pick up motion, two each for the X and Y directions. Several rollers provided mechanical support. When the ball was rolled, the pickup discs spun and contacts on their outer rim made periodic contact with wires, producing pulses of output with each movement of the ball. By counting the pulses, the physical movement of the ball could be determined. A calculated the tracks and sent the resulting data to other ships in a task force using radio signals. This trackball used a standard Canadian ball.
It was not patented, since it was a secret military project. Early mouse patents. From left to right: Opposing track wheels by Engelbart, November 1970,. Ball and wheel by Rider, September 1974,. Ball and two rollers with spring by Opocensky, October 1976, of the Stanford Research Institute (now ) has been credited in published books by, and several others as the inventor of the computer mouse.
Engelbart was also recognized as such in various obituary titles after his death in July 2013. By 1963, Engelbart had already established a research lab at SRI, the (ARC), to pursue his objective of developing both hardware and software computer technology to 'augment' human intelligence. That November, while attending a conference on computer graphics in, Engelbart began to ponder how to adapt the underlying principles of the to X-Y coordinate input. On November 14, 1963, he first recorded his thoughts in his personal notebook about something he initially called a 'bug,' which in a '3-point' form could have a 'drop point and 2 orthogonal wheels.'
He wrote that the 'bug' would be 'easier' and 'more natural' to use, and unlike a stylus, it would stay still when let go, which meant it would be 'much better for coordination with the keyboard.' In 1964, joined ARC, where he helped Engelbart build the first mouse prototype. They christened the device the mouse as early models had a cord attached to the rear part of the device which looked like a tail, and in turn resembled the common.
As noted above, this 'mouse' was first mentioned in print in a July 1965 report, on which English was the lead author. On 9 December 1968, Engelbart publicly demonstrated the mouse at what would come to be known as. Engelbart never received any royalties for it, as his employer SRI held the patent, which expired before the mouse became widely used in personal computers.
In any event, the invention of the mouse was just a small part of Engelbart's much larger project of augmenting human intellect. The ball-based computer mouse with a Rollkugel RKS 100-86 for the TR 86 computer system When the development for the Telefunken main frame began in 1965, Mallebrein and his team came up with the idea of 'reversing' the existing Rollkugel into a moveable mouse-like device, so that customers did not have to be bothered with mounting holes for the earlier trackball device. Together with light pens and trackballs, it was offered as an optional input device for their system since 1968. Some Rollkugel mouses installed at the in Munich in 1972 are well preserved in a museum. Telefunken considered the invention too unimportant to apply for a patent on it. The was one of the first computers designed for individual use in 1973 and is regarded as the first modern computer to utilize a mouse. Inspired by 's Alto, the, a computer which had been developed by a team around at between 1978 and 1980, provided a mouse as well.
The third marketed version of an integrated mouse shipped as a part of a computer and intended for personal computer navigation came with the in 1981. By 1982, the Xerox 8010 was probably the best-known computer with a mouse. The Sun-1 also came with a mouse, and the forthcoming was rumored to use one, but the peripheral remained obscure; Jack Hawley of The Mouse House reported that one buyer for a large organization believed at first that his company sold. Hawley, who manufactured mice for Xerox, stated that 'Practically, I have the market all to myself right now'; a Hawley mouse cost $415.
That year made the decision to make the program mouse-compatible, and developed the first PC-compatible mouse. Microsoft's mouse shipped in 1983, thus beginning the division of the company. However, the mouse remained relatively obscure until the appearance of the (which included an updated version of the ) in 1984, and of the and the in 1985. Mirc torrent scripts.
Operation. Further information: A mouse typically controls the motion of a in two dimensions in a graphical user interface (GUI). The mouse turns movements of the hand backward and forward, left and right into equivalent electronic signals that in turn are used to move the pointer.
The relative movements of the mouse on the surface are applied to the position of the pointer on the screen, which signals the point where actions of the user take place, so hand movements are replicated by the pointer. Clicking or hovering (stopping movement while the cursor is within the bounds of an area) can select files, programs or actions from a list of names, or (in graphical interfaces) through small images called 'icons' and other elements. For example, a text file might be represented by a picture of a paper notebook and clicking while the cursor hovers this icon might cause a text editing program to open the file in a window. Different ways of operating the mouse cause specific things to happen in the GUI:. Click: pressing and releasing a button. (left): clicking the main button. (left): clicking the button two times in quick succession counts as a different gesture than two separate single clicks.
(left): clicking the button three times in quick succession counts as a different gesture than three separate single clicks. Triple clicks are far less common in traditional navigation.: clicking the secondary button, or clicking with two fingers.
(This brings a menu with different options depending on the software). Middle-click: clicking the tertiary button.: pressing and holding a button, then moving the mouse without releasing.
(Using the command ' instead of just 'drag' when one instructs a user to drag an object while holding the right mouse button down instead of the more commonly used left mouse button.). (a.k.a. Rocker navigation). Combination of right-click then left-click.
Combination of left-click then right-click or keyboard letter. Combination of left or right-click and the mouse wheel. Clicking while holding down a. Moving the pointer a long distance: When a practical limit of mouse movement is reached, one lifts up the mouse, brings it to the opposite edge of the working area while it is held above the surface, and then replaces it down onto the working surface. This is often not necessary, because acceleration software detects fast movement, and moves the pointer significantly faster in proportion than for slow mouse motion. Multi-touch: this method is similar to a multi-touch trackpad on a laptop with support for tap input for multiple fingers, the most famous example being the.
Mouse gestures. Main article: Users can also employ mice gesturally; meaning that a stylized motion of the mouse cursor itself, called a ', can issue a command or map to a specific action. For example, in a drawing program, moving the mouse in a rapid 'x' motion over a shape might delete the shape. Gestural interfaces occur more rarely than plain pointing-and-clicking; and people often find them more difficult to use, because they require finer motor control from the user. However, a few gestural conventions have become widespread, including the gesture, in which:.
The user presses the mouse button while the mouse cursor hovers over an interface object. The user moves the cursor to a different location while holding the button down. The user releases the mouse button For example, a user might drag-and-drop a picture representing a file onto a picture of a, thus instructing the system to delete the file. Standard semantic gestures include:. traversal. Pointing. Specific uses Other uses of the mouse's input occur commonly in special application-domains.
In interactive, the mouse's motion often translates directly into changes in the virtual objects' or camera's orientation. For example, in the first-person shooter genre of games (see below), players usually employ the mouse to control the direction in which the virtual player's 'head' faces: moving the mouse up will cause the player to look up, revealing the view above the player's head. A related function makes an image of an object rotate, so that all sides can be examined. 3D design and animation software often modally chords many different combinations to allow objects and cameras to be rotated and moved through space with the few axes of movement mice can detect. When mice have more than one button, the software may assign different functions to each button.
Often, the primary (leftmost in a configuration) button on the mouse will select items, and the secondary (rightmost in a right-handed) button will bring up a menu of alternative actions applicable to that item. For example, on platforms with more than one button, the web browser will follow a link in response to a primary button click, will bring up a contextual menu of alternative actions for that link in response to a secondary-button click, and will often open the link in a new or in response to a click with the tertiary (middle) mouse button.
Variants Mechanical mice. Operating an opto-mechanical mouse. Moving the mouse turns the ball. X and Y rollers grip the ball and transfer movement. Optical disks include light holes. Infrared shine through the disks.
Sensors gather light pulses to convert to X and Y vectors. The German company published on their early ball mouse on 2 October 1968.
Telefunken's mouse was sold as optional equipment for their computer systems., builder of Engelbart's original mouse, created a ball mouse in 1972 while working for. The ball mouse replaced the external wheels with a single ball that could rotate in any direction. It came as part of the hardware package of the computer. Perpendicular housed inside the mouse's body chopped beams of light on the way to light sensors, thus detecting in their turn the motion of the ball. This variant of the mouse resembled an inverted and became the predominant form used with throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
The Xerox PARC group also settled on the modern technique of using both hands to type on a full-size keyboard and grabbing the mouse when required. Mechanical mouse, shown with the top cover removed. The scroll wheel is gray, to the right of the ball. The ball mouse has two freely rotating rollers. These are located 90 degrees apart. One roller detects the forward–backward motion of the mouse and other the left–right motion. Opposite the two rollers is a third one (white, in the photo, at 45 degrees) that is spring-loaded to push the ball against the other two rollers.
Each roller is on the same shaft as an wheel that has slotted edges; the slots interrupt infrared light beams to generate electrical pulses that represent wheel movement. Each wheel's disc has a pair of light beams, located so that a given beam becomes interrupted or again starts to pass light freely when the other beam of the pair is about halfway between changes. Simple logic circuits interpret the relative timing to indicate which direction the wheel is rotating.
This scheme is sometimes called quadrature encoding of the wheel rotation, as the two optical sensors produce signals that are in approximately. The mouse sends these signals to the computer system via the mouse cable, directly as logic signals in very old mice such as the Xerox mice, and via a data-formatting IC in modern mice. The driver software in the system converts the signals into motion of the mouse cursor along X and Y axes on the computer screen.
Hawley Mark II Mice from the Mouse House The ball is mostly steel, with a precision spherical rubber surface. The weight of the ball, given an appropriate working surface under the mouse, provides a reliable grip so the mouse's movement is transmitted accurately. Ball mice and wheel mice were manufactured for Xerox by Jack Hawley, doing business as The Mouse House in Berkeley, California, starting in 1975. Based on another invention by Jack Hawley, proprietor of the Mouse House, produced another type of mechanical mouse. Instead of a ball, it had two wheels rotating at off axes. Later produced a similar product. Modern computer mice took form at the (EPFL) under the inspiration of Professor and at the hands of and.
This new design incorporated a single hard rubber mouseball and three buttons, and remained a common design until the mainstream adoption of the scroll-wheel mouse during the 1990s. In 1985, added a to Nicoud's and Guignard's design. Through this innovation, Sommer is credited with inventing a significant component of the mouse, which made it more 'intelligent'; though optical mice from Mouse Systems had incorporated microprocessors by 1984.
Another type of mechanical mouse, the 'analog mouse' (now generally regarded as obsolete), uses rather than encoder wheels, and is typically designed to be with an analog joystick. The 'Color Mouse', originally marketed by for their (but also usable on machines equipped with analog joystick ports, provided the software accepted joystick input) was the best-known example. Optical and laser mice. The underside of an optical mouse Optical mice rely entirely on one or more (LEDs) and an imaging array of to detect movement relative to the underlying surface, eschewing the internal moving parts a mechanical mouse uses in addition to its optics. A laser mouse is an optical mouse that uses coherent (laser) light. The earliest optical mice detected movement on pre-printed mousepad surfaces, whereas the modern LED optical mouse works on most opaque diffuse surfaces; it is usually unable to detect movement on specular surfaces like polished stone. Laser diodes are also used for better resolution and precision, improving performance on opaque specular surfaces.
Battery powered, wireless optical mice flash the LED intermittently to save power, and only glow steadily when movement is detected. Inertial and gyroscopic mice Often called 'air mice' since they do not require a surface to operate, inertial mice use a tuning fork or other (US Patent 4787051, published in 1988) to detect rotary movement for every axis supported. The most common models (manufactured by Logitech and Gyration) work using 2 degrees of rotational freedom and are insensitive to spatial translation. The user requires only small wrist rotations to move the cursor, reducing user fatigue or '. Usually cordless, they often have a switch to deactivate the movement circuitry between use, allowing the user freedom of movement without affecting the cursor position. A patent for an inertial mouse claims that such mice consume less power than optically based mice, and offer increased sensitivity, reduced weight and increased. In combination with a wireless keyboard an inertial mouse can offer alternative ergonomic arrangements which do not require a flat work surface, potentially alleviating some types of repetitive motion injuries related to workstation posture.
Serial Port Mouse Driver Download
3D mice Also known as bats, flying mice, or wands, these devices generally function through and provide at least three. Probably the best known example would be /Logitech's SpaceMouse from the early 1990s. In the late 1990s Kantek introduced the 3D RingMouse. This wireless mouse was worn on a ring around a finger, which enabled the thumb to access three buttons.
The mouse was tracked in three dimensions by a base station. Despite a certain appeal, it was finally discontinued because it did not provide sufficient resolution. One example of a 2000s consumer 3D pointing device is the. While primarily a motion-sensing device (that is, it can determine its orientation and direction of movement), Wii Remote can also detect its spatial position by comparing the distance and position of the lights from the emitter using its integrated IR camera (since the accessory lacks a camera, it can only tell its current heading and orientation). The obvious drawback to this approach is that it can only produce spatial coordinates while its camera can see the sensor bar.
More accurate consumer devices have since been released, including the, the and the controllers part of the virtual reality system. All of these devices can accurately detect position and orientation in 3D space regardless of angle relative to the sensor station. A mouse-related controller called the SpaceBall has a ball placed above the work surface that can easily be gripped. With spring-loaded centering, it sends both translational as well as angular displacements on all six axes, in both directions for each. In November 2010 a German Company called Axsotic introduced a new concept of 3D mouse called 3D Spheric Mouse. This new concept of a true six degree-of-freedom input device uses a ball to rotate in 3 axes without any limitations. Various setups for 3D mice.
Logitech 3D Mouse (1990), the first ultrasonic mouse Tactile mice In 2000, introduced a 'tactile mouse' that contained a small to make the mouse vibrate. Such a mouse can augment user-interfaces with feedback, such as giving feedback when crossing a boundary. To surf by touch requires the user to be able to feel depth or hardness; this ability was realized with the first electrorheological tactile mice but never marketed. Pucks are sometimes used with accessories called pucks, devices which rely on absolute positioning, but can be configured for sufficiently mouse-like relative tracking that they are sometimes marketed as mice. Ergonomic mice.
A vertical mouse As the name suggests, this type of mouse is intended to provide optimum comfort and avoid injuries such as, and other. It is designed to fit natural hand position and movements, to reduce discomfort. When holding a typical mouse, and bones on the are crossed.
Some designs attempt to place the palm more vertically, so the bones take more natural parallel position. Some limit wrist movement, encouraging to use arm instead that may be less precise but more optimal from the health point of view. A mouse may be angled from the thumb downward to the opposite side – this is known to reduce wrist pronation. However such optimizations make the mouse right or left hand specific, making more problematic to change the tired hand. Has criticized manufacturers for offering few or no left-handed ergonomic mice: 'Oftentimes I felt like I was dealing with someone who’d never actually met a left-handed person before.' Keyboard with roller bar mouse Another solution is a pointing bar device.
The so-called roller bar mouse is positioned snugly in front of the keyboard, thus allowing bi-manual accessibility. Gaming mice These mice are specifically designed for use in. They typically employ a wide array of controls and buttons and have designs that differ radically from traditional mice. It is also common for gaming mice, especially those designed for use in games such as, or in games such as to have a relatively high sensitivity, measured in dots per inch (DPI). Some advanced mice from gaming manufacturers also allow users to customize the weight of the mouse by adding or subtracting weights to allow for easier control. Ergonomic quality is also an important factor in gaming mice, as extended gameplay times may render further use of the mouse to be uncomfortable.
Some mice have been designed to have adjustable features such as removable and/or elongated palm rests, horizontally adjustable thumb rests and pinky rests. Some mice may include several different rests with their products to ensure comfort for a wider range of target consumers. Gaming mice are held by in three styles of:. Palm Grip: the hand rests on the mouse, with extended fingers. Claw Grip: palm rests on the mouse, bent fingers. Finger-Tip Grip: bent fingers, palm doesn't touch the mouse.
Serial Port Mouse Driver
Connectivity and communication protocols. A Microsoft wireless, marketed as 'travel-friendly' and foldable but otherwise operated exactly like other 3-button wheel-based optical mice To transmit their input, typical cabled mice use a thin electrical cord terminating in a standard connector, such as C,. Cordless mice instead transmit data via radiation (see ) or (including ), although many such cordless interfaces are themselves connected through the aforementioned wired serial buses. While the electrical interface and the format of the data transmitted by commonly available mice is currently standardized on USB, in the past it varied between different manufacturers.
A used a dedicated interface card for connection to an or compatible computer. Mouse use in DOS applications became more common after the introduction of the, largely because Microsoft provided an open standard for communication between applications and mouse driver software.
Thus, any application written to use the Microsoft standard could use a mouse with a driver that implements the same API, even if the mouse hardware itself was incompatible with Microsoft's. This driver provides the state of the buttons and the distance the mouse has moved in units that its documentation calls ', as does the.
Early mice The earliest mass-market mice, such as on the, and used a 9-pin connector to send the X and Y axis signals directly, plus one pin per mouse button. The mouse was a simple optomechanical device, and the deciding circuitry was all in the main computer. The were designed to be electrically compatible with the popular on numerous 8-bit systems, such as the and the. Although the ports could be used for both purposes, the signals must be interpreted differently. As a result, plugging a mouse into a joystick port causes the 'joystick' to continuously move in some direction, even if the mouse stays still, whereas plugging a joystick into a mouse port causes the 'mouse' to only be able to move a single pixel in each direction. Serial interface and protocol Because the IBM PC did not have a quadrature decoder built in, early PC mice used the C serial port to communicate encoded mouse movements, as well as provide power to the mouse's circuits.
The Mouse Systems Corporation version used a five-byte protocol and supported three buttons. The Microsoft version used a three-byte protocol and supported two buttons.
Due to the incompatibility between the two protocols, some manufacturers sold serial mice with a mode switch: 'PC' for MSC mode, 'MS' for Microsoft mode. Apple Desktop Bus. Mice: beige mouse (left), platinum mouse (right), 1986 In 1986 first implemented the allowing the daisy-chaining together of up to 16 devices, including arbitrarily many mice and other devices on the same bus with no configuration whatsoever. Featuring only a single data pin, the bus used a purely polled approach to computer/mouse communications and survived as the standard on mainstream models (including a number of non-Apple workstations) until 1998 when joined the industry-wide switch to using. Beginning with the Bronze Keyboard PowerBook G3 in May 1999, Apple dropped the external ADB port in favor of USB, but retained an internal ADB connection in the for communication with its built-in keyboard and trackpad until early 2005.
PS/2 interface and protocol. Color-coded PS/2 connection ports; purple for keyboard and green for mouse With the arrival of the personal-computer series in 1987, IBM introduced the PS/2 interface for mice and keyboards, which other manufacturers rapidly adopted. The most visible change was the use of a round 6-pin, in lieu of the former 5-pin connector. In default mode (called stream mode) a PS/2 mouse communicates motion, and the state of each button, by means of 3-byte packets. For any motion, button press or button release event, a PS/2 mouse sends, over a bi-directional serial port, a sequence of three bytes, with the following format: Bit 7 Bit 6 Bit 5 Bit 4 Bit 3 Bit 2 Bit 1 Bit 0 Byte 1 YV XV YS XS 1 MB RB LB Byte 2 X movement Byte 3 Y movement Here, XS and YS represent the sign bits of the movement vectors, XV and YV indicate an overflow in the respective vector component, and LB, MB and RB indicate the status of the left, middle and right (1 = pressed). PS/2 mice also understand several commands for reset and self-test, switching between different operating modes, and changing the resolution of the reported motion vectors. A relies on an extension of the PS/2 protocol: the ImPS/2 or IMPS/2 protocol (the abbreviation combines the concepts of 'IntelliMouse' and 'PS/2').
It initially operates in standard PS/2 format, for backwards compatibility. After the host sends a special command sequence, it switches to an extended format in which a fourth byte carries information about wheel movements. The IntelliMouse Explorer works analogously, with the difference that its 4-byte packets also allow for two additional buttons (for a total of five).
Mouse vendors also use other extended formats, often without providing public documentation. The Typhoon mouse uses 6-byte packets which can appear as a sequence of two standard 3-byte packets, such that an ordinary PS/2 can handle them. For 3-D (or 6-degree-of-freedom) input, vendors have made many extensions both to the hardware and to software. In the late 1990s, Logitech created ultrasound based tracking which gave 3D input to a few millimeters accuracy, which worked well as an input device but failed as a profitable product. In 2008, Motion4U introduced its 'OptiBurst' system using IR tracking for use as a Maya (graphics software) plugin. USB The industry-standard (Universal Serial Bus) protocol and its connector have become widely used for mice; it is among the most popular types.
Cordless or wireless Cordless or wireless mice transmit data via radiation (see ) or (including and ). The receiver is connected to the computer through a serial or USB port, or can be built in (as is sometimes the case with Bluetooth and WiFi ).
Modern non-Bluetooth and non-WiFi wireless mice use USB receivers. Some of these can be stored inside the mouse for safe transport while not in use, while other, newer mice use newer ' receivers, designed to be small enough to remain plugged into a laptop during transport, while still being large enough to easily remove. A Microsoft wireless mouse made for notebook computers Multiple-mouse systems Some systems allow two or more mice to be used at once as input devices. Late-1980s era such as the used this to allow computer games with two players interacting on the same computer ( and for example). The same idea is sometimes used in, e.g. To simulate a that multiple users can draw on without passing a single mouse around., since, has supported multiple simultaneous pointing devices.
Because Windows only provides a single screen cursor, using more than one device at the same time requires cooperation of users or applications designed for multiple input devices. Multiple mice are often used in multi-user gaming in addition to specially designed devices that provide several input interfaces.
Windows also has full support for multiple input/mouse configurations for multi-user environments. Starting with Windows XP, Microsoft introduced a SDK for developing applications that allow multiple input devices to be used at the same time with independent cursors and independent input points. The introduction of Vista and Microsoft Surface (now known as ) introduced a new set of input APIs that were adopted into Windows 7, allowing for 50 points/cursors, all controlled by independent users. The new input points provide traditional mouse input; however, they were designed with other input technologies like touch and image in mind. They inherently offer 3D coordinates along with pressure, size, tilt, angle, mask, and even an image bitmap to see and recognize the input point/object on the screen.
As of 2009, distributions and other that use, such as and, support 255 cursors/input points through. However, currently no window managers support Multi-Pointer X leaving it relegated to custom software usage. There have also been propositions of having a single operator use two mice simultaneously as a more sophisticated means of controlling various graphics and multimedia applications. Main article: Mouse buttons are which can be pressed to select or interact with an element of a, producing a distinctive clicking sound.
Since around the late 1990s, the three-button scrollmouse has become the de facto standard. Users most commonly employ the second button to invoke a in the computer's software user interface, which contains options specifically tailored to the interface element over which the mouse cursor currently sits.
By default, the primary mouse button sits located on the left-hand side of the mouse, for the benefit of right-handed users; left-handed users can usually reverse this configuration via software. Scrolling. Main article: Nearly all mice now have an integrated input primarily intended for on top, usually a single-axis digital wheel or rocker switch which can also be depressed to act as a third button. Though less common, many mice instead have two-axis inputs such as a tiltable wheel,. Mouse speed Mickeys per second is a unit of measurement for the speed and movement direction of a computer mouse, where direction is often expressed as 'horizontal' versus 'vertical' mickey count.
However, speed can also refer to the ratio between how many pixels the cursor moves on the screen and how far the mouse moves on the mouse pad, which may be expressed as per mickey, per, or pixels per. The computer industry often measures mouse sensitivity in terms of counts per inch (CPI), commonly expressed as dots per inch (DPI) – the number of steps the mouse will report when it moves one inch. In early mice, this specification was called pulses per inch (ppi). The Mickey originally referred to one of these counts, or one resolvable step of motion. If the default mouse-tracking condition involves moving the cursor by one screen-pixel or dot on-screen per reported step, then the CPI does equate to DPI: dots of cursor motion per inch of mouse motion. The CPI or DPI as reported by manufacturers depends on how they make the mouse; the higher the CPI, the faster the cursor moves with mouse movement.
However, software can adjust the mouse sensitivity, making the cursor move faster or slower than its CPI. Current software can change the speed of the cursor dynamically, taking into account the mouse's absolute speed and the movement from the last stop-point. In most software, an example being the Windows platforms, this setting is named 'speed,' referring to 'cursor precision'. However, some operating systems name this setting 'acceleration', the typical Apple OS designation. This term is incorrect.
Mouse acceleration in most mouse software refers to the change in speed of the cursor over time while the mouse movement is constant. For simple software, when the mouse starts to move, the software will count the number of 'counts' or 'mickeys' received from the mouse and will move the cursor across the screen by that number of pixels (or multiplied by a rate factor, typically less than 1). The cursor will move slowly on the screen, with good precision.
When the movement of the mouse passes the value set for some threshold, the software will start to move the cursor faster, with a greater rate factor. Usually, the user can set the value of the second rate factor by changing the 'acceleration' setting.
Operating systems sometimes apply acceleration, referred to as ', to the motion reported by the mouse. For example, versions of prior to doubled reported values above a configurable threshold, and then optionally doubled them again above a second configurable threshold. These doublings applied separately in the X and Y directions, resulting in very response.
Mousepads. Main article: Engelbart's original mouse did not require a mousepad; the mouse had two large wheels which could roll on virtually any surface. However, most subsequent mechanical mice starting with the steel roller ball mouse have required a mousepad for optimal performance.
The mousepad, the most common mouse accessory, appears most commonly in conjunction with mechanical mice, because to roll smoothly the ball requires more friction than common desk surfaces usually provide. So-called 'hard mousepads' for gamers or optical/laser mice also exist. Most optical and laser mice do not require a pad. Whether to use a hard or soft mousepad with an optical mouse is largely a matter of personal preference.
One exception occurs when the desk surface creates problems for the optical or laser tracking, for example, a transparent or reflective surface. In the marketplace. Computer mice built between 1986 and 2007 Around 1981, Xerox included mice with its, based on the mouse used in the 1970s on the Alto computer at., Inc., and also shipped workstations with mice, starting in about 1981. Later, inspired by the Star, released the, which also used a mouse. However, none of these products achieved large-scale success. Only with the release of the in 1984 did the mouse see widespread use. The Macintosh design, commercially successful and technically influential, led many other vendors to begin producing mice or including them with their other computer products (by 1986, for the, and the ).
The widespread adoption of graphical user interfaces in the software of the 1980s and 1990s made mice all but indispensable for controlling computers. In November 2008, built their billionth mouse.
Use in games. This section needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2012) naturally lend themselves to separate and simultaneous control of the player's movement and aim, and on computers this has traditionally been achieved with a combination of keyboard and mouse.
Players use the X-axis of the mouse for looking (or turning) left and right, and the Y-axis for looking up and down; the keyboard is used for movement and supplemental inputs. Many shooting genre players prefer a mouse over a because the mouse is a linear input device, which allows for fast and precise control. Holding a stick in a given position produces a corresponding constant movement or rotation, i.e. The output is an of the user's input, and requires that time be spent moving to or from its null position before this input can be given; in contrast, the output of a mouse directly and instantaneously corresponds to how far it is moved in a given direction (often multiplied by an 'acceleration' factor derived from how quickly the mouse is moved). The effect of this is that a mouse is well suited to small, precise movements; large, quick movements; and immediate, responsive movements; all of which are important in shooter gaming. This advantage also extends in varying degrees to similar game styles such as.
Some incorrectly games or have acceleration and interpolation curves which unintentionally produce excessive, irregular, or even negative acceleration when used with a mouse instead of their native platform's non-mouse default input device. Depending on how deeply hardcoded this misbehavior is, internal user patches or external 3rd-party software may be able to fix it. Due to their similarity to the interface for which mice were originally designed, and to their own origins, computer are most commonly played with mice. In particular, and games usually require the use of a mouse. The left button usually controls primary fire. If the game supports multiple fire modes, the right button often provides secondary fire from the selected weapon.
Games with only a single fire mode will generally map secondary fire to. In some games, the right button may also invoke accessories for a particular weapon, such as allowing access to the scope of a sniper rifle or allowing the mounting of a bayonet or silencer.
Gamers can use a scroll wheel for changing weapons (or for controlling scope-zoom magnification, in older games). On most first person shooter games, programming may also assign more functions to additional buttons on mice with more than three controls. A keyboard usually controls movement (for example, for moving forward, left, backward and right, respectively) and other functions such as changing posture. Since the mouse serves for aiming, a mouse that tracks movement accurately and with less lag (latency) will give a player an advantage over players with less accurate or slower mice.
In some cases the right mouse button may be used to move the player forward, either in lieu of, or in conjunction with the typical configuration. Many games provide players with the option of mapping their own choice of a key or button to a certain control. An early technique of players, saw a player continuously strafing while aiming and shooting at an opponent by walking in circle around the opponent with the opponent at the center of the circle. Players could achieve this by holding down a key for strafing while continuously aiming the mouse towards the opponent. Games using mice for input are so popular that many manufacturers make mice specifically for gaming. Such mice may feature adjustable weights, high-resolution optical or laser components, additional buttons, ergonomic shape, and other features such as adjustable. Are typically used with gaming mice because it eliminates the annoyance of the cable.
Many games, such as first- or third-person shooters, have a setting named 'invert mouse' or similar (not to be confused with 'button inversion', sometimes performed by users) which allows the user to look downward by moving the mouse forward and upward by moving the mouse backward (the opposite of non-inverted movement). This control system resembles that of aircraft control sticks, where pulling back causes pitch up and pushing forward causes pitch down; computer also typically emulate this control-configuration. After 's commercial hit of, which did not support vertical aiming, competitor 's became the first first-person shooter to support using the mouse to aim up and down. Games using the had an option to invert the Y-axis. The 'invert' feature actually made the mouse behave in a manner that users now regard as non-inverted (by default, moving mouse forward resulted in looking down). Soon after, id Software released, which introduced the invert feature as users now know it.
Home consoles In 1988, the educational video game console featured a wireless mouse with an attached mouse pad as an optional controller used for some games. In the early 1990s, the video game system in addition to its controllers.
The game in particular used the mouse's capabilities as did its successor on the. Released official mice for their, and consoles. Sold official mice for its and consoles. Released an official mouse product for the console, included one along with the kit, as well as allowing owners to use virtually any mouse with the, and. Nintendo's also had this added on in a later software update, retained on the. See also.