Computer Mouse

A mouse is a handheld device for moving the pointer around the screen. It is a primary component of the windows GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment. The use of the mouse in windows allows the user to point at and clicks on various icons for programs and data files rather than having to type in commands to copy files, open programs, etc. as in the older DOS.

Mouse is invention of Douglas Carl Engelbart. Douglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor and early computer pioneer and internet pioneer, best known for inventing the Computer Mouse.

Apart from the mouse, his team also developed the hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs.

A typical Mouse consists of two buttons, each of which functions differently in windows. A single click of the left button on an icon selects the item, a double click (clicking twice in rapid succession) button will open a pop-up menu offering choices relative to the item clicked. The primitive mouse did not contain the roller. Now the intelliMouse includes a roller between the two buttons for easy scrolling up and down, specially while visiting websites. The early mouse contained the touchpad’s, large and small trackballs, and graphics tablets.

Here we should note that almost all functions that we do with a mouse can be replaced with keyboard commands. The keyboard equivalents are visible in the menus in most programmes.