After working with beginners recently, it seems to me that one of the most difficult parts of the computer to become comfortable with is the mouse. I don't know why, because the mouse is so simple and intuitive. But maybe it becomes simple after you have used it for a couple of decades. In any case, this article attempts to explain the uses of the mouse, and some about how to tune it. Mick Topping

Back in the good-old-days, there were no mice attached to our personal computers. The keyboard was all there was to show the computer what you wanted it to do. You had to remember, and type (perfectly!) the name of every single action desired from the PC. These commands frequently contained obscure punctuation in an arcane syntax that caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth. The command to do a job was not always typed identically for the same job, but the syntax was as rigid as the rules for diagramming a sentences in 7th grade grammar. For example "dir /o:n /s > filelist.txt" is an instruction to the computer to list the files in the current folder, and all sub folders, sorted by name, and put the list in a file called "filelist.txt". After keying in your demonic incantation, the PC would then respond by putting characters on the screen, either confirming that it had accomplished the task, or perhaps an informative error message, such as "Syntax Error", "file not found", or "Duh!-get a clue dude" (ok, I made that last one up). This was well and good for programmers and such, but for potential buyers of PCs, this was a turn-off. And so things began to change.

Non-keyboard input of every style was tried: touch-screen computers, roller-ball, joysticks, touchpads, and graphic user interfaces of every flavor. But the mouse was the device that changed things forever the way computers work. The mouse is the most common of the available pointing devices. A pointing device allows the user to select among objects of the computer display screen, and take action on that object. The "standard" mouse has a sensor that detects when the mouse is moved over the mouse pad, and two or more buttons that initiate actions. The mouse signals to the computer are very simple, just "mouse has moved" (up, forward, backward, left, right) and mouse button has been depressed, or released. The computer software is responsible for interpreting the actions taken as a result of these signals, and providing visual feedback to the user by moving the mouse pointer on the screen and responding to mouse "clicks".

The mouse can be used to point, dwell, click, right-click, double click., and drag. Combining the mouse actions with the "control" or "alt" keyboard keys can also modify these actions.

By "pointing" at an object (moving the pointer over the object), and then clicking the main mouse button, the computer is directed to take action. Which action is taken is dependent on the object, and the activation of the mouse. As the mouse pointer moves around the screen, watch the shape--when it changes shape, it is telling you something about which actions are appropriate for mouse actions on the designated object. As you move the mouse pointer around the display, it takes on different forms. Most commonly appearing as one of the following forms: These pointers are not a complete list, as each application (program) may add new pointers, or redefine those on the list. But these are the most common pointers and their typical meanings.

A.The Normal Pointer shows where the mouse is pointed. It is much like a gun-sight, as it shows where the user is looking, and what the next command is focused on. Clicking with the Normal Pointer may do nothing, but usually it selects an item (making it the center of attention) for additional commands (such as cut, copy, paste etc). Dragging with the Normal pointer (e.g. pointing to an object, holding down the left mouse button, while moving the mouse) moves that object to the place where the object is "dropped". Dragging with the pointer starting at a blank area usually drags a "selection rectangle" around one or more selectable objects. This is one way to select more than one object (perhaps in preparation to copy or move multiple objects.)

B. The what-is-this pointer is usually associated with the help menu, particularly the "question-mark" icon in the upper right corner of some expanded menus. When this pointer is used to click an object it typically produces a description of the clicked object.

C. The I'm-working-on-it icon means, the computer heard your last command, and is working on it. Clicking somewhere else with this icon may produce unexpected results, because the screen, along with your clickable objects is in the process of being modified. The hourglass means "wait."

D. Contrarily, the Can't-do-that symbol means that the computer cannot understand the last command/action, or the command was not valid. It is most commonly seen as a result of moving the mouse while trying to double click.

E. The Text-Insert pointer appears when the mouse is moved over an area where keystrokes can be entered. Clicking in this area prepares to type characters where "clicked". A very common mistake when filling forms (like email) with multiple blanks to fill in, is to forget to click in the next blank before typing there.

F. The Line-drawing cursor is seen in graphics programs (such as Microsoft Paint) for drawing lines. (Fancy programs will include spray-can, paint brushes, fountain-pens etc for various special line drawing.

G. The Precision location cursor is also a drawing program cursor that is used to precisely align the pointer before clicking.

H. The Go-here cursor is mostly used as an indicator of an internet clickable-link. If you click on it, your browser will become active and take you to the indicated link. Note that while clickable-links are mostly found on web pages displayed in the browser, they may also be found in mail messages, Word documents, database outputs, and some high-end graphics packages such as Power-point.

I. Beginners often overlook the Drag-as-indicated multidirectional arrow cursors because they so quickly appear and disappear as the cursor passes over various objects. They may be used for resizing a window by "grabbing" the border and moving it so as to increase or decrease the window size, changing column width, resetting margins, moving tool-bars and other objects to a new location. Even though icons on the desktop can be moved, or copied by dragging to a new location, the cursor lingering over a desktop icon remains the standard normal pointer, because that icon is multi-purpose.

The Main mouse button is the left button, and the Alternate mouse button is the right, unless the mouse has been reconfigured for left-hand operation. (see start-settings-control panel-mouse) The first part of the article has been about the Main mouse button. The Alternate mouse button is terribly under-used, and is most useful for beginners. The right mouse button, almost always means "give me a hint". This button, when clicked on various objects, will typically activate a menu specific to the clicked object, with a shopping list of most common actions that can be performed with the object in question.

The final thing about the mouse is to let it dwell for a few seconds over objects which you do not know what to do with. Many applications now have popup explanations for various objects, which will appear when ever the mouse pointer hesitates over the object. So when you are curious about an object, first let your mouse hesitate your mouse pointer there. If that does not show a hint, right button click on it. If that does not work, check the window you are in to see if it has a question mark on a tool bar, or a help item on a menu. These will often provide more information to help the new user.