Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
contact cleaner to clean the rollers. Remember, any remaining dirt or dust impedes the
movement of the roller ball and results in the mouse not working as it should.
Put the mouse back together by inserting the roller ball into the socket and then securely
attaching the cover panel.
One of the major advantages of the new breed of optical mice is the lack of moving parts.
Justwipeawaydustfromtheopticalsensor;that'sallthecleaninganopticalmouseneeds.
Scroll Wheels
Late in 1996, Microsoft introduced the IntelliMouse, which differed from standard Mi-
crosoft mice by adding a small gray wheel between the mouse buttons. Although this
was not technically the first scrolling mouse on the market (Mouse Systems introduced
the ProAgio and Genius EasyScroll in 1995), it was the first to have widespread support.
Sincethen,Logitech,IBM,andvirtuallyallothermousevendorshavemadescrollwheels
orsimilardevicescompatiblewiththeMicrosoftdesignasstandardacrossalmostallmod-
els, including OEM mice bundled with computer systems.
The wheel has two main functions. The primary function is to act as a scrolling device,
enabling you to scroll through documents or web pages by manipulating the wheel with
your index finger. The wheel also functions as a third mouse button when you press it.
Eachvendor'smousedriversoftwareoffersuniquefeaturestoenhancethebasicoperation
of the mouse. For example, Logitech's MouseWare drivers enable you to select which
function the OS should perform when you click one of the mouse's extra buttons. The
drivers also provide various options for how to scroll with each wheel click (three lines,
sixlines,oronescreen).Microsoft'sIntelliMousedriveroffersafeaturecalledClickLock,
which allows you to drag items without holding down the primary mouse button. In addi-
tion, it offers a Universal Scroll feature that adds scrolling mouse support to applications
that lack such support. To get the most from whatever scrolling or other advanced-feature
mouseyouhave,besureyouusethelatestmousedriversforyourspecificmakeandmod-
el.
TrackPoint II/III/IV
On October 5, 1992, IBM introduced a revolutionary new pointing device called
Track-
Point
as an integrated feature of its new ThinkPad 700 and 700C computers. Often re-
ferred to as a
pointing stick
, the TrackPoint appears as a small rubber cap on the keyboard
just above the B key and between the G and H keys. This was in my opinion the most
significant new pointing device since the mouse was invented nearly 30 years earlier!
The TrackPoint device occupies no space on a desk, does not have to be adjusted for left-
handed or right-handed use, has no moving parts to fail, and (most importantly) does not
