PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

20.4 Configuring a Mouse or Trackball

Windows
9X/2000/XP allows you to customize how your mouse behaves. To do so,
run the Mouse applet (Start Settings
Control Panel Mouse) to display
the Mouse Properties dialog, which for standard mice includes the
following pages:

The Buttons page in Windows 9X allows you to configure the mouse for
right- or lefthanded use and specify the maximum duration between
clicks that will still be recognized as a double-click. The Windows
2000/XP Buttons page has the same functions, and also allows you to
specify whether a single click or a double click opens a file or
folder. Changes in this dialog take effect immediately when you click
Apply or OK. IntelliMouse 3.1 and later and recent Logitech mouse
drivers allow or require you to specify the function of individual
buttons, but don't allow you to switch between left-
and right-handed configurations by clicking one option button.

The Pointers page in Windows 9X allows you to change the appearance
of the mouse cursor. If predefined mouse scheme(s) are installed,
selecting one from the Schemes drop-down list defines all cursor
types in one step. Double-clicking an individual pointer type
displays a list of available cursor icons that can be assigned to
that pointer type. Windows 2000/XP provides the same options, and
adds a checkbox to enable pointer shadow.

The Motion page in Windows 9X allows you to set the speed of the
mouse pointer using the Pointer speed slider. Depending on the mouse
driver installed, other options may also appear on this page,
including Snap-to (automatically move the pointer to the default
option button in dialogs); Pointer trails (display a series of ghost
pointers as the mouse is moved to prevent losing track of the
pointer); and Vanish (hide the mouse pointer while typing). Windows
2000/XP provides the same options and adds standard Snap to default
and Acceleration settings.

These pages display the type of mouse installed. The Windows 2000/XP
Hardware page provides a Troubleshoot button, which invokes the Mouse
Troubleshooter Wizard, and a Properties button, which simply displays
Device Manager properties for the mouse.

Installing a new mouse or an updated mouse driver may add pages and
options to the standard Mouse Properties dialog. For example, Figure 20-1 shows one of the additional pages that result
from installing the Microsoft IntelliPoint driver supplied with the
Microsoft IntelliMouse with IntelliEye (where do they come up with
these names?). If you install a new mouse driver, locate and explore
the options it provides. The default settings for such things as
wheel definition are probably useful, but one of the alternative
options may better suit your work habits.

Figure 20-1. The Windows 2000 Mouse Properties dialog as modified by installing the Microsoft IntelliPoint mouse driver

Recent Linux releases generally recognize and configure mice properly
during installation, including support for extra features such as a
scroll wheel or additional buttons. If you install a new mouse, run
the mouse configuration utility supplied with your distro. Figure 20-2, for example, shows the Red Hat 8.X Mouse
Configuration utility, which can be invoked by becoming root and
running redhat-config-mouse from the command line
or by clicking System Settings and then Mouse from the start menu.
Because most Linux GUIs are optimized for a three-button mouse, Linux
allows you to emulate a third button on a two-button mouse by
depressing both buttons simultaneously.

Figure 20-2. The Red Hat 8.X Mouse Configuration dialog

The Gnome and KDE desktop environments also include utilities that
allow you to change the configuration of the existing mouse. For
example, Figure 20-3 shows the Red Hat 8.X Gnome
Mouse Preferences dialog, which can be accessed by running
gnome-mouse-properties from the command line or by
clicking Preferences and then Mouse from the Start menu.

Figure 20-3. The Gnome Mouse Preferences dialog