What is a Computer mouse?

You are here: Home > tutorials > Computer basics > What is a Computer mouse? Introduction A computer mouse is an Input Device that allows a user to control the movement of a pointer or cursor on the Computer display screen. With a help of a mouse, a user is able to manipulate data such as Files, Folders, Pictures, etc. An individual simply clicks on the On-Screen buttons or Icons and Menus basically available in Computers having Operating Systems that are characterised with a feature commonly known as Graphical User Interface (GUI). It's believed that, Douglas Engelbart is a one who invented this device in 1963 while working at Xerox PARC. Additionally, the early computer mice were larger than the modern ones we use today. An invention of the mouse has made it easy for any person to perform different computing tasks than it was before where computing activities were performed by scientists or people with high experience (Experts). Before the invention of a computer mouse, a computer user was required to be much skillful on text-based command line environment such as MS-DOS, whereby access to files and folders was successfully done through cd command and dir command. Most of the modern computer mice have three or two buttons typically known as; Left button, Right button and scroll/middle buttons. When a users click on any of the mouse buttons, something will happen depending on the position the pointer on the monitor screen. For instance, when the pointer is on the Start button in Windows PC and a user clicks the left mouse button, the start menu will appear. What can I use a mouse for? You can use a mouse to perform different tasks, such as opening folders or files as well as launching Application software such as Word processing programs (MS-Word, Notepad or Wordpad), Spreadsheet programs (MS-Excel), Database programs (MS-Access) and Presentation programs (MS-PowerPoint). You can also use a mouse for clicking on hyperlinks or links while surfing the Internet. In the graphics Editing/designing Software Programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, AAA Logo Creator, MS-Publisher and Microsoft Paint, a mouse can help you perform a variety of tasks, including resizing, moving, as well as copying graphics. Previous: What is a data storage device? Next: What is software? See also this: What is double clicking? What is Right Click? What is clicking? What is a Computer? What are computer data storage devices? What are the input devices? What is a windows explorer? The parts of the Windows Explorer window How to customize the windows explorer's toolbar commands Files and folders How to copy, cut and paste files and folders in the PC How to delete a file or folder The top 5 powerful antivirus software What is a Recycle bin?

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