Presentation report

Topic:
“Standard methods of input”
Group members:
 Khawar Saleem (2K10-CSE-140)
 Umair Asghar (2K10-CSE-142)
 Hassan Sajjad (2K10-CSE-144)
 Zubair Muzaffar (2K10-CSE-165)
Contents:

 The keyboard
o Types of keyboard layouts
o Other types of keyboard
o Keyboard working
o Comparison of keyboard layouts

 The mouse
o Mouse techniques
o Variants of mouse

 References
 Standard methods of input

Input: “In computer language, whatever goes into the computer

or the act of entering data into the computer by a user is called
input”

We can input data or command our computer from various

devices(called input devices).There are various methods of input
but the standard methods of input are through:

 The Keyboard
 The Mouse

The Keyboard
Keyboard: “One of the first peripherals (input/output devices) to
be used with a computer and is still the primary input device for
text and numbers.”

Keyboard layouts:

“The arrangement that accommodates the special characters and

symbols used in different languages is called keyboard layout.”

Types of keyboard layouts:

There are three types of keyboard layouts:

1. The “QWERTY” Keyboard.

2. The “Dvorak” Keyboard.
3. The “XPeRT” Keyboard.
  The “QWERTY” keyboard:

“This keyboard layout is also called standard keyboard layout as

it is the most common layout in use these days.”

In 1872, Remington produced the first mechanical typewriter,

patented by C. Latham Sholes. Soon typists were going so fast
that they were able to jam the keys which flew up to hit the
typewriter ribbon. In the late 1870's: the "improved" QWERTY
layout was designed to slow down typing.

QWERTY keyboard layout:

Most keyboard layouts are identical.

 Alphanumeric keys:
Parts of a keyboard that look like a typewriter. Common
arrangement is called QWERTY (first 6 keys along the top row).
Along with letters and numbers there are a few additional keys
with specific functions.
o Tab
Moves you to predefined stops within application programs.
In dialog boxes it moves you to the next option or field.
o Caps Lock
Lets you lock the alphabet keys so that they produce only
capital letters. This does not affect the numerical keys.
o Backspace
Key enables you to erase characters just typed.
o Enter (or Return)
Lets you finalise data entry in many application programs.
Also used to choose commands and options.

 Modifier keys:
Keys used to modify the input of other keys
o Shift
Shift + alphabet key = Capital
Shift + numeric key = Symbol
E.g. Shift + 7 = &
o Ctrl
Control produces different results depending on the program
you are using. E.g. Ctrl + O = Open new file.
o Alt
Acts like the ctrl key but gives different results. In many
windows applications Alt + key enables you to navigate w/o
using the mouse.
Macs have 2 additional keys
o Command
o Option (or Alt/Option)

 Function Keys:
F1, F2 etc. arranged in a row along the top of the keyboard allow
you to input commands without typing strings of characters.
PC keyboards usually have 12 function keys, Macs have 15.

 Cursor movement keys:

Allow you to move around the screen
o Arrow keys
4 keys labelled by an arrow pointing in a specific direction.
o Home/End
Home moves the cursor to the start of a line, End moves it
to the end of the line (program dependant)
o Page Up/Down
PgUp and PgDn allow you to flip through documents screen by
screen.

 Special purpose keys:

o Insert
Used to switch a program from insert mode to overwrite
mode.
o Delete
Used to delete characters from a document. Used alone it
deletes single characters, used with the modifier keys it can
remove multiple characters of text.
o Esc
Typically used to back up one level in a multilevel
environment.
o Print Screen
Allows the user to capture what is shown on the screen as an
image.
o Scroll lock
Usually controls the functions of the cursor movement keys.
o Pause
Used to stop a command in process.
Since 1996 all keyboards also contain 2 special purpose keys to
work with windows.
o Start
o Shortcut

 The “Dvorak” Keyboard:

The standard "QWERTY" keyboard was not designed with ease

of typing in mind. Rather, it was designed to keep early
typewriters from jamming. 130 years later, in the age of
computers, people are still using this awkward, inefficient
keyboard layout. Few know that there is a much faster, easier,
more efficient, and more comfortable alternative: the Dvorak
(pronounced "duh VOR ak") keyboard. Unlike QWERTY, the
Dvorak keyboard was scientifically designed for increased
speed and accuracy. It is estimated to be 12 to 20 times more
efficient than QWERTY. Dvorak is great for beginning and
experienced typists alike. It's the layout used by some of the
world's fastest typists.

In the 1930's electric typewriters were invented. What a

great opportunity to improve on the keyboard layout. Sadly,
effortless action on keys, including shift, was not sufficient to
draw new customers. They had to have Qwerty too!
 In 1936, August Dvorak patented a new layout to: (a) Reduce
finger reach and strain by putting common letters on the home
row (in red), (b) Avoid awkward use of key pairs (digraphs), to
improve speed. Here's the Dvorak keyboard:

Design criteria sound good, so what's wrong with this

keyboard? Almost all letters move from their familiar
Qwerty locations! (Also, A + S are at a small finger
locations. N, R + O are not much better ). Dvorak is
superior to Qwerty, but even US #0A446B typing tests
were not enough to convince the world to change.
Relearning typing on the Dvorak layout may take a month.
Some enthusiasts use it today, but it has not become the
standard.

The modern Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (US layout)

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (pronounced /ˈdvɔræk/) is a

keyboard layout patented in 1936 by Dr. August Dvorak and his
brother-in-law, Dr. William Dealey. Over the years several slight
variations were designed by the team led by Dvorak or by ANSI.
These variations have been collectively or individually also called
the Simplified Keyboard or American Simplified Keyboard but
they all have come to be commonly known as the Dvorak keyboard
or Dvorak layout. Dvorak proponents claim the Dvorak layout uses
less finger motion, increases typing rate, and reduces errors
compared to the standard QWERTY keyboard. This reduction in
finger distance traveled was originally purported to permit faster
rates of typing, but in later years is also purported to reduce
repetitive-strain injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome.
 Dvorak

Although the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (“DSK”) has failed to

displace the QWERTY keyboard, it has become easier to access
in the computer age, being included with all major operating
systems (such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BSD)
in addition to the standard QWERTY layout. Most major
operating systems have the option of toggling to the Dvorak
layout. It is also supported at the hardware level by some high-
end ergonomic keyboards.

History of the Dvorak layout:

August Dvorak was an educational psychologist and professor of

education at the University of Washington in Seattle,
Washington. Dvorak became interested in the keyboard layout
while serving as an advisor to Gertrude Ford, who was writing her
master’s thesis on typing errors. Touch typing had come into wide
use by that time, so when Dvorak studied the QWERTY layout he
concluded that the QWERTY layout needed to be replaced.
Dvorak was joined by his brother-in-law William Dealey, who was
a professor of education at the then North Texas State
Teacher's College in Denton, Texas.

Dvorak and Dealey’s objective was to scientifically design a

keyboard to decrease typing errors, speed up typing, and lessen
typer fatigue. They engaged in extensive research while designing
their keyboard layout. In 1914 and 1915, Dealey attended
seminars on the science of motion and later reviewed slow-motion
films of typists with Dvorak. Dvorak and Dealey meticulously
studied the English language, researching the most used letters
and letter combinations. They also studied the physiology of the
hand. The result in 1932 was the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard.

In 1933, Dvorak started entering typists trained on his keyboard

into the International Commercial Schools Contest, which were
typing contests sponsored by typewriter manufacturers
consisting of professional and amateur contests. The professional
contests had typists sponsored by typewriter companies to
advertise their machines. Ten times from 1934–41, Dvorak’s
typists won first in their class events. In the 1935 contest alone,
nine Dvorak typists won twenty awards. Dvorak typists were so
successful that in 1937 the Contest Committee barred Dvorak’s
typists for being “unfair competition” until Dvorak protested. In
addition, QWERTY typists did not want to be placed near Dvorak
typists because QWERTY typists were disconcerted by the noise
produced from the fast typing speeds made by Dvorak typists.

In the 1930s, the Tacoma, Washington, school district ran an

experimental program in typing to determine whether to hold
Dvorak layout classes. The experiment used 2,700 students to
learn the Dvorak layout, and the district found that the Dvorak
layout students learned the keyboard in one-third the time it
took to learn QWERTY. However, a new school board was elected
and chose to close the Dvorak layout classes.

Writer Barbara Blackburn was the fastest English language typist

in the world, according to The Guinness Book of World Records.
Using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard, she was able to maintain
150 words per minute (wpm) for 50 minutes, and 170 wpm for
shorter periods. She has been clocked at a peak speed of 212
wpm. Blackburn, who failed her QWERTY typing class in high
school, first encountered the Dvorak keyboard in 1938, quickly
learned to achieve very high speeds, and occasionally toured
giving speed-typing demonstrations during her secretarial career.
Blackburn died in April 2008.

Original Dvorak layout:

The typewriter keyboard layout that Dvorak & Dealey patented

The Dvorak typewriter keyboard layout that was publicly

promulgated

Over the decades, symbol keys were shifted around the keyboard
leading to variations in the Dvorak layout. In 1982, the American
National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) implemented a standard
for the Dvorak layout known as ANSI X4.22-1983. This standard
gave the Dvorak layout official recognition as an alternative to
the QWERTY keyboard.

The layout standardized by the ANSI differs from the original

or “classic” layout devised and promulgated by Dvorak. Indeed,
the layout promulgated publicly by Dvorak differed slightly from
the layout for which Dvorak & Dealey applied for a patent in 1932
—most notably in the placement of Z. Today’s keyboards have
more keys than the original typewriter did, and other significant
differences existed:

 The numeric keys of the classic Dvorak layout are ordered:

7531902468
 In the classic Dvorak layout, the question mark key [?] is in
the leftmost position of the upper row, while the forward-
slash mark key [/] is in the rightmost position of the upper
row.
 The following symbols share keys (the second symbol being
printed when the SHIFT key is pressed):
o colon [:] and question mark [?]
o ampersand [&] and forward-slash [/].

Modern U.S. keyboard layouts almost always place semicolon and

colon together on a single key and forward-slash and question
mark together on a single key. Thus, if the keycaps of a modern
keyboard are rearranged so that the unshifted symbol characters
match the classic Dvorak layout then, sensibly, the result is the
ANSI layout.

Modern operating systems:

The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard (“DSK”) is included with all major

operating systems (such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
and BSD). Changing a computer running on a major operating
system to the Dvorak layout can be done within 30 seconds.

Early PCs:

Although some word processors could simulate alternative

keyboard layouts through software, this was application-specific;
if more than one program was commonly used (e.g., a word
processor and a spreadsheet), the user could be forced to switch
layouts depending on the application. Occasionally, stickers were
provided to place over the keys for these layouts.

However, IBM-compatible PCs used an active, “smart” keyboard,

where the keyboard was actually a peripheral device (powered by
the keyboard port). Striking a key generated a key “code”, which
was sent to the computer. Thus, changing to an alternative
keyboard layout was most easily accomplished by simply buying a
keyboard with the new layout. Because the key codes were
generated by the keyboard itself, all software would respond
accordingly. In the mid- to late-1980s, a small cottage industry
for replacement PC keyboards arose; although most of these
were concerned with keyboard “feel” and/or programmable
macros, there were several with alternative layouts, such as
Dvorak.

Windows:

According to Microsoft, versions of the Windows operating

system including Windows 95, Windows NT 3.51 and higher have
shipped with support for the U.S. Dvorak layout. Free updates to
use the layout on earlier Windows versions are available for
download from Microsoft.

Earlier versions, such as DOS 6.2/Windows 3.1, included four

keyboard layouts: QWERTY, two-handed Dvorak, right-hand
Dvorak, and left-hand Dvorak.

In May 2004 Microsoft published an improved version of its

Keyboard Layout Creator (MSKLC version 1.3— current version is
1.4) that allows anyone to easily create any keyboard layout
desired, thus allowing the creation and installation of any
international Dvorak keyboard layout such as Dvorak Type II (for
German), Svorak (for Swedish) etc.

Another advantage of the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator

over third-party tools for installing an international Dvorak layout
is that it allows creation of a keyboard layout that automatically
switches to standard (QWERTY) when pressing the control or the
windows key.

Unix-based systems:

Many operating systems based on UNIX, including OpenBSD,

FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenSolaris, Plan 9, and most Linux
distributions, can be configured to use the U.S. Dvorak layout and
a handful of variants. However, all current Unix-like systems with
X.Org and appropriate keymaps installed (and virtually all systems
meant for desktop use include them) are able to use any
QWERTY-labeled keyboard as a Dvorak one without any problems
or additional configuration. This removes the burden of producing
additional keymaps for every variant of QWERTY provided.
Runtime layout switching is also possible.

Dvorak's Advantages Over QWERTY:

The typewriter was invented in 1866 by Carlos Glidden, Samuel

Soulé, and Christopher Latham Sholes. The alphabetical layout of
the keys was not a good one; the type bars that struck the paper
jammed often. Sholes came up with a fix for this by placing the
type bars for letters of common digraphs, two-letter sequences,
as far from each other as possible. The end result was the
awkward and confusing QWERTY keyboard layout (named for the
first six letters on the top row), which appeared on the first
commercially produced typewriter in 1873. When touch-typing
became popular in the 1880s, QWERTY was the norm for many
keyboards. Although newer keyboards did not jam as easily, it
remained the most popular layout and other layouts gradually fell
out of use.

The Dvorak keyboard layout was created in the 1930s by Dr.

August Dvorak, a professor at the University of Washington, and
William L. Dealey, his brother-in-law. It was the result of much
effort studying typing behavior and letter frequency. The layout
was designed to make typing easier, faster, and more efficient —
and it works. The key to its success is the arrangement of the
letters.

Speed:

Some of the world's fastest typists use Dvorak. A woman named

Barbara Blackburn failed her high school typing course, which, of
course, taught QWERTY. Then she found out about the Dvorak
keyboard. Now, Blackburn can type at a rate of 170 WPM (words
per minute) and once peaked at 212 WPM! Here's more
information about the world's fastest typist and why she uses
only Dvorak. Indeed, most typists who switch from QWERTY to
Dvorak easily match their old speed, and usually surpass it. Some
have seen a 200-300% increase in their speed. Yourspeed may
not increase that much, but you will notice a striking difference
in accuracy and comfort.

Alternating Hands:

Because it is more difficult to type an entire word with one hand,

the vowels are on one side of the home row and the most used
consonants are on the other side. This allows for more alternating
between hands. You may have heard that on QWERTY, the left
hand does about 56% of the typing. On Dvorak, the typing is split
more equally between your hands, which means you can type
faster. As a finger on one hand hits a key and comes back to the
home row, a finger on the other hand can easily get to the key it
needs to hit. Though typing long words with one hand is difficult,
there are thousands of one-hand words that can be typed on
QWERTY. Try typing these 12-letter words: stewardesses,
aftereffects, desegregated, reverberated. Only a handful of
such words can be typed on Dvorak, and the longest are only 6
letters long: papaya, Kikuyu, opaque, and upkeep.

Easy to Learn:

The logical arrangement of the letters makes Dvorak easy to

learn. It has been proven that the Dvorak keyboard is easier to
learn than QWERTY, and so speed can be accumulated more
easily. In one study, only 52 hours of Dvorak practice had
brought a group of typists up to the speed to the speed it took
them 3 years to accumulate on QWERTY!

Accuracy:

Accuracy is another advantage of the Dvorak layout. Dvorak users

tend to make fewer mistakes when typing. Using Dvorak, your
accuracy will increase noticeably. A Dvorak typist typically makes
half as many mistakes as a QWERTY typist. It has been shown
in studies that while a QWERTY typist's accuracy stops
increasing, a Dvorak's typist's accuracy will continue to improve.
This means you can fix mistakes less and create, compose, and
chat more.

Comfort:

Many people switch to Dvorak because it's more comfortable. The

Dvorak layout was carefully adapted to fit the English language.
QWERTY, on the other hand, is about as efficient as a random
layout. Because it makes typing easier and more natural, Dvorak
may actually decrease the risk of carpal-tunnel syndrome and
other forms of repetitive-stress injury (RSI). You can type
longer on Dvorak without making your fingers sore. In fact, most
RSI sufferers no longer feel pain in their fingers after switching
to Dvorak. If you experience pain from using the QWERTY
keyboard, the Dvorak layout is for you.

Less Finger Travel:

Because of the arrangement of the keys, the Dvorak keyboard

requires less finger travel. It has been estimated that a
QWERTY typist's fingers travel 16-20 miles a day, while a
Dvorak typist's fingers will only travel about 1 mile. This is a
major benefit to the health of your fingers.

The Home Row Advantage:

Unlike the QWERTY keyboard, the Dvorak keyboard includes the

most common letters on the home row (the row of keys your
hands rest on when you are touch-typing). The next most common
letters are on the top row, and the least-used letters are on the
bottom row. 60-70% of the typing is done on the home row of
Dvorak, compared with 30-35% on QWERTY's home row. On
Dvorak, you can type thousands of words on the home row
(aoeuidhtns). How many words can you make out of QWERTY's
home row, "asdfghjkl;"?

Dvork Keyboard Simply Better:

 Imagine that you walk to work.  Each day you
could take the route which meanders over sixteen miles of
winding roads, or you could take the short-cut, which delivers you
directly to your place of employment in one mile.  Which route
would you take most often?Believe it or not on the standard
(QWERTY) keyboard a fast typist, in eight hours, will move his or
her fingers sixteen miles.  On a different, much more efficient,
keyboard that same typist will travel only one mile.  Which would
you choose?

What a difference a change in layout of the keys makes.  The

short-cut keyboard is called Dvorak, after the man who invented
it.  It has the keys you use the most on the home row.  Have you
ever noticed that the standard QWERTY keyboard puts keys you
don’t use often right at your finger tips?

The Dvorak layout was designed to address the problems of

inefficiency and fatigue which characterized the QWERTY
keyboard layout. The QWERTY layout was introduced in the
1860s, being used on the first commercially-successful
typewriter.  The QWERTY layout was designed so that successive
keystrokes would alternate between each side of the keyboard so
as to avoid jams of the mechanical arms as they reached up to
slap the metal shape of the letter onto the ribbon of ink putting
the imprint onto paper and slide back into place allowing the next
mechanical arm to make its way to the paper.
So much has changed since then, but our keyboards haven’t.  The
standard keyboard was designed to make typing as slow as
possible.  Dvorak not only noticed this, he did something about it. 
Patented in 1932, this “new” keyboard was designed to make
typing more economical, more fun, faster, and simply better.

There was a problem though, and it wasn’t with the new keyboard,
it was that people who already knew how to type on the slow,
outmoded keyboard, who didn’t want to learn the new one.  Oddly
they still don’t.  It takes two weeks to learn to type on the
Dvorak keyboard and you don’t have to buy a new keyboard. 
Windows Regional Settings allows your current keyboard to
simulate the Dvorak keyboard.  Mac has settings for Dvorak as
well.

Not only is the keyboard much better than the standard, it may
reduce carpel tunnel syndrome and other conditions that result
from overuse of our precious digits.  It may also result in your
typing faster and it will certainly amuse your friends if they try
and type on it.

Here is a simple sentence typed on the Dvorak keyboard:  The

dog jumped over the white picket fence.

Here is that same sentence typed on the QWERTY keyboard: 

Kjd hsu cfmrdh s.do kjd ,jgkd rtivdk ydlide

As you can see, very few of the keys are the same.  Can you tell
which key is the same?  While working out the code may be
difficult for you, the actual learning of the Dvorak keyboard is
really easy. (A:  the letter “m”)

Dvorak studied letter frequencies and the physiology of people's

hands and created a layout to adhere to these principles:

 Letters should be typed by alternating between hands.

 For maximum speed and efficiency, the most common
letters and digraphs should be the easiest to type. This
means that they should be on the home row, which is where
the fingers rest, and under the strongest fingers.
 The least common letters should be on the bottom row,
which is the hardest row to reach.
 The right hand should do more of the typing, because most
people are right-handed.
 Digraphs should not be typed with adjacent fingers.
 Stroking should generally move from the edges of the board
to the middle. An observation of this principle is that, for
many people, when tapping fingers on a table, it is easier
going from little finger to index than vice versa. This motion
on a keyboard is called inboard stroke flow.

You can continue to walk sixteen miles to work, or, with a little
retraining and relearning, you can walk one mile to work.  Older
versions of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing actually have the option
to learn the Dvorak keyboard.

Dvorak keyboard:
QWERTY keyboard:

 The “XPeRT” Keyboard:

The XPeRT Keyboard Solution: 2003

 XPeRT is a keyboard Built for Speed ..... AND ......

easy transition from Qwerty.
 Hunt & Peck keyboard users can reach touch typing
speeds with no special training.

The XPeRT Keyboard moves only two high frequency letters, A +

N (not six) and adds a second E key (the most common letter at
13%). The change is easy to learn. AND, it optimizes key
sequences to be struck by opposite hands, the fastest way of
typing. With these 3 elegant moves, theXPeRT keyboard goes
from digraph disabled to speed enabled. Check out the Design
Concepts or visit XPeRT Home.

X P E R T Y U I O J

Q S D F N H A E L K

Z W C V B G M , . ?

A FAST, EASY alternative to the standard Qwerty keyboard

(designed in 1878 to slow down typing and prevent jamming of
mechanical keys). Built for SPEED and EASE of transition, the
XPeRT Keyboard enables touch typing speeds of 40 wpm with NO
TRAINING................ Opposite hand keystokes go from only 50%
on the standard Qwerty keyboard to 83% on XPeRT, a major
speed factor. (The admired Dvorak keyboard of 1936 scores
80%, but moves 24 letters and is hard to learn). ......... XPeRT
moves only two common letters, A+N, and there is a 2nd E key
(13% of all letters), making transition from Qwerty easy
(EEsy). ............ Uses existing hardware. Key caps move readily or
Free key labels are available. Full information at
www.XPeRTkeyboard.com.
The XPeRT Keyboard enables touch typing speeds with no
training. Opposite hand keystrokes go from 50% on Qwerty to
83% on XPeRT, a major typing SPEED factor. Only 2 common
letters move on XPeRT, A+N. A 2nd E key for EASY transition
from Qwerty.

Other types of keyboard:

1. Customized keyboard

2. Data-hand Keyboard

3. Glider Mouse Keyboard

4. Maltron 3D Ergonomic Keyboard

5. Mykeyo Keyboard

6. Orbitouch Keyboard

7. Roll-up Keyboard

8. Safe-type Ergonomic Keyboard

9. Twiddler2 Keyboard

10. Virtual Laser Keyboard

11. Wrist Keyboard

Working of keyboard:

How a computer accepts input from the keyboard:

1. Key is pressed on the keyboard.

2. Keyboard controller sends scan code for the key to the
keyboard
buffer.
3. Keyboard buffer sends interrupt request to the system
software.
4. System software responds to the interrupt by reading the scan
code from the keyboard buffer.
5. System software passes the scan code to the CPU
 Comparison of keyboard layouts:

EASY Opposing
KEYBOARD TYPE Year FAST
to USE key pairs

XPeRT 2003 yes! yes! 83%

Dvorak 1936 no yes 80%

Standard 1878! - no 50%

 The Standard (QWERTY) Keyboard was designed to be

slow, to stop mechanical key jamming!

 24 letters move on the superior Dvorak keyboard, making it

hard to learn

 The XPeRT Keyboard is both FAST, maximizing opposite

hand key sequences
& EASY to use: only 2 common keys move. Two E keys.

Independent Speed Test Results:

Standard XPeRT Percentage

Test Agent
Keyboard Keyboard Gain
File Cart 33 wpm 68 wpm 106%
SW Transit 49 wpm 93 wpm 90%
 The mouse

Mouse: “An input device that rolls around on a flat surface and
controls the pointer. The pointer is an on screen object (usually
an arrow) that is used to select text, access menus and interact
with programs, files or data that appears on the screen.”

The mouse was first packaged with the Apple Mac in 1984.
Instead of
forcing you to type or issue commands from the keyboard the
mouse and mouse based Operating Systems let you choose
commands from east to use menus and dialog boxes.

Using the mouse:

Use the mouse to point at a location on the screen. Push the
mouse
forward on the desk à the pointer moves upward on the screen.

Mouse techniques:
Everything to do with a mouse is accomplished by combining
pointing with 5 other techniques:
1. Pointing
2. Clicking
3. Double clicking
4. Dragging
5. Right Clicking
Pointing:
Move the mouse to move the pointer on monitor screen is
called pointing.

Clicking:
Move the pointer to the icon, press and release once the left
mouse button. It is used to select an item or to press of the
various buttons in Windows.

Double clicking:
 Press quickly twice on the left mouse button.
 Move the mouse on the selected item.
 Press the left button twice very quickly.
 Such types of mouse are also available which has a button
for double click.
Dragging:
This option is useful to move objects whether it's a block of text,
a toolbar or a window to somewhere else in a document or on the
screen.
 Click on the object to be moved.
 Place the cursor inside the object.
 Keep a finger pressed on the left mouse button and move
the object to it's new location.
 Release the mouse button to end the operation.

Right clicking:

 Select an object or a block of text.

 Place there the cursor over and press the right mouse
button.
 A context menu will appear. It allows us the options most
often used for this object. The menu changes options
depending if it's text, an number, an image or any
another object.

Variants of the mouse:

Primary goal à provide ease of use while taking up less space than
a
mouse. They remain stationary and can even be built into the
keyboard.

1. The trackball:
Pointing device that works like an upside down mouse. Rest your
thumb on the exposed ball and to move the pointer around the
screen you move the ball with your thumb.
When space is limited a trackball can be an advantage. Gained
popularity with the advent of laptop computers.

2. The trackpad (or touchpad):

A stationary pointing device that some people find less tiring than
a mouse or trackball. Movement of a finger across a small touch
surface is translated into pointer movement on the computer.
Size makes it suitable for notebook computers. Usually separate
from the keyboard in desktop computers.
Drawback à must be kept clean and static free. Build up of dust
and oils from users fingers can reduce the sensitivity of the
trackpad and unwanted static charge can make it behave
erratically.

3. Pointers in the keyboard:

Small joystick positioned near the centre of the keyboard –
typically between the g and the h keys. Joystick is controlled
with either forefinger.

References:

 www.wikipedia.com
 www.thefreedictionary.com
 www.webopedia.com
 Peter norton’s “Introduction To Computers” 6th edition
(book)
 www.google.com
 www.google.com (advanced search)