Gmlb256 wrote on 2023-12-01, 23:32:
For me, the latest version of Microsoft Mouse does the job despite the large memory usage and not supporting the third mouse button.
Handles nicely the mouse settings and doesn't have the compatibility issues that CuteMouse has while maintaining good performance.
I think the same. The original MS Mouse driver by Microsoft is still worth a try, even if it's a bit large.
I guess it's not easy to write a good mouse driver, because of several reasons.
Some games running in 320x200 need a different treatment than a 640x460 applications.
The distances and speeds are different for each resolution. A good mouse driver takes care of that.
Then there's the odd MS Mouse protocol with its uneven packet size that causes jerky motion.
The later MS Mouse drivers do take care of this, the supplied Windows driver, too.
I suppose CuteMouse was being designed to be free, to be shipped with something like FreeDOS.
It was being written in the late 90s, early 2000s and was forward-looking.
I suppose that maybe this was the reason that the driver has some problems with legacy hardware and software.
When CuteMouse was new, we had PS/2 wheel mice already. Serial mode was already deprecated.
So it makes sense that the authors didn't have the resources to test CuteMouse on an equally large variety of different configurations
than what the old mice drivers (MS Mouse, Genius, Logitech etc) had been running with.
The standard stuff worked fine, but PCs with odd pre-Pentium BIOSes or ISA multi i/o cards were already museum's pieces.
So yeah, if CuteMouse works, it's usually doing okay. If not, MS Mouse or Logitech driver are an alternative.
The latter exists in a cloaked form (~6.50 up) and technically can run past the 1 MB barrier.
http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=702&menustate=0
Edit: The Microsoft Mouse Driver 9.01 isn't on Vogonsdrivers yet, so I can't post a link here.
But there's also the Sigma Mouse driver. Re: How do you get a serial mouse working
Edit: Attached a screenshot of the cloaked mouse driver, as seen by MEM.
Edit: The parts seen are the stubs, which do "remote control" the real drivers in extended memory. CACHECLK is a replacement for Smart Drive.
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