CertiGuide to A+ (Operating Systems)  9  Chapter 0000:  How to Get There       9  IV  Windows, Mice and Keyboards

Mouse Adjustment 1 The TAB Key

Table 2 shows how to accomplish various common Windows tasks using either the “Single-click to open” or “Double-click to open” setting. Note that when the mouse is set to use single-click to open, that merely pointing the mouse to an item, which would normally do nothing without the user explicitly clicking a mouse button, selects the item.

The three following options, the pointer, the hourglass, and the pointing hand, are default icons that show the position of the mouse/pointer. Besides showing you where the mouse pointer is on the screen, the different icons tell you what’s going on, on the computer. The icons change with the function at hand. The plain arrow means the system is idle. It is ready for you to do something like start a program or type a paragraph. The hourglass means the system is busy. You can move the mouse now but please wait a minute before clicking.

The pointing hand means the mouse pointer is currently over a link (like a Web link), so click here if you want to activate the link.

If single-click operation is confusing to many users, why is it there? The single click feature is to help use the desktop like the Internet or Web, and is meant to make the PC easier to use by those whose primary interaction with it is through a web browser like Internet Explorer, where typically single-clicking on a hyperlink causes a new web page to open. For more information on this feature go to help in Windows or the View menu in Explorer and review the folder options.

8 Practice using the mouse functions.

8 Practice testing your mouse in the Control Panel.

Mouse Adjustment 1 The TAB Key