Lesson plan

Bus mouse

A bus mouse is a variety of PC computer mouse which is attached to the computer using a specialized interface (originally, the Microsoft InPort interface developed for Microsoft's original mouse product). In the late 1980s, mice were not integrated with IBM-compatible personal computers, and the specialized bus interface (implemented via an ISA add-in card) was one of two popular ways to connect a mouse; serial interfaces were the other method. In addition to Microsoft, Logitech also made bus mouse interface cards. When the IBM PS/2 was introduced, it included a motherboard mouse interface which was integrated with the keyboard controller (still called the PS/2 mouse interface long after the PS/2 brand was withdrawn); this fairly quickly drove the bus mouse design out of the marketplace. The bus mouse lived on in the NEC PC-98 family of personal computers in Japan. Quadrature bus mice, manufactured by the likes of Atari, Commodore, Logitech and AMX, were supplied or sold, with proprietary wiring, for Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Acorn BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Acorn Archimedes computers.

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Article summary

A bus mouse is a variety of PC computer mouse which is attached to the computer using a specialized interface (originally, the Microsoft InPort interface developed for Microsoft's original mouse product). In the late 1980s, mice were not integrated with IBM-compatible personal computers, and the specialized bus interface (implemented via an ISA add-in card) was one of two popular ways to connect a mouse; serial interfaces were the other method. In addition to Microsoft, Logitech also made bus mouse interface cards. When the IBM PS/2 was introduced, it included a motherboard mouse interface which was integrated with the keyboard controller (still called the PS/2 mouse interface long after the PS/2 brand was withdrawn); this fairly quickly drove the bus mouse design out of the marketplace. The bus mouse lived on in the NEC PC-98 family of personal computers in Japan. Quadrature bus mice, manufactured by the likes of Atari, Commodore, Logitech and AMX, were supplied or sold, with proprietary wiring, for Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Acorn BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and Acorn Archimedes computers.

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