4 ms·

>Active-matrix was the much better, much more costly alternative. The difference being that passive matrix could not handle motion well, so it was easy to lose

>Active-matrix was the much better, much more costly alternative. The difference being that passive matrix could not handle motion well, so it was easy to lose track of the mouse cursor if it moved across the screen too rapidly. For the kids today, this is why we used to have Mouse Trails in settings! I just checked on my Mac, and we no longer seem to have that option.

majormajor 2y ago
I don't think System 7 or OS 8 had a trails option either. I remember seeing that only as a "fun Windows thing" back then.
- mrpippy 2y ago
  It was an option in classic Mac OS, passive-matrix screens were an option on PowerBooks even into 1998's WallStreet PowerBook G3 (a machine which can officially run Mac OS X!) I can't find a screenshot of the control panel, but here's a video of a PB1400 with it turned on: https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/rohlp0/how_do_i_give_it_only_1_cursor_its_a_powerbook/ https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/rohlp0/how_do...
JayDustheadz 2y ago
Wiggle the mouse/cursor quickly and it'll enlarge the pointer. Makes it easier to locate it.
- numpad0 2y ago
  This didn't work with early LCDs; areas near cursor literally stayed blank for couple fractions of seconds. Wiggling would only make it worse, and negative space created could not be spotted either because UI was mostly blank in the first place(dark or light).
  - msephton 2y ago
    They're talking a modern macOS feature
- rbanffy 2y ago
  Still difficult on wide multi-monitor settings.
  - bartread 2y ago
    I make the pointer bigger on both macOS and Windows. Unfortunately, at least on macOS, it becomes too imprecise for clicking if you max out the size, but I can't deal with hunting and pecking for my pointer so I do push it as far as I can. Probably stems from the days of using computers with much lower resolutions where the mouse pointer was therefore relatively large and easy to find. My Amiga 500 typically ran at either 320 x 256 or 640 x 256 (with rectangular pixels), but the mouse pointer was a 16 x 16 hardware sprite, which locked to the lower resolution IIRC, so it was always 5% of the width of the screen, and 6.25% of the height. This is absolutely enormous by today's standards, even with the mouse cursor enlarged to, not its maximum size on macOS, but its maximum useful size.
    - rbanffy 2y ago
      Interesting. And by now every platform has enough information to define the mouse pointer size in physical units rather than pixels. If anyone at Apple is listening, highlighting the screen where the pointer is (dimming the others) or just having the option of resetting the position to a known place, would work just fine.
wkat4242 2y ago
No but you can jiggle the mouse now and the mouse pointer becomes huge which is kinda a similar thing

majormajor 2y ago

I don't think System 7 or OS 8 had a trails option either. I remember seeing that only as a "fun Windows thing" back then.

mrpippy 2y ago
It was an option in classic Mac OS, passive-matrix screens were an option on PowerBooks even into 1998's WallStreet PowerBook G3 (a machine which can officially run Mac OS X!) I can't find a screenshot of the control panel, but here's a video of a PB1400 with it turned on: https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/rohlp0/how_do_i_give_it_only_1_cursor_its_a_powerbook/ https://www.reddit.com/r/VintageApple/comments/rohlp0/how_do...

JayDustheadz 2y ago

Wiggle the mouse/cursor quickly and it'll enlarge the pointer. Makes it easier to locate it.

numpad0 2y ago
This didn't work with early LCDs; areas near cursor literally stayed blank for couple fractions of seconds. Wiggling would only make it worse, and negative space created could not be spotted either because UI was mostly blank in the first place(dark or light).
- msephton 2y ago
  They're talking a modern macOS feature
rbanffy 2y ago
Still difficult on wide multi-monitor settings.
- bartread 2y ago
  I make the pointer bigger on both macOS and Windows. Unfortunately, at least on macOS, it becomes too imprecise for clicking if you max out the size, but I can't deal with hunting and pecking for my pointer so I do push it as far as I can. Probably stems from the days of using computers with much lower resolutions where the mouse pointer was therefore relatively large and easy to find. My Amiga 500 typically ran at either 320 x 256 or 640 x 256 (with rectangular pixels), but the mouse pointer was a 16 x 16 hardware sprite, which locked to the lower resolution IIRC, so it was always 5% of the width of the screen, and 6.25% of the height. This is absolutely enormous by today's standards, even with the mouse cursor enlarged to, not its maximum size on macOS, but its maximum useful size.
  - rbanffy 2y ago
    Interesting. And by now every platform has enough information to define the mouse pointer size in physical units rather than pixels. If anyone at Apple is listening, highlighting the screen where the pointer is (dimming the others) or just having the option of resetting the position to a known place, would work just fine.

wkat4242 2y ago

No but you can jiggle the mouse now and the mouse pointer becomes huge which is kinda a similar thing