Microsoft Mouse 2.0

edited April 2020 in Product Comments

imageMicrosoft Mouse 2.0

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  • According to Wikipedia Microsoft Notepad started off as Multi-Tool Notepad a mouse-based text editor written by Richard Brodie, with the $195 Microsoft Mouse in May 1983. Microsoft Notepad shown at the 1983 Spring COMDEX computer expo in Atlanta. Microsoft released the Microsoft Mouse in June 1983, and the boxed mouse and Multi-Tool Notepad began shipping in July. So That mean Notepad started out Multi-Tool Notepad as well Microsoft Word was using Multi-Tool Name and also Notepad and Word shown together at 1983 COMDEX. Microsoft Notepad for Dos made it always to Microsoft Mouse 6.0 before being Ax by Microsoft.

    Source
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Notepad

  • edited May 2020

    Help, I can't install it on PCem. I get a error when I run MOUSE.COM that says "MOUSE: Mouse hardware not found". Should I try 86box instead or tell me what specs I need to run it well?

  • @Netcliff said:
    Help, I can't install it on PCem. I get a error when I run MOUSE.COM that says "MOUSE: Mouse hardware not found". Should I try 86box instead or tell me what specs I need to run it well?

    I've just tried it in 86Box with MS DOS 3.2 and a Logitech Bus Mouse, it works fine.

  • edited May 2020

    @Netcliff said:
    Help, I can't install it on PCem. I get a error when I run MOUSE.COM that says "MOUSE: Mouse hardware not found". Should I try 86box instead or tell me what specs I need to run it well?

    EDIT: @jonirob beat me to it. It seems like 86box supports bus mice, so that would work.

    I think, being from 1983, it needs a bus mouse to function. Try an emulator that supports bus mice (I'm not sure which ones do though). I just tried PCem and the only mouse options that appear for me are serial mice (I'm not sure if there's a way to add other mouse types). Otherwise, if you were just planning on running the software that came with it, any old mouse driver should work.

    Also, I wonder if the BYTE build of Windows was based off the software that came with the Microsoft Mouse, if they were developed at the same time, or if Windows was an unrelated project that just looked similar? The resemblance, especially for Notepad, was too close for me to miss.

  • Correct, 2.0 does not support serial or PS/2 mice. Only bus mice. Bus mice have a completely different hardware interface and protocol.

    Note that if you just want to run the included applications, you can load a different mouse driver that does support serial or PS/2 mice.

    Windows had nothing at all to do with any of the mouse software. They just used that as an example to show Windows could shell out to DOS.

  • Thanks, all I needed was 86box and just emulate the "Logitech/Microsoft Bus Mouse" option. Here are some screenshots:




  • Microsoft Notepad for DOS will run Microsoft Word For DOS DOC. Files.

  • edited June 2020

    According to Wikipedia Microsoft Mouse 1.0 was bundled with Microsoft Word, Notepad, and an on-screen teaching tutorial

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Mouse

  • edited April 2023
    I have some Microsoft Mouse Manuals I found online. This manual is from 1983.





    Download Link:
    https://mega.nz/file/kKZlRbQS#GyZ-92-r-Ya9PZPFJTuunCgJc7z4r1k7zuWndAd1GGs

  • Doodle manual 1983

  • Doodle manual 1983 photo 2

  • Doodle manual 1983 photo 3

  • Doodle manual 1983 photo 4
  • edited March 3
    The colour drawing program packaged with Microsoft Mouse 1.0 in 1983 is called Doodle. It pre-dates MacPaint by one year (1983 vs. 1984) and is a very big deal. This was one year prior to Apple doing it on Macintosh. Apple had a beta program on its Lisa platform called LisaSketch/SketchPad (from which MacPaint came) but I’ve not been able to find visual evidence of a release. If so, that’s probably 1983 as well. Update: from looking at the apple wiki fandom and folklore.org it doesn’t look like LisaSketch got finished for Lisa, instead being retooled for Mac. So Doodle came out first. Making Doodle one of the first bitmap paint programs on a home computer. There’s KoalaPad for C64 also from 1983. I’ve seen DR Draw but I believe this was monochrome like LisaDraw, so I’m not counting that.
  • @Doodle
    That's one cool cursor!


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