Wheel Mouse Warning!

So, you have one of those cool little wheel mice. Great aren't they? Once you start scrolling with a wheel, you never want to go back - that's for sure. In fact, one day you may be telling your wide-eyed grandkids about the way you used to have a mouse that didn't have a wheel between the keys.

Well, there's something you need to be aware of - call it "the dark side of the wheel" if you like.

Wheel mice can change drop down box selections.

OK, that doesn't sound all that bad, does it? In fact, if you know that you can use your wheel mouse to change selections in a drop down box, you may even think that it's a handy little feature.

Here's the problem. Let's say you come across a drop down box and make a selection. Now, you need to move down the page so you instinctively spin the little wheel on your wheel mouse. Well, if you didn't take focus away from the drop down box first (i.e. you didn't click on a different are of the web page) you'll find that you may have inadvertently changed your selection!

Of course, while your changing the selection you don't scroll. However, what most people do is scroll a little, see that nothing happens, then click a blank area on the web page and the scrolling starts again. They don't even realize that they have changed their drop box selection.

Want to see what I mean? Try selecting something in the drop box below, then spin that little wheel mouse wheel (don't click outside the box though!)

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8 Sample 9 Choose Sample 5 and scroll

Posted in: Hardware Tips