Talk:Pointer (user interface)

Hardware pointer
AIUI this is provided via a video overlay. Its implementation seems to be termed either: I'm seeking information on this to include here, with appropriate R to section redirects created for use in other articles. So far, I've not found any online references of much use, so will probably just include some information without references in the short term. -- Trevj (talk) 08:53, 23 December 2011 (UTC)
 * hardware pointer
 * hardware cursor
 * overlay cursor
 * A few refs which could be used: (in NeWS),, , , . Anyone have any better ones? -- Trevj (talk) 10:04, 23 December 2011 (UTC)
 * And a bit about a specific implementation on pg. 1-9 of the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) Family Data Manual. -- Trevj (talk) 13:42, 30 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't think the hardware-accelerated cursor has traditionally been a video overlay. It's got to be something else. I don't know about modern systems though. 80.223.182.224 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:38, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
 * I don't think what I'm referring to is hardware-accelerated, more a means for the OS to provide pointer information separate to the main screen, with the graphics hardware then combining the images. I'm far from an expert in this area, but I'm thinking of a pointer distinctly separate from the rendering of the rest of the screen. I may be wrong, but I thought that this was the way that RISC OS did things... but now that the OS isn't quite so welded to custom video hardware, perhaps things have changed. So far, my search for sources discussing this principle hasn't turned up anything more useful than those sources linked to above. -- Trevj (talk · contribs) 12:08, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Hot corners
Hot corners redirects to this page and yet the term is nowhere to be found on the page. The only use of the term hot appears to have nothing to do with the concept of hot corners. Perhaps someone that actually is well versed on the topic could fix this with some intelligent description.99.245.230.104 (talk) 07:58, 25 April 2014 (UTC)
 * ✅. I've also changed the link of the disambiguation page to point to screen hotspots, since hot corners are areas of the screen and not the pointer. Diego (talk) 09:00, 25 April 2014 (UTC)

Merger with Spinning pinwheel and Windows wait cursor
For obvious reasons, I think. Wait cursors exist in other operating systems as well, and they deserve being described in a general article. —Keφr 09:28, 25 March 2017 (UTC)


 * The two wait-cursor articles you want merged into this article would overwhelm it with detail on what are system busy signals that don't really have much to do with how the pointer is implemented and used otherwise, except that their appearance coincides with the pointer location. Dhtwiki (talk) 20:40, 25 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Those details should be trimmed. They are poorly sourced and borderline trivia anyway. —Keφr 11:43, 26 March 2017 (UTC)


 * Support. Yes. Merge those things. —Codename Lisa (talk) 07:35, 4 April 2017 (UTC)
 * Strongly oppose. Although I'm not sure if these two should just be merged into one "Wait cursor" page, I very much think that they shouldn't be merged into the Pointer page. Paintspot Infez (talk) 03:05, 28 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Closing, given the stale discussion with contested opposition. Klbrain (talk) 11:09, 12 August 2018 (UTC)

Hourglass cursor size
, the idea for making the Hourglass image 32x32px in size is so that it will appear cursor-size, like it would be seen on the screen. The non-free image this one replaces is 15 × 24, and this one should be roughly equivalent. The original size of the free image I found as a replacement is 64 × 64, way too large for a typical cursor. I've reduced it to 48x48 as a middle ground. Diego (talk) 10:51, 10 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I use 128px cursor when I am at a computer with 4K display. Still, the image is SVG. We can enlarge to whatever size we want. —Codename Lisa (talk) 10:56, 10 May 2017 (UTC)

Proposed merge of Cursor (user interface) into Pointer (user interface)
same difference ~ Elias Z. (talkallam) 07:26, 24 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Oppose - Cursor is for typing, the pointer is for mousing. Not the same but related. Both are reasonably well developed so I don't see a compelling reason to merge. ~Kvng (talk) 15:04, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

--Aashmango4793 (talk) 15:57, 19 May 2020 (UTC)
 * For - Cursor and pointer are mostly used to mean the same thing. Apple software uses the term interchangeably, in addition to several other major software makers. Example here: OSX user interface copy


 * If they are to be merged, it should be in the other direction. Cursor is more general and encompasses text cursors as well. A mouse pointer is a type of cursor for indicating the active graphical position. 98.33.89.204 (talk) 18:48, 4 August 2020 (UTC)


 * For - I am most definitely for this change! 47.188.34.104 (talk) 19:25, 8 January 2021 (UTC)


 * ✅ Klbrain (talk) 12:18, 7 April 2021 (UTC)