Editing Mouse Systems (section)

==Technical details==
{{multiple image
| image1=Sun optical mouse.jpg
| caption1=Mouse from a Sun workstation manufactured by Mouse Systems on its mousepad
| image2=Mouse-Systems-Mousepad-Detail.jpg
| caption2=Grid detail of mousepad
}}
Like all early optical mice, their debut product relied on a special metallic and reflective [[mousepad]] printed with a square grid of grey and blue tracking lines: as the device moved over the pad, light emitted by an [[Light-emitting diode|LED]] was reflected by the pad onto an array of sensors whose output was processed by an on-board [[integrated circuit|controller]], which in turn supplied the host computer with machine-readable tracking data via an [[RS-232]] [[serial communication|serial]] port. When connected to a regular RS-232 port, an external [[power supply]] was required. Some mice would derive their power supply from the keyboard connector on the motherboard and came with a pass-through connector to be inserted before the keyboard cable.

Early Sun workstations used MSC optical mice exclusively. The mouse was connected via a dedicated connector with power, obviating the need for a separate power supply for the mouse. Initial models came with large mousepads with well-spaced lines, while later models were smaller and used a much tighter grid.