BBC users shouldn't be slow to nibble the bait offered by AMS's mouse. It cost less than £100 and is well worth every penny, says Francis Jago

Using a mouse as a keyboard alternative to make computers more user-friendly is not a new idea. Apple's Lisa was the first and the smaller, cheaper Macintosh is the most famous implementation of mouse technoloy. These systems, however, are much too expensive for most home micro users. Now all this has changed, because for under £100 Advanced Memory Systems is offering a mouse for the BBC Micro.

The AMX Mouse package consists of the mouse, two manuals, two software packages and one 8K EPROM. Because of the popularity of EPROM software for the Beeb, most serious users will already have fitted a ROM board in their machines. Unfortunately, the EPROM in this package needs to be inserted into the highest priority socket, and this generally entails moving the Basic ROM one slot to the left.

Once the ROM has been fitted, you need only plug the mouse into the user port, load the software and you're away. The software is available in three formats - 3.5" and 3.52" disk and cassette.

The mouse itself is a small black box with three red buttons on the sloped front. Each button can be programmed to control a variety of functions such as Return, Copy, Delete and the cursor keys. You can incorporate these controls in your own programs using the *BUTTONS command. In fact, incorporating any of the mouse features in your own programs is made remarkably easy by the provision of several *commands in the ROM.

To write your own programs using all the functions of the mouse you have to use Mode 4. This uses less memory than other modes so that detailed programs can still be written without having to resort to machine code. Although only a two-colour mode, AMS has used different shades of grey to good effect. Combined with the 64 icons provided, this shading constitutes a distinct improvement on wat could have been done using Mode 1, despite the lack of colour.

Icons are small shapes drawn on the screen to represent particular functions of the software, e.g. a bin means 'erase' or a disk drive gives access to 'disk utilities'. When the mouse is moved so that the cursor is positioned over an icon, pressing the execute button on the mouse selects that particular function.

Once you are in Mode 4, the first command to use is *DESK which clears the screen and replaces the black background with a dark grey formed of black dots on a white screen. You can then start to create menus and title screens suitable for your particular program. A menu is easily created using the *WINDOW command, and once defined it remains on the screen as a separate window.

Altogether there are 15 *commands on the ROM as well as some detailed information on the icons. These commands include *BREAK which has the same effect as pressing the Break key, and the more complicated *POINTER ON/OFF which combines with the *BREAK function to enable and disable the mouse.

One of the most impressive aspects of the AMX system is the supplied software - not so much because of what it does, but the promises it holds for future programs.

In addition to the hardware, you receive two programs: AMX Art and Icon Designer. As its name suggests, the latter is a utility program that allows you to design icons for use in your own programs.

You can work on two sets of 31 icons using the mouse as a graphic pointer. The screen display shows both sets of graphics, with a large window containing the icon currently available for work.

You can select any icon from the two sets, then drag it to the working window where you can erase or paint individual pixels. A smaller window shows the design in actual size. Once you are satisfied with the design, pick it up and drag it back to the main set.

A final, useful feature, is a multiple-icon window which allows you to put several icons together to see how they look as a single 'mega-icon'.

Still more impressive is AMX Art. A single glance shows its heritage - apart from the fact that the screen has been mirrored, it looks identical to Apple's Mac Paint on the Macintosh. All of the old favourites are here including pull-down menus, windows, a box of tools, and a box of textures for painting.

Operation is very close to Mac Paint too. Using the mouse, you can select a tool from the toolbox, move to the blank area and begin drawing. You can select a variety of brushes, spray paint cans, erasers, rubber-banding, boxes and circles.

You can also add text in a variety of styles. Although you are limited to one typeface, you can select bold, italics and underline modes in any combination.

Sadly, some of the Macintosh's more advanced features are missing. For instance, there are no zoom or cut and paste facilities.

Nevertheless, this is an exceptionally good piece of software. Print options for producing hard copy of your design are comprehensive, and the whole thing runs at lightning speed. Given an 8-bit processor and the BBC's memory limitations, AMX Art is impossible to criticise.

In my view, the AMX Mouse is the leading contender for the title of Peripheral of the Year. In all fields except perhaps cosmetics, the device is superb. The software on ROM makes programming it extremely easy, even for the novice. At £89.95 it is a bargain.

Features 5/5
Documentation 5/5
Performance 5/5
Overall Value 4/5