Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)

Posy
15 HN recommenders · recommended in 10 months, 2018–2026
YouTube
3M views · 7 years ago · explainer · evergreen

Posy goes through the history of mouse cursors, from early designs to the Mac and Windows pointers, and the problems with some of the standard ones. He then explains why he drew his own cursor set and shows how it fixes them.

HN considers it the best video on mouse cursors, a favorite on pixel-level icon design and on how Apple's and Windows' cursors differ in care.

“It is one of those amazing videos that make the internet worthwhile”
GUI historyUI design craftIllustration & iconography
#mousecursor#pixelart#icondesign#guihistory#macos#windows

19 comments from Hacker News

v
@vintagedave2026 · in “Don't hijack my mouse pointer”
The best video on mouse cursors I've seen, by Posy: ▶ this video It doesn't exactly answer the question, but I -- someone who doesn't watch video and wants text, articles -- have watched this video twice over. It's worth it :)
Strongly recommendsView on HN
s
@sideeye2025 · in “EQ: A video about all forms of equalizers”
My favourite is the Mouse Cursor video ▶ this video , I install them on every computer I own.
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v
@vintagedave2024 · in “Why is the mouse cursor slightly tilted and not straight?”
Time for one of my favourite Youtube videos, by Posy (Michiel de Boer.) 'Mouse cursor history (and why I made my own).' ▶ this video It runs through the history of mouse cursors, as well as problems with some of the standard ones, and shows, among other things, historical cursors which were straight and not tilted. It is one of those amazing videos that make the internet worthwhile, is short, and is by the author of Posy's Cursor Pack, link
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v
@vintagedave2026 · in “Posy: Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own) [video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
p
@pndy2024 · in “Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)[Posy][video]”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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b
@baxuz2024 · in “Why is the mouse cursor slightly tilted and not straight?”
For a better deep dive into mouse cursors with more information, there's Posy's "Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)": ▶ this video It also shows how absolutely horrid Windows' cursor designs are. They always were. I still remember making my own sets back in the early 2000s when DeviantArt was the home of desktop customization.
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b
@baxuz2024 · in “Why is the mouse cursor slightly tilted and not straight?”
I was just about to say that. There's an amazing video by Posy documenting mouse cursor history, and even provides his own cursor pack: ▶ this video link
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n
@nailer2023 · in “Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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C
@ChilledTonic2023 · in “macOS Cursors”
If you want to investigate the history of the macOS cursor, and other cursor schemes, I highly recommend this video: ▶ this video + link
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d
@dmix2022 · in “Challenge: Pixel perfect design”
This is a really good video about how Apple cares about being pixel perfect compared to Windows with something simple and obvious like the mouse cursor icon: ▶ this video The improvements he made are also quite nice, Microsoft should take note...
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w
@weatherlight2022 · in “Mouse Cursor History (and why I made my own)”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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d
@dihydro2022 · in “A History of the Mouse Cursor”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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