Anyone use a black background for their VS Editor? | Tech Off

Hi,

I just made my code editor have a black background. But I noticed something weird with the mouse cursor.
If I put the mouse cursor just to the left of the line numbers, it's all good. I have a white mouse pointer. But when I move the mouse cursor to the right of the line numbers, towards the code, that cursor turns black. So I have a black cursor on a black background. Not good. But I can't figure out how to make it white. When I click within a section of code, the text cursor is white and blinking, so that is fine. It is just as I move the mouse around the code where I have black on black.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

I am running Windows Vista with Visual Studio 2008 --- if it matters, I am running Vista within VMWare Fusion (I have a Mac).

Thanks.

wisemx

Do a search and you'll find some major blog posts about this.
We have been hashing it out for more than a year now, Dark side or not.

I still think those of us with lighter eyes can't stand the dark backgrounds.
I've tried, just can't get used to it.
My eyes are light blue.

SlackmasterK

Try using the cursor scheme "Windows Inverted". It's in Control panel > Mouse.

stevo_

In reply to SlackmasterK

#Jul 2nd @ 6:06 PM

Been using a ruby'esq theme for over a year now - I like it, but whats weird is - at home, I have the default vs theme, and I really don't notice the difference going from one to the other now..

Clever Coder

I've been using a dark background for years now. In both my Java develpment and Windows environments, I can't stand the blaring white. A lot of it has to do with the stress that a CRT used to put on my eyes. Flashing 60+ times a second causes fatigue. With the black background, things became a lot more "relaxed". I've even began creating my own "themes" by saving off just the Fonts and Colors portions of the configuration. Currently, it's kinda a 'retro warm' with yellows, oranges, and reds.

As far your particular problem, I would suggest seeing if you have any goofy mouse drivers installed. Also, the video card or video card driver is the next place I would look. The cursor is typically accelerated through the video card, so maybe you've got a dying card??

Anyway, glad to hear someone else embraces the "calm" dark working environment. Good luck with your mouse!

- Sean

littleguru

Nope. Never. I like the white background too much Wink

yman

In reply to littleguru

#Jul 12th @ 4:58 PM

Vibrant Ink is currently my VS colour scheme of choice on all my machines. Very pleasing when used with Consolas with a largish font size.

littleguru

In reply to yman

#Jul 13th @ 1:36 PM

I don't know this white on black and green on black only hurts my eyes when I'm watching at it.

yman

In reply to littleguru

#Jul 13th @ 3:27 PM

* Shrug * It's a personal thing Smiley

stevo_

In reply to littleguru

#Jul 13th @ 3:27 PM

I use a black theme, but your right - it doesn't really make much sense.. the only area that turns black, is the document area.. all the toolbars and panels stay white, so really you are probably giving yourself a bit of an eye f---.

I'd like a black theme on the next vs, like expression studio!

Dexter

In reply to stevo_

#Jul 14th @ 1:28 AM

Mmm... "like expression studio"... I want that too!!!

Yggdrasil

I use a light gray background in VS. It's not as harsh on the eyes as the default white background, but it clashes a lot less than using black - most default foreground colors work on it without having to customize them. Most of the rest of the devs here use various shades of grey, depending on their sensitivity and monitor color-calibration. Smiley