Integration with Windows

Because DirectInput works directly with the device drivers, it either suppresses or ignores mouse and keyboard messages. When using the mouse in exclusive mode, DirectInput suppresses mouse messages, and therefore Windows is unable to show the standard cursor.

DirectInput also ignores mouse and keyboard settings made by the user in Control Panel.

For the keyboard, character repeat settings are not used by DirectInput. When using buffered data, DirectInput interprets each press and release as a single event, with no repetition. When using immediate data, DirectInput is concerned only with the present physical state of the keys, not with keyboard events as interpreted by Windows.

For the mouse, DirectInput ignores Control Panel settings such as acceleration and swapped buttons. Again, DirectInput works directly with the mouse driver, bypassing the subsystem of Windows that interprets mouse data for windowed applications.

Note  Settings in the driver itself are recognized by DirectInput. For example, if the user has a three-button mouse and uses the driver-utility software to make the middle button a double-click shortcut, DirectInput reports a click of the middle button as two clicks of the primary button.

For a joystick or other game controller, DirectInput does use the calibrations set by the user in Control Panel.