Getting the browser cursor from "wait" to "auto" without the user moving the mouse

I use this jQuery code to set the mouse pointer to its busy state (hourglass) during an Ajax call...

$('body').css('cursor', 'wait');

and this corresponding code to set it back to normal...

$('body').css('cursor', 'auto');

This works fine... on some browsers.

On Firefox and IE, as soon as I execute the command, the mouse cursor changes. This is the behavior I want.

On Chrome and Safari, the mouse cursor does not visibly change from "busy" to "auto" until the user moves the pointer.

What is the best way to get the reluctant browsers to switch the mouse pointer?

Solution 1:

I would rather do it more elegantly like so:

$(function(){  
  $("html").bind("ajaxStart", function(){  
     $(this).addClass('busy');  
   }).bind("ajaxStop", function(){  
     $(this).removeClass('busy');  
   });  
});

CSS:

html.busy, html.busy * {  
  cursor: wait !important;  
}  

Source: http://postpostmodern.com/instructional/global-ajax-cursor-change/

Solution 2:

It is a bug in both browsers at the moment. More details at both links (in comments as well):

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=26723

and

http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=20717