Who introduced the first graphical user interface?
What are examples of a GUI operating system?
- Microsoft Windows
- Apple System 7 and macOS
- Chrome OS
- Linux variants like Ubuntu using a GUI interface.
What computer was first to use a graphical user interface?
The Xerox Alto was the first computer to use graphical icons and a mouse to control the system—the first graphical user interface (GUI). …the project that developed the Alto, the first personal computer, in 1973.
Who set the original standard for graphical user interfaces?
graphical user interface (GUI), a computer program that enables a person to communicate with a computer through the use of symbols, visual metaphors, and pointing devices. Best known for its implementation in Apple Inc.’s Macintosh and Microsoft Corporation’s Windows operating system, the GUI has
What set the original standard for graphical user interfaces?
Ways to conserve screen space are:
- Appropriate use of abbreviations: Many design documents recommend using complete words whenever possible. ...
- Avoid unnecessary detail: For example, use whole numbers if one does not need decimals. ...
- Use concise wording: Screens have limited space. ...
What is graphical user interface?
The graphical user interface is presented (displayed) on the computer screen. It is the result of processed user input and usually the main interface for human-machine interaction. The touch user interfaces popular on small mobile devices are an overlay of the visual output to the visual input.
Who created the On-Line System?
In the late 1960s, researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led by Douglas Engelbart, developed the On-Line System (NLS), which used text-based hyperlinks manipulated with a then-new device: the mouse. (A 1968 demonstration of NLS became known as " The Mother of All Demos .")
Why are GUIs used?
GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard . The actions in a GUI are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements.
What was the first GUI for Xerox?
The Xerox Star 8010 workstation introduced the first commercial GUI. The Xerox PARC user interface consisted of graphical elements such as windows, menus, radio buttons, and check boxes. The concept of icons was later introduced by David Canfield Smith, who had written a thesis on the subject under the guidance of Kay.
What is GUI wrapper?
Graphical user interface (GUI) wrappers find a way around the command-line interface versions (CLI) of (typically) Linux and Unix-like software applications and their text-based user interfaces or typed command labels. While command-line or text-based applications allow users to run a program non-interactively, GUI wrappers atop them avoid the steep learning curve of the command-line, which requires commands to be typed on the keyboard. By starting a GUI wrapper, users can intuitively interact with, start, stop, and change its working parameters, through graphical icons and visual indicators of a desktop environment, for example. Applications may also provide both interfaces, and when they do the GUI is usually a WIMP wrapper around the command-line version. This is especially common with applications designed for Unix-like operating systems. The latter used to be implemented first because it allowed the developers to focus exclusively on their product's functionality without bothering about interface details such as designing icons and placing buttons. Designing programs this way also allows users to run the program in a shell script .
What are the devices that are used in human interface?
Human interface devices, for the efficient interaction with a GUI include a computer keyboard, especially used together with keyboard shortcuts, pointing devices for the cursor (or rather pointer) control: mouse, pointing stick, touchpad, trackball, joystick, virtual keyboards, and head-up displays (translucent information devices at the eye level).
What is 3D graphics?
Three-dimensional graphics are currently mostly used in computer games, art, and computer-aided design (CAD). A three-dimensional computing environment can also be useful in other uses, like molecular graphics, aircraft design and Phase Equilibrium Calculations/Design of unit operations and chemical processes.
When was the GUI invented?
And sales of home computers took off like a rocket. So where did the GUI come from, and who invented it? In 1979 , the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center developed the first prototype for a GUI.
What was the first GUI-based computer?
When Jobs saw this prototype, he had an epiphany and set out to bring the GUI to the public. Apple engineers developed Lisa, the first GUI-based computer available to the public. It was too expensive; no one bought it. But the seed germinated into a flower that would change the world.
What is a GUI on a computer?
A GUI is an interface to your computer that gives you easy ways to navigate through your desktop and programs by showing you icons to represent folders, program names, and recycle bins. It also gives you the ability to use a mouse. Windows 95 and the Macintosh operating system each come with a GUI - your computer almost surely uses one.
Does Windows 95 have a GUI?
Windows 95 and the Macintosh operating system each come with a GUI - your computer almost surely uses one. Think back to that text-only interface of the old IBMs.
Who is the biggest software developer for Macintosh?
One of the biggest software developers for the Macintosh was a company called Microsoft. It wasn't long before Microsoft, headed up by one Bill Gates, entered the GUI game. Gates, who as near as I can tell has never had an original idea in his career, is nevertheless extremely good at copying the great ideas of others.
Is it criminal to port a metaphor to another platform?
It was ruled that porting a metaphor to another platform was not criminal. The rest is history. Apple is flailing around and Microsoft is poised for world domination, mostly on the strength of an idea that wasn't Gates' in the first place. But what a great idea it was.
Who was the first person to make GUI?
One of the first people to express these ideas was Vannevar Bush.
What did Douglas Englebart do?
Douglas Englebart completed his degree in electrical engineering in 1948 and settled down in a nice job at the NACA Institute (the forerunner of NASA). However, one day while driving to work he had an epiphany: he realized that his real calling as an engineer was not to work on small projects that might only benefit a few people. Instead, he wanted to work on something that would benefit all of humanity. He recalled Bush's essay and started thinking about ways in which a machine could be built that would augment human intellect. During the war he had worked as a radar operator, so he was able to envision a display system built around cathode ray tubes where the user could build models of information graphically and jump around dynamically to whatever interested them.
A little history of the graphical user interface
I’d like to start this article by talking about a documentary series about web design called “Abstract” on Netflix. In the second season there’s an episode on Digital Design that focuses not only the internal work of Instagram’s design team, led by Ian Spalter, but also references the beginnings of Interaction Design in general.
How did it all begin
Graphical User I nterface (GUI) arose precisely due to research done by engineers from the Xerox company ( Alan Kay, Larry Tesler, Dan Ingalls, David Smith, Clarence Ellis and a number of other researchers) with a background in Human Factors, and therefore expertise in human/machine behavior.
Conclusions
As you can see, understanding the basic concepts of interaction design is a total necessity for becoming a professional UX designer. Additionally, there are other rules and guidelines that will also help designers create a strong interaction design, such as the principles of design.
When did GUIs start?
GUIs emerged in the 1970s and have evolved from the rather rudimentary systems to quite complex ones today. Whether you write programs, emails, use a word processor, a spreadsheet or play a game it is the existence of GUIs that makes their use simple for you. This page relates the graphical user interface history.
Who was the first person to think about computers?
These ideas were later expounded in his 1945 article “ As We May Think ” and they influenced Douglas Engelbart . Engelbart expressed his view on computers in the 1962 paper “ Augmenting Human Intellect “, on how computers would help people solve problems and design things.
When was the Xerox 8010 released?
Xerox 8010 GUI. 1983-84. Apple Lisa and the Mac. After visits of Apple’s Steve Jobs to Xerox in 1979 to see the Alto, Apple engineers used the XEROX GUI concepts to develop the Apple Lisa and Macintosh systems with the well known GUIs. Lisa was released in 1983 and the Mac in 1984.
What type of keyboard did Engelbart use?
During the first demo, Engelbart used a standard typewriter-style keyboard, a five-key function type coded keyboard (allowing 32 combinations), and a small rectangular box with two wheels connected to the computer: the first mouse.
What is a GUI?
The graphical user interface (GUI) is the now very familiar user interface that allows you to interact with computers or smartphones through graphical icons using a mouse or touch screen. Years ago you would have used a text-based user interface, and typed strange sounding commands. You can still use these the “Terminal” or command line modes of todays operating systems. GUIs emerged in the 1970s and have evolved from the rather rudimentary systems to quite complex ones today. Whether you write programs, emails, use a word processor, a spreadsheet or play a game it is the existence of GUIs that makes their use simple for you. This page relates the graphical user interface history.
When was the Geos version of IBM?
PC GEOS. The PC/GEOS version for the IBM PC running DOS was introduced in 1990 by Berkley Software renamed GeoWorks Co. Interestingly there were several modes of GEOS for “beginning” and “advanced” users. The nice looking GeoManager ran applications in resizable/minimizable windows.
When was Perq first used?
PERQ was demonstrated in 1979 at the computer graphics conference SIGGRAPH. The PERQ window manager partitioned the screen into overlapping, user dimensionable windows and supported menus and light buttons. The “process mechanism” used the window manager to allow direct user control of multiple concurrent processes.

Overview
Early research and developments
Early dynamic information devices such as radar displays, where input devices were used for direct control of computer-created data, set the basis for later improvements of graphical interfaces. Some early cathode-ray-tube (CRT) screens used a light pen, rather than a mouse, as the pointing device.
The concept of a multi-panel windowing system was introduced by the first re…
The 1990s: Mainstream usage of the desktop
The widespread adoption of the PC platform in homes and small businesses popularized computers among people with no formal training. This created a fast-growing market, opening an opportunity for commercial exploitation and of easy-to-use interfaces and making economically viable the incremental refinement of the existing GUIs for home systems.
Current trends
General Magic is the apparent parent of all modern smartphone GUI, i.e. touch-screen based including the iPhone et al. In 2007, with the iPhone and later in 2010 with the introduction of the iPad, Apple popularized the post-WIMP style of interaction for multi-touch screens, with those devices considered to be milestones in the development of mobile devices.
See also
• Windowing system
• Bill Atkinson
• The Blit (graphics terminal by Rob Pike, 1982)
• Direct manipulation interface
External links
• Raj Lal "User Interface evolution in last 50 years", Digital Design and Innovation Summit, San Francisco, Sept 20, 2013
• Jeremy Reimer. "A History of the GUI" Ars Technica. May 5, 2005.
• "User Interface Timeline" George Mason University
Overview
The graphical user interface is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, instead of text-based UIs, typed command labels or text navigation. GUIs were introduced in reaction to the perceived steep learning curve of command-line interfaces (CLIs), which require commands to be typed on a computer keyboard.
External links
• Evolution of Graphical User Interface in last 50 years by Raj Lal
• The men who really invented the GUI by Clive Akass
• Graphical User Interface Gallery, screenshots of various GUIs
• Marcin Wichary's GUIdebook, Graphical User Interface gallery: over 5500 screenshots of GUI, application and icon history
GUI and interaction design
Designing the visual composition and temporal behavior of a GUI is an important part of software application programming in the area of human–computer interaction. Its goal is to enhance the efficiency and ease of use for the underlying logical design of a stored program, a design discipline named usability. Methods of user-centered design are used to ensure that the …
Components
A GUI uses a combination of technologies and devices to provide a platform that users can interact with, for the tasks of gathering and producing information.
A series of elements conforming a visual language have evolved to represent information stored in computers. This makes it easier for people with few com…
Post-WIMP interface
Smaller app mobile devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones typically use the WIMP elements with different unifying metaphors, due to constraints in space and available input devices. Applications for which WIMP is not well suited may use newer interaction techniques, collectively termed post-WIMP UIs.
As of 2011, some touchscreen-based operating systems such as Apple's iOS (iPhone) and Android use …
Interaction
Human interface devices, for the efficient interaction with a GUI include a computer keyboard, especially used together with keyboard shortcuts, pointing devices for the cursor (or rather pointer) control: mouse, pointing stick, touchpad, trackball, joystick, virtual keyboards, and head-up displays (translucent information devices at the eye level).
There are also actions performed by programs that affect the GUI. For example, there are comp…
History
Ivan Sutherland developed Sketchpad in 1963, widely held as the first graphical computer-aided design program. It used a light pen to create and manipulate objects in engineering drawings in realtime with coordinated graphics. In the late 1960s, researchers at the Stanford Research Institute, led by Douglas Engelbart, developed the On-Line System (NLS), which used text-based hyperlinks manipulated …
Comparison to other interfaces
Since the commands available in command line interfaces can be many, complex operations can be performed using a short sequence of words and symbols. Custom functions may be used to facilitate access to frequent actions. Command-line interfaces are more lightweight, as they only recall information necessary for a task; for example, no preview thumbnails or graphi…