what is a gui

[mikey388]

can someone please clarify what a GUI is i have looked in the glossary etc but there is no definition.
thanks

[jimmalenko]

Graphical User Interface

[Sifaga]

A GUI (usually pronounced GOO-ee) is a graphical (rather than purely textual) user interface to a computer. As you read this, you are looking at the GUI or graphical user interface of your particular Web browser. The term came into existence because the first interactive user interfaces to computers were not graphical; they were text-and-keyboard oriented and usually consisted of commands you had to remember and computer responses that were infamously brief. The command interface of the DOS operating system (which you can still get to from your Windows operating system) is an example of the typical user-computer interface before GUIs arrived. An intermediate step in user interfaces between the command line interface and the GUI was the non-graphical menu-based interface, which let you interact by using a mouse rather than by having to type in keyboard commands.

Your too fast Jim

[ZippyP.]

In the old days of DOS we had to enter commands by typing them in, then windoze came along with it's point and click interface. I believe the Mac was one of the first GUI's and windoze followed behind.

[mikey388]

THANK YOU ALL

[Capmaster]

I believe the Mac was one of the first GUI's and windoze followed behind.

The very first (called Star) was invented by Xerox at their Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1977.

[tim6661234]

Yes, they let Apple in to look at the technology and thats were the inspiration for thier GUI came from. They didn't steal it as they had the managementd premmision much to the research's dismay. They then sued Microsoft for copying it in windows. Copying a copy you might say!

What they missed was the networking and OOPs (Object Oriented Programming). All the thing we credit Microsoft with (well some do).


This thing was way before its time and Xerox gave it away!