Digital Revolution: GUI

GUI Windows

Atif Nagi, Aug 01, 2015 Essay 03: Digital Revolution: (Artifact) Graphical User Interface Professor David Edwin Meyers IXDS5503 Media History and Theory Master of Arts Degree in Interactive Design Lindsey Wilson College, Columbia, Kentucky

Mac OS

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A graphical user interface or GUI is a type of interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators such as secondary notation, as opposed to text-based interfaces, 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 the keyboard.

The actions in a GUI are usually performed through direct manipulation of the graphical elements. In addition to computers, GUIs can be found in hand-held devices such as MP3 players, portable media players, gaming devices and smaller household, office and industry equipment. The term “GUI� tends not to be applied to other low-resolution types of interfaces with display resolutions, such as video games (where HUD is preferred), or not restricted to flat screens, like volumetric displays because the term is restricted to the scope of two-dimensional display screens able to describe generic information, in the tradition of the computer science research at the PARC (Palo Alto Research Center).

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KEY PERSONS

IN GUI HISTORY

Ada Countess of Lovelace 4

ADA COUNTESS OF LOVELACE Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852) was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine.

Because of this, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.

Ada described her approach as “poetical science” and herself as an “Analyst (& Metaphysician)”.

As a young adult, her mathematical talents led her to an ongoing working relationship and friendship with fellow British mathematician Charles Babbage, and in particular Babbage’s work on the Analytical Engine. Between 1842 and 1843, she translated an article by Italian

military engineer Luigi Menabrea on the engine,

She wrote: [The Analytical Engine] might act

which she supplemented with an elaborate set

upon other things besides number, were objects

of notes of her own, simply called Notes. These

found whose mutual fundamental relations

notes contain what many consider to be the

could be expressed by those of the abstract

first computer program—that is, an algorithm

science of operations, and which should be

designed to be carried out by a machine.

also susceptible of adaptations to the action of

Lovelace’s notes are important in the early history

the operating notation and mechanism of the

of computers. She also developed a vision of

engine...

the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching, while others,

Supposing, for instance, that the fundamental

including Babbage himself, focused only on

relations of pitched sounds in the science of

those capabilities. Her mind-set of “poetical

harmony and of musical composition were

science” led her to ask questions about the

susceptible of such expression and adaptations,

Analytical Engine examining how individuals and

the engine might compose elaborate and

society relate to technology as a collaborative

scientific pieces of music of any degree of

tool.

complexity or extent.

In

her

notes,

Lovelace

emphasized

the

This analysis was a conceptual leap from previous

difference between the Analytical Engine and

ideas about the capabilities of computing

previous calculating machines, particularly its

devices, and anticipated the capabilities and

ability to be programmed to solve problems of

implications of modern computing and GUI one

any complexity. She realised the potential of

hundred years before they were realized.

the device extended far beyond mere number crunching.

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Douglas Engelbart 6

DOUGLAS ENGELBART Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer and inventor, and an early computer and Internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly while at his Augmentation Research Center Lab in SRI International, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of

hypertext,

networked

computers,

and

precursors to graphical user interfaces. These were demonstrated at The Mother of All Demos in 1968. Engelbart’s Law, the observation that the intrinsic rate of human performance is

BOOM—that complexity was the fundamental thing,” he recalled. “And it just went click. If in some way, you could contribute significantly to the way humans could handle complexity and urgency, that would be universally helpful.”

Such an endeavor would address not just one of the world’s problems; it would give people

and more. “Then one day, it just dawned on me—

into Vannevar Bush’s vision that someday people would have their own terminals, which they could use to manipulate, store, and share

with one: augmented intelligence.

was along the lines that Vannevar Bush had proposed, Engelbart decided. As he tried to imagine conveying information on graphic screens in real time, his radar training in Navy came in handy. “It was within an hour that I had the image of sitting at a big screen with all

computer.” That day he set out on a mission to

probabilities, share information, organize people,

not yet publicly available. But Engelbart bought

The best way to help people handle complexity

Engelebart was looking for new venture

of the intricate ramifications of an action, weigh

commercial computers, such as UNIVAC, were

information. This expansive conception needed

kinds of symbols,” he recalled, “and you could

at any ambitious project, you had to assess all

and Steve Jobs were born. Even the very first

the tools to take on any problem.”

exponential, is named after him.

direction to solve people problem. “To succeed

This was in 1950, five years before Bill Gates

be operating all kinds of things to drive the find ways to allow people to visually portray the thinking they were doing and link them to other people so they could collaborate—in other words, networked interactive computers with

a suitably grand name, and Engelbart came up

Seventeen years after Bush had written “As We May Think,” there was still a radical feel to his concept that humans and computers should interact in real time through simple interfaces that included graphical screens, pointers, and input devices. Engelbart emphasized that his system wouldn’t be just for math: “Every person who does his thinking with symbolized concepts (whether in the form of the English language, pictographs, formal logic, or mathematics) should be able to benefit significantly.” Ada Lovelace would have been thrilled.

graphic displays.

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Ivan Sutherland 8

IVAN SUTHERLAND Ivan Sutherland (born May 16, 1938) is an American computer scientist and Internet pioneer. His early work in computer graphics as well as his teaching with David C. Evans in that subject at the University of Utah in the 1970’s was pioneering in the field. Sutherland, Evans,

He invented Sketchpad in 1962 while at

Professor of Electrical Engineering at Harvard

MIT. Professor Claude Shannon signed on

University. Work with student Danny Cohen in

to supervise Sutherland’s computer drawing

1967 led to the development of the Cohen–

thesis. Among others on his thesis committee

Sutherland computer graphics line clipping

were Marvin Minsky and Steven Coons.

algorithm. In 1968, with the help of his student

Sketchpad was an innovative program that

Bob Sproull, he created the first virtual reality

influenced alternative forms of interaction with

and augmented reality head-mounted display

computers. Sketchpad could accept constraints

system, named The Sword of Damocles.

and specified relationships among segments and arcs, including the diameter of arcs. It could

From 1968 to 1974, Sutherland was a professor

foundations of modern computer graphics.

draw both horizontal and vertical lines and

at the University of Utah. Among his students

combine them into figures and shapes. Figures

there were Alan Kay, inventor of the Smalltalk

He received the Turing Award from the

could be copied, moved, rotated, or resized,

language, Henri Gouraud who devised the

retaining their basic properties. Sketchpad also

Gouraud shading technique, Frank Crow, who

had the first window-drawing program and

went on to develop antialiasing methods, and

clipping algorithm, which allowed zooming.

Edwin Catmull, computer graphics scientist,

Sketchpad ran on the Lincoln TX-2 computer

co-founder of Pixar and now President of Walt

and influenced Douglas Engelbart’s oN-Line

Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

and his students from that era invented several

Association

for

Computing

Machinery

in

1988 for the invention of Sketchpad, an early predecessor to the sort of graphical user interface that has become ubiquitous in personal computers. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the National Academy of Sciences among many other major awards. In 2012 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology for “pioneering achievements in the development of computer graphics and interactive interfaces”.

System. Sketchpad, in turn, was influenced by the conceptual Memex as envisioned by

In 1968 he co-founded Evans and Sutherland

Vannevar Bush in his influential paper “As We

with his friend and colleague David C. Evans.

May Think”.

The company has done pioneering work in the field of real-time hardware, accelerated

From 1965 to 1968, Sutherland was an Associate

3D computer graphics, and printer languages.

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Former employees of Evans and Sutherland

purchased by Sun Microsystems to form the

Sketchpad was a computer program that

included the future founders of Adobe (John

seed of its research division, Sun Labs.

pioneered the use of a graphical user interface,

Warnock) and Silicon Graphics (Jim Clark).

Sutherland was a Fellow and Vice President at Sun

one that displayed icons and graphics on the

Microsystems. Sutherland was a visiting scholar

display screen, the way today’s computers

From 1974 to 1978 he was the Fletcher Jones

in the Computer Science Division at University

do. The graphics, which could be created

Professor of Computer Science at California

of California, Berkeley (Fall 2005–Spring 2008).

and manipulated with a light pen, provided a

Institute of Technology, where he was the

On May 28, 2006, Ivan Sutherland married Marly

charming new way for humans and computers

founding head of that school’s Computer Science

Roncken. Sutherland and Marly Roncken are

to interact. Sketchpad is considered to be the

department. He then founded a consulting firm,

leading the research in Asynchronous Systems

ancestor of modern computer-aided design

Sutherland, Sproull and Associates, which was

at Portland State University.

(CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in the development of computer graphics in general. For example, the graphical user interface (GUI) was derived from the Sketchpad as well as modern object oriented programming. Ivan Sutherland demonstrated with it that computer graphics could be used for both artistic and technical purposes in addition to showing a novel method of human-computer interaction.

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Alan Kay 11

ALAN KAY Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) is an American computer scientist. He has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of

was building there the best graphics program

computer interface appealed to Kay’s childlike

in the country. On the day that Kay arrived in

enthusiasm for making sure that the future would

the fall of 1966, Evans handed him a document

turn out to be fun. Sutherland’s ideas, he said,

from a stack on his desk and told him to read

were “a glimpse of heaven” and “imprinted”

it. It was the MIT doctoral dissertation of Ivan

him with a passion for creating friendly personal

Sutherland, who was then teaching at Harvard

computers.

but would soon move to Utah. Written under the supervision of the information theorist Claude

The field of computer graphics and natural

Shannon, the thesis was titled “Sketchpad:

user interfaces was on fire, and Kay soaked up

A Man-Machine Graphical Communications

ideas from many sources. At a conference at

user interface design.

System.”

the University of Illinois, Kay saw a rudimentary

He is the president of the Viewpoints Research

Sketchpad was a computer program that

neon gas. Putting that together in his mind

pioneered the use of a graphical user interface,

with Engelbart’s demonstrations of the oNLine

one that displayed icons and graphics on the

System, and roughly calculating the effect of

display screen, the way today’s computers

Moore’s Law, he realized that graphical displays

do. The graphics, which could be created

with windows, icons, hypertext, and a mouse-

and manipulated with a light pen, provided a

controlled cursor could be incorporated in small

charming new way for humans and computers

computers within a decade.

Engineering, and the Royal Society of Arts. He is best known for his pioneering work on objectoriented programming and windowing graphical

Institute, and an Adjunct Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also on the advisory board of TTI/Vanguard. Until mid-2005, he was a Senior Fellow at HP Labs, a Visiting Professor at Kyoto University, and an Adjunct Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

flat-screen display, made of thin glass with

to interact. “The Sketchpad system makes it possible for a man and a computer to converse

Kay saw the future with great clarity, and he

Atari’s chief scientist for three years.

rapidly through the medium of line drawings,”

became impatient to invent it. “There would

Sutherland wrote. The realization that art and

be millions of personal machines and users,

The computer science pioneer David Evans

technology could combine to create a delightful

mostly outside of direct institutional control,” he

After 10 years at Xerox PARC, Kay became

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realized. This would require the creation of small

from an Italian printer in the early sixteenth

tools for individual creativity. He dreamed of

personal computers with graphical displays

century named Aldus Manutius, who realized

kids wandering into the woods and using them

easy enough for a kid to use and cheap enough

that personal books would need to fit into

under trees, just as they might use crayons and

for every individual to own. “It all came together

saddlebags and thus produced ones of the size

a pad of paper.

to form an image of what a personal computer

now common. Likewise, Kay recognized that

really should be.”

the ideal personal computer had to be no larger

Kay accepted an offer in 1971 to join a

than a notebook. “It was easy to know what to

corporate research center two miles away that

In his doctoral thesis he described some of its

do next,” he recalled. “I built a cardboard model

was attracting young innovators who wanted to

traits, most notably that it should be simple

of it to see what it would look and feel like.

make computers that were personal, friendly,

(“It must be learnable in private”) and friendly

and geared to individuals. McCarthy would later

(“Kindness should be an integral part”). He was

Kay’s vision was that powerful small computers,

dismiss these goals as “Xerox heresies,” but

designing a computer as if he were a humanist

complete

they ended up setting the course for the era of

as well as an engineer. He drew inspiration

processing power, would become personal

with

their

own

memory

Notebook mockup

and

personal computers.

Alto 13

Bill Gates 14

BILL GATES Bill Gates (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate, philanthropist, investor, computer programmer, and inventor. In 1975, Gates co-founded Microsoft, the world’s largest PC software company, with Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, and was the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. Gates has authored and co-authored several books.

In September 1981 Microsoft secretly began designing a new operating system, intended to replace DOS, based on the desktop metaphor

Microsoft launched its first retail version of Microsoft Windows on November 20, 1985, and in August, the company struck a deal with IBM to develop a separate operating system called OS/2. Although the two companies successfully developed the first version of the new system, mounting creative differences caused the partnership to deteriorate.

Windows

eventually

clawed

its

way

to

dominance. The market share commanded by Microsoft Windows reached 80 percent by 1990 and kept rising, to 95 percent by 2000.

with windows, icons, mouse, and pointer. In November 1983, Gates held a press conference at the Palace Hotel in Manhattan. He announced that Microsoft was developing a new operating system that would be available for IBM PCs and their clones, featuring a graphical user interface.

It would be called Windows.

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Steve Jobs 16

STEVE JOBS Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s (along with engineer, inventor, and Apple Computer cofounder, Steve Wozniak). Shortly after his death, Jobs’ official biographer, Walter Isaacson described him as the “creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones,

what Xerox PARC had created. Its researchers

The GUI was made possible by bitmapping,

had given hundreds of demonstrations to visitors,

another innovation pioneered at Xerox PARC.

and they had already distributed more than a

With his feel for design, familiarity with fonts,

thousand Xerox Altos, the expensive computer

and love of calligraphy, Jobs was blown away

developed by Lampson, Thacker, and Kay that

by bitmapping. “It was like a veil being lifted

used a graphical user interface and other PARC

from my eyes,” he recalled.

innovations. But Jobs was the first to become obsessed with the idea of incorporating PARC’s interface ideas into a simple, inexpensive, personal computer.

When Job’s saw the full presentation, “You’re sitting on a goldmine,” he shouted. “I can’t

“I could see what the future of computing was destined to be.”

As Jobs drove back to Apple’s office in Cupertino, at a speed that would have awed even Gates, he told his colleague Bill Atkinson that they had

tablet computing, and digital publishing.”

believe Xerox is not taking advantage of this.”

to incorporate—and improve upon—Xerox’s

Jobs’s two main visits with his team to Xerox

What caught his attention was the graphical

such as the forthcoming Lisa and Macintosh.

PARC were in December 1979. Jef Raskin, an Apple engineer who was designing a friendly computer that would eventually become the Macintosh, had already seen what Xerox was

user interface featuring a desktop metaphor that was as intuitive and friendly as a neighborhood playground. It had cute icons for documents and folders and other things you might want,

doing & wanted to convince Jobs to look into it.

including a trash-can, and a mouse-controlled

Eureka moment

did Jobs love it, but also he could see ways to

Jobs was certainly not the first outsider to see

improve it, make it simpler and more elegant.

cursor that made them easy to click. Not only

graphical interface in future Apple computers, “This is it!” he shouted. “We’ve got to do it!” It was a way to bring computers to the people.

Later, when he was challenged about pilfering Xerox’s ideas, Jobs quoted Picasso: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” He added, “And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

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THE ROLES OF XEROX, APPLE, AND MICROSOFT IN GUI At Xerox PARC, Alan Kay, Doug Engelbart, and their colleagues had developed, most notably the graphical user interface (GUI, pronounced GOO-ee), which featured a desktop metaphor with windows, icons, and a mouse that served as a pointer. The creativity of the Xerox PARC team combined with the design and marketing genius of Steve Jobs (Apple) would make the GUI the next great leap in facilitating the humanmachine interaction that Bush, Licklider, and Engelbart had envisioned.

The GUI was made possible by bitmapping, another innovation pioneered at Xerox PARC. Until then, most computers, including the Apple II, would merely generate numerals or letters on the screen, usually in a ghastly green against

a black background. Bitmapping allowed each

be called Windows. Although Microsoft’s GUI

and every pixel on the screen to be controlled by

was shoddy, with tiled windows that could not

the computer—turned off or on and in any color.

overlap with each other and graphics that looked

That permitted all sorts of wonderful displays,

like they had been designed by drunkards in a

fonts, designs, and graphics.

Siberian basement. Nevertheless, Windows eventually clawed its way to dominance, not

The Apple team simplified the mouse so it had

because its design was better but because its

only one button, gave it the power to move

business model was better. The market share

documents and other items around the screen,

commanded by Microsoft Windows reached 80

allowed file extensions to be changed just by

percent by 1990 and kept rising, to 95 percent

dragging a document and “dropping” it into a

by 2000.

folder, created pull-down menus, and allowed the illusion of documents piling on top of each

The primary reason for Microsoft’s success

other and overlapping.

was that it was willing and eager to license its operating system to any hardware maker. Apple,

Meanwhile, in September 1981, Microsoft

by contrast, opted for an integrated approach.

secretly began designing a new operating

Its hardware came only with its software and

system, intended to replace DOS, based on

vice versa. Jobs was an artist, a perfectionist,

the desktop metaphor with windows, icons,

and thus a control freak who wanted to be in

mouse, and pointer. In November 1983, Gates

charge of the user experience from beginning

held a press conference at the Palace Hotel in

to end. Apple’s approach led to more beautiful

Manhattan. He announced that Microsoft was

products, a higher profit margin, and a more

developing a new operating system that would

sublime user experience. Microsoft’s approach

be available for IBM PCs and their clones,

led to a wider choice of hardware. It also turned

featuring a graphical user interface. It would

out to be a better path for gaining market share.

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BASIC COMPONENTS OF A GUI Graphical user interfaces, such as Microsoft Windows and the one used by the Apple Macintosh,

feature

the

following

basic

components: Pointer A symbol that appears on the display screen and that you move to select objects and commands.

Usually, the pointer appears as a small angled arrow. Text -processing applications, however, use an I-beam pointer that is shaped like a capital I. Pointing device A device, such as a mouse or trackball, that enables you to select objects on the display screen.

Icons Small pictures that represent commands, files, or windows. By moving the pointer to the icon and pressing a mouse button, you can execute a command or convert the icon into a window.

You can also move the icons around the display screen as if they were real objects on your desk.

Desktop The area on the display screen where icons are grouped is often referred to as the desktop because the icons are intended to represent real objects on a real desktop.

Windows You can divide the screen into different areas. In each window, you can run a different program or display a different file. You can move windows around the display screen, and change their shape and size at will.

Menus Most graphical user interfaces let you execute commands by selecting a choice from a menu.

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GUI TIMELINE

1981

1973

successor to the Alto.

The first operational Alto computer is completed

Features: Double-clickable icons, overlapping

at Xerox PARC. The Alto is the first system to pull together all of the elements of the modern

Xerox introduces the Star, the commercial

program for the IBM PC but does not release it until 1985.

Features: Is supposed to have overlapping / resizable windows.

windows, dialog boxes and a 1024x768 monochrome display.

Graphical User Interface.

Features: 3-button mouse, Bit-mapped display.

The use of graphical windows, Ethernet network.

1984 Apple introduces the Macintosh.

1983 Apple introduces the Lisa.

Features: Pull down menus and menu bars.

1980 Three Rivers Computer Corporation introduces the Perq graphical workstation.

Visi Corp releases Visi On, the first integrated graphical software environment for IBM PCs. Microsoft announces their new “Windows”

Digital Research announces its GEM icon/ desktop user interface for 8086- and DOSbased computers. It also was later ported to the Atari ST. “window system X” announced at MIT. Versions 1-6 were monochrome only, and ran 20

on DEC VS100’s displays connected to VAXen

Microsoft finally releases the first version of

and VAXstations 1 and 2. Versions 8-10 dealt

Windows.

with color, for the VAXstation II/GPX. X10 is the

Features: Windows can not be overlapped, but

first version that saw widespread availability

are instead “tiled”. Windows are not allowed to

and use on many vendor’s systems. Version

cover an area at the bottom of the screen that is

11 was redesign for higher performance, more

reserved for “iconized” programs

window management styles, extensibility and better graphics capabilit

1986 Apple threatens to sue Digital Research because the GEM desktop looked too much like Apple’s Macintosh.

Digital

Research

cripples

the

desktop application so Apple will not sue.

The new GEM desktop now has just two unmovable, non-resizable windows for file browsing.

Tandy releases Personal DeskMate for their Tandy 1000 EX. Features: This is the first graphical version of 1985

Tandy’s previously text-based integrated office

Geos released for Commodore 64 and later the

package.

Apple II. Commodore introduces the Amiga 1000 with the Amiga Workbench Version 1.0.

1987 Apple introduces the Apple Macintosh II, the first color Macintosh.

Features: 640*480*256 color with 24 bit color card available.

Microsoft releases the second version of Windows, version 2.03.

Features: Finally has resizable / overlapping windows and new windowing controls.

Acorn releases “Arthur” for the Acorn computer, it is the basis for RISC OS. RISC OS 2 and 3 21

have a similar look, but an improved feel.

The NeXT Computer is released for $6500. It includes a 25 MHz ‘30 processor, 8 MB RAM,

1992 IBM releases OS/2 Version 2.0, a true 32-bit OS. Features a new “Workplace Shell”, an object

Apple releases Finder 1.0 for their Apple IIGS

250 MB optical disk drive, math coprocessor,

ProDOS 16 v1.3 (Later changed to GS/OS)

digital processor for real time sound, fax modem,

operating system. Earlier versions of ProDOS 16

and a 17” monitor.

with the rest of the OS.

1990

Microsoft introduces Windows 3.1. The user

had a GUI but only a simple launcher application as a shell, and bundled Apple II Desktop/ MouseDesk instead.

Commodore releases Amiga Workbench 2 for the A3000. Features: New 3d effects, a revised menu system and many other improvements.

Windows 3.0 released by Microsoft Features: Program Manager shell.

PC-GEOS released by GeoWorks.

oriented user interface that is heavily integrated

interface is basically the same as Windows 3.0 but now includes their “multimedia” enhancements.

Quarterdeck Office Systems ships Desqview/X Features: Adds a Unix-like X “Server” to their existing text-based Desqview product. Can run Windows 3.1 as an X client application.

Amiga Workbench 3 released for AGA Amigas.

Features: Images for backgrounds, color pallet

1988 IBM releases OS/2 1.10 Standard Edition (SE) which added a graphical user interface called Presentation Manager. (OS/2 1.0 was text mode only!) The 1.10 GUI was written by Microsoft and looked like Windows 2.

remapping.

1993 Microsoft releases the first version of Windows NT, their 32-bit OS. They give it the version number “3.1” and use the same user interface they do for regular Windows 3.1. Made available 22

for Intel, Power PC, Alpha, and MIPS systems.

same user interface as Windows 95.

1999

1995

1997

Microsoft introduces Windows 95 on August

Mac OS 8 is finally released. Selling 1.25 million

OS with their Macintosh GUI.

24th.

copies in less than 2 weeks, it becomes the

Apple releases Mac OS X Server, a Unix based

best-selling software in that period.

2000 Apple announces Aqua, the new look for their upcoming MacOS X client.

1998 Microsoft releases Windows 98.

Features:

Internet

Explorer

Web

browser

application takes over the role of the Windows shell, advertising right on the desktop, entire help system replaced by Internet Explorer.

KDE 1.0 released Features: A very Windows 9x like environment 1996 New Deal releases New Deal Office 2.5, which was formerly PC-GEOS. IBM Releases OS/2 Warp 4 with a significant facelift for the Workplace Shell.

Microsoft releases Windows NT 4.0 with the

for Linux.

Shane Brooks Releases 98Lite, an installer that removes or prevents the installation of Internet Explorer with Windows 98.

Features: No Internet Explorer or advertising, all the hardware support of Windows 98, faster boot time, and the more responsive Windows 95 shell.

Microsoft Windows 2000 (AKA Windows NT 5) becomes available in stores.

Features: The Internet Explorer web browser application finally takes over the Windows NT UI. 23

2001

2007

Microsoft releases Windows XP (AKA Windows

After a long wait, Microsoft finally releases

NT 5.1)

Windows Vista (Windows NT 6.0).

Features:

Tons of eye candy.

“Product

Features: 3D hardware-rendered user interface

Activation” tethers XP to the existence of the

like MacOS X.

Microsoft corporation. The dog from Microsoft

Bundles IE 7,. unremovable as always.

Bob.

Increased Digital Restrictions Management that tries to prevent playback or duplication of unlicensed audio and video material.

important as the last vaguely sane version of Windows.

2011 Ubuntu releases 11.4 with it’s new Unity interface.

Features: Removes the task bar.

Launcher merges the role of the taskbar and the top panel’s shortcuts. The Top Bar displays the menu of the current foreground application like the MacOS menu bar. The Home Button and the “Dash” replace the Applications Menu.

2003 Microsoft releases Windows Server 2003 (AKA Windows NT 5.2 and for a time called “Windows.

2009

NET server”)

Windows 7 (NT 6.1) released - relatively little

Features:

difference over Vista, but may be historically

Drops the eye candy. Server-only

release.

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2012

2014

Microsoft releases Windows 8 (NT 6.2), placing

OS X Yosemite is the eleventh major release of

a minimalist interface optimized for mobile

OS X, Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating

devices over its Vista/7 desktop interface.

system for Macintosh computers.

2015

have a Microsoft Live internet account. These

Yosemite introduced a major overhaul of

the strengths of Windows 8 with Windows 7.

“apps” all run in a full screen DOS like mode

OS X’s user interface. Its graphics replaced

ironically called “Modern UI” (formerly called

skeuomorphism with flat graphic design and

Metro prior to release.) Heavily promotes

blurred translucency effects, following the

impractical “touch” navigation of the UI on

aesthetic introduced with iOS 7.

Features: “Apps” that you can only use if you

desktop systems.

Mouse navigation uses

iOS since iOS 7.

Microsoft releases Windows 10. This combines A major aspect of Windows 10 is a focus on harmonizing user experiences and functionality between different classes of devices, along with addressing shortcomings in the Windows user interface that were introduced in Windows 8.

Continuing with this pattern, the successor to

invisible non-discoverable actions involving the corners of the screen.

in early versions of OS X through Tiger and in

Windows Phone 8.1 unveiled at the same event

Removes the “Start”

is also branded as Windows 10, and will share

menu from the desktop mode. Other changes

some user interface elements and apps with its

leave the desktop a confusing mix of UIs.

PC counterpart.

Other design changes include new icons, light and dark color schemes, and the replacement of Lucida Grande with Helvetica Neue as the default system typeface. The Dock is now a 2D translucent rectangle instead of a skeuomorphic glass shelf, reminiscent of the Dock design used 25

2014

OS X YOSEMITE

26

2015

WINDOWS 10

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References: http://toastytech.com/guis/guitimeline.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interface http://www.apple.com/ca/osx/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X_Yosemite#/media/File:OS_X_Yosemite_Desktop.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Sutherland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

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