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A History of Every GUI Ever

Posted by Hemos on from the walking-through-history dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I stumbled upon this site - GUIdebook, that offers a history of every GUI, from command prompts, to GEOS for the commodore 64, through Mac OSX. It's an interesting stroll down memory lane."

19 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. http://www.oldos.org/ by jmays · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't forget about Old OS. Also an interesting site!

    Includes the tragedy that is Microsoft BOB!

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  2. Slashdotted by LGagnon · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's the Google cache.

    1. Re:Slashdotted by 0x0d0a · · Score: 4, Informative

      Google doesn't store images. Right back at square one.

      The Wayback Machine doesn't have it, and it's probably too late for anyone to mirror it.

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  3. Re:what? by J.+Jacques · · Score: 2, Informative

    If it's displayed on a screen, couldn't it technically be called "graphical"?

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  4. Re:Yes well done /. by renelicious · · Score: 2, Informative

    Google Link

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  5. Another GUIde! by Krik+Johnson · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since this site is slashdotted, there is another GUide that I know about, which is also interesting.

    Nathan's GUI gallery. It has every version of windows, many macs, Unixes, plain wierd ones and of course the infamous Microsoft Bob. The IE is evil section is hilarious as well!

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  6. Re:what? by WormholeFiend · · Score: 2, Informative

    well, historically (which is the point here), the term "Graphic User Interface" served to describe the Mac and Windows mouse-icon-menu way of shielding users from internal computer processes and make the system easier to use than the command-line interface.

  7. Re:what? by RetroGeek · · Score: 4, Informative

    couldn't it technically be called "graphical"

    Let's not start re-inventing technical meanings. Graphical is not Text.

    A text system cannot by definition display graphics. The original IBM had two basic modes for the display, text and graphics. You had to switch them within your program. Text was MUCH faster, so you only went to graphical when you had to. It was also easier to code to the text mode.

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  8. Re:CLI is a GUI? by maximilln · · Score: 2, Informative

    udeproject.sourceforge.net

    The binary is 90kb. It supports multiple workspaces, raising/lowering/resizing/hiding windows, background pics, color schemes, and very simple window decorations which "stay out of the way".

    My favorite...

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  9. Re:Nice... by Doogly · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, TOS was the kernal....GEM was the GUI. I loved my GEM 520ST Black and White. The mushy, crunchy square keys on the keyboard....wow!

  10. Re:what? by Dreadlord · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nope, there is a difference, a good discussion of the differences between text and graphical interfaces can be found here.

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  11. GUI is graphics, CHUI is text by kherr · · Score: 4, Informative

    CHUI stands for CHaracter User Interface. Pronounced "chew-ee". I like the term for text-based interfaces, as a counterpart to the GUI. A CLI is a command-line interface, which is really somewhat different from a CHUI. Remember all those DOS apps with text-based windows and menus? Curses and Vermont Views are good examples of CHUI libraries.

  12. Three ways to do graphics in text mode by tepples · · Score: 5, Informative

    A text system cannot by definition display graphics.

    Redefinable font lets you display graphics in text mode. The Defrag utility in MS-DOS 6.22 used this.

    The PC's codepages have a glyph consisting of the top half on and the bottom half off. Set each character cell's "on color" to one color and the "off color" to another and you can display graphics in text mode. Lots of ANSI BBS screens used this, and some business software packages used this for bar graphs and the like.

    And now the most from-left-field solution: Reprogramming the text generator to show four scanlines per row of glyphs rather than 16 (assuming VGA) lets you use the glyph with the left half on and the right half off for a 160x100 pixel 16 color video mode. Tunneler, an old DOS game, used this.

  13. Re:what? by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 3, Informative

    Let's not start re-inventing technical meanings.

    It's not a reinvention, though. The word usage in the computer user-interface field has always been at odds with the English language. But computers became so popular that they've wiped-out the original meaning.

    Graphical is not Text.

    That's exactly what the word means, though. In fact to be pedantically correct, a photograph or diagram isn't graphical. Only written text is by-definition "graphic".

    Use your dictionary: the very first definition listed is "Of or relating to a written representation". That's the oldest meaning of the word; the others are neologisms by comparison.

    To be linguistically correct, modern computers would be said to employ PUIs (Pictoral User Interfaces)

  14. Re:The joys of proportionally spaced fonts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative
    Um... Proportionally spaced fonts are those like Times, Helvetica, Verdana etc al - ones where each character can be of a different width.
    I think you mean monospaced fonts, kind of like this!
  15. In the Beginning was the Command Line by ShinyBrowncoat · · Score: 4, Informative

    I also recommend Neal Stephenson's excellent essay on the topic of GUIs, In the Beginning was the Command Line

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  16. Re:The joys of proportionally spaced fonts by pubjames · · Score: 1, Informative

    I think you mean monospaced fonts, kind of like this!

    Damn it you're right! Now I feel dumb...

  17. Re:what? by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's hard to believe there was a time when CGA was worth coveting, but it did offer 320x240 in 16 colors. :)

    Naw, that was EGA. CGA only offered four colors, and your choices were generally black, white, and either cyan and magenta or green and red. EGA made a big difference when playing Bard's Tale or Champions of Krynn. :)

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  18. Re:Nice... by gklinger · · Score: 2, Informative
    Yeah, he worked for Atari but I'm not going to give his real name as he has chosen not to do so. Any boy detective can find it if they make the slightest effort. I'll even give you a clue. He wrote Super Pac-Man for the Atari 5200 before going on to operating systems. He's mentioned in this article too. Sadly, he's right about TOS, or TOS-off as we disaffectionatelly called it. It sucked. Oh how I wish the Atari ST had shipped with OS 9. If it had, I might still have my hair.

    I've been meaning to thank him for his object code converter. I just never thought today would be that day.