Graphical user interface: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:57, 9 March 2003

Revision as of 19:03, 9 April 2003

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[[de:GUI]] [[fr:GUI]] [[ja:グラフィカルユーザインターフェース]] [[pl:GUI]]

A '''graphical user interface''' (or '''GUI''', often pronounced "goo-ee") is a method of [[human-computer interaction|interacting with a computer]] that uses graphical images and widgets in addition to text.

The graphical user interface was invented at [[Xerox PARC]] and most modern GUIs are derived from it. (Some say GUIs were conseputalized by [[Doug Englebart]] and first created by Xerox.) For this reason, some people call this class of interface a PARC User Interface (PUI). The PUI consists of [[widget]]s such as [[window (computing)|windows]], menus[[menu (computing)|menu]]s, buttons[[button (computing)|button]]s, [[radio boxesbox]]es, and icons[[icon (computing)|icon]]s, and employs a [[pointing device]] (such as mouse, trackball, or touchscreen) in addition to a keyboard. For this reason, many people refer to PUIs as WIMPs (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointer).

Examples of systems that support PUIs are [[Mac OS]], [[Microsoft Windows]], and the [[X Window System]]. The latter is extended with toolkits such as [[KDE]] and [[GNOME]].

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Because GUIs and TUIs tend to show most or all relevant categories of commands on the display, users often learn them faster than CLIs, but users with vision or motion [[disability]] often have trouble navigating in a GUI, and most commercial GUIs use at least an order of magnitude more computer power than a CLI, making a GUI unwieldy on older hardware.

''See also'': [[History of the GUI]], [[human-computer interaction]], [[UIML]], [[Fitts' law]], [[Anti-Mac]]