Graphical user interface: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:29, 6 December 2003

Revision as of 16:47, 19 December 2003

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The graphical user interface is generally contrasted with the [[command line interface]] (CLI).

Because GUIs and TUIs tend to show most or all relevant categories of commands on the display, users often learn them faster than CLIs,. butsince usersthe withchoice visionof orwhich motionoptions [[disability]]to oftendisplay havehere troubleand navigatingnow inhas abeen GUI,made andfor mostthe commercialuser, GUIsfull use atof leasta anGUI orderoften oftakes magnitudeconsiderable time. A CLI typically treats options/choices as more computeror powerless thanequal and so mastering a CLI, makinggenerally includes a more extensive facility than with a GUI. unwieldyA onsomewhat oldercaustic hardwarecomment about the pre-OS X Macintosh interface encapsulates this: you can learn to use a Macintosh in 30 minutes, but after six months you will have learned nothing more about using a Macintosh.

Users with vision or motion [[disability]] often have trouble navigating in a GUI, and most commercial GUIs urequire at least an order of magnitude more computer power (CPU speed, RAM, disk space, display resolution and response, ...) than a CLI, making a GUI unwieldy on less expensive, smaller, or older hardware.

''See also'': [[History of the GUI]], [[UIML]], [[Fitts' law]], [[Anti-Mac]], [[Apple v. Microsoft]]