Graphical user interface: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:41, 16 February 2004

Revision as of 20:19, 16 February 2004

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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. sinceSince the choice of which options to display here and now has been made for the user, full use of a GUI often takes considerable time. A CLI typically treats options/choices as more or less equal and so mastering a CLI generally includes a more extensive facility than with a GUI. A somewhat caustic comment 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 require 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.