Macintosh user interface

Macintosh user interface

   <operating system> The {graphical user interface} used by
   {Apple Computer}'s {Macintosh} family of {personal computers},
   based on graphical representations of familiar office objects
   (sheets of paper, files, wastepaper bin, etc.) positioned on a
   two-dimensional "{desktop}" workspace.

   Programs and data files are represented on screen by small
   pictures ({icons}).  An object is selected by moving a {mouse}
   over the real desktop which correspondingly moves the
   {pointer} on screen.  When the pointer is over an icon on
   screen, the icon is selected by pressing the button on the
   mouse.

   A {hierarchical file system} is provided that lets a user
   "{drag}" a document (a file) icon into and out of a {folder}
   (directory) icon.  Folders can also contain other folders and
   so on.  To delete a document, its icon is dragged into a
   {trash can} icon.  For people that are not computer
   enthusiasts, managing files on the Macintosh is easier than
   using the {MS-DOS} or {Unix} {command-line interpreter}.

   The Macintosh always displays a row of menu titles at the top
   of the screen.  When a mouse button is pressed over a title, a
   {pull-down menu} appears below it.  With the mouse button held
   down, the option within the menu is selected by pointing to it
   and then releasing the button.

   Unlike the {IBM PC}, which, prior to {Microsoft Windows} had
   no standard {graphical user interface}, Macintosh developers
   almost always conform to the Macintosh interface.  As a
   result, users are comfortable with the interface of a new
   program from the start even if it takes a while to learn all
   the rest of it.  They know there will be a row of menu options
   at the top of the screen, and basic tasks are always performed
   in the same way.  Apple also keeps technical jargon down to a
   minimum.

   Although the Macintosh user interface provides consistency; it
   does not make up for an {application program} that is not
   designed well.  Not only must the application's menus be clear
   and understandable, but the locations on screen that a user
   points to must be considered.  Since the mouse is the major
   selecting method on a Macintosh, mouse movement should be kept
   to a minimum.  In addition, for experienced typists, the mouse
   is a cumbersome substitute for well-designed keyboard
   commands, especially for intensive text editing.

   {Urban legned} has it that the Mac user interface was copied
   from {Xerox}'s {Palo Alto Research Center}.  Although it is
   true that Xerox's {smalltalk} had a GUI and Xerox introduced
   some GUI concepts commercially on the {Xerox Star} computer in
   1981, and that {Steve Jobs} and members of the Mac and {Lisa}
   project teams visited PARC, Jef Raskin, who created the Mac
   project, points out that many GUI concepts which are now
   considered fundamental, such as dragging objects and pull-down
   menus with the mouse, were actually invented at Apple.

   {Pull-down menus} have become common on {IBM}, {Commodore} and
   {Amiga} computers.  {Microsoft Windows} and {OS/2}
   {Presentation Manager}, {Digital Research}'s {GEM},
   {Hewlett-Packard}'s {New Wave}, the {X Window System}, {RISC
   OS} and many other programs and operating environments also
   incorporate some or all of the desktop/mouse/icon features.

   {Apple Computer} have tried to prevent other companies from
   using some {GUI} concepts by taking legal action against them.
   It is because of such restrictive practises that organisations
   such as the {Free Software Foundation} previously refused to
   support ports of their software to Apple machines, though this
   ban has now been lifted.  [Why?  When?]

   (1996-07-19)