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The history of the graphical user interface, understood as the use of graphic icons and a pointing device to control a computer, covers a five-decade span of incremental refinements, built on some constant core principles. Several vendors have created their own windowing systems based on independent code, but with basic elements in common that define the WIMP "window, icon, menu and pointing device" paradigm.
In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. The desktop environment was seen mostly on personal computers until the rise of mobile computing. Desktop GUIs help the user to easily access and edit files, while they usually do not provide access to all of the features found in the underlying operating system. Instead, the traditional command-line interface (CLI) is still used when full control over the operating system is required.
Fluxbox is a stacking window manager for the X Window System, which started as a fork of Blackbox 0.61.1 in 2001, with the same aim to be lightweight. Its user interface has only a taskbar, a pop-up menu accessible by right-clicking on the desktop, and minimal support for graphical icons. All basic configurations are controlled by text files, including the construction of menus and the mapping of key-bindings. Fluxbox has high compliance to the Extended Window Manager Hints specification.
twm is a window manager for the X Window System. Started in 1987 by Tom LaStrange, it has been the standard window manager for the X Window System since version X11R4. The name originally stood for Tom's Window Manager, but the software was renamed Tab Window Manager by the X Consortium when they adopted it in 1989. twm is a stacking window manager that provides title bars, shaped windows and icon management. It is highly configurable and extensible.
ratpoison is a tiling window manager for the X Window System primarily developed by Shawn Betts. ratpoison is written in C; Betts' StumpWM re-implements a similar window manager in Common Lisp. The user interface and much of their functionality are inspired by the GNU Screen terminal multiplexer.
A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment. They work in conjunction with the underlying graphical system that provides required functionality—support for graphics hardware, pointing devices, and a keyboard, and are often written and created using a widget toolkit.
Ambient is a MUI-based desktop environment for MorphOS. Its development was started in 2001 by David Gerber. Its main goals were that it should be fully asynchronous, simple and fast. Ambient remotely resembles Workbench and Directory Opus Magellan trying to mix the best of both worlds.
WindowBlinds is a computer program that allows users to skin the Windows graphical user interface. It has been developed by Stardock since 1998, and is the most popular component of their flagship software suite, Object Desktop. It is also available separately, and as an ActiveX/COM component called DirectSkin. Introduced in its sixth version, it supports alpha blending effects similar to the compositing of Windows Vista, but on Windows XP.
In computing, a theme is a preset package containing graphical appearance and functionality details. A theme usually comprises a set of shapes and colors for the graphical control elements, the window decoration and the window. Themes are used to customize the look and feel of a piece of computer software or of an operating system.
A menu bar is a graphical control element which contains drop-down menus.
Amiga software is computer software engineered to run on the Amiga personal computer. Amiga software covers many applications, including productivity, digital art, games, commercial, freeware and hobbyist products. The market was active in the late 1980s and early 1990s but then dwindled. Most Amiga products were originally created directly for the Amiga computer, and were not ported from other platforms.
AmigaOS is the proprietary native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. Since its introduction with the launch of the Amiga 1000 in 1985, there have been four major versions and several minor revisions of the operating system.
Workbench is the graphical file manager of AmigaOS developed by Commodore International for their Amiga line of computers. Workbench provides the user with a graphical interface to work with file systems and launch applications. It uses a workbench metaphor for representing file system organisation.
Zune is an object-oriented GUI toolkit which is part of the AROS project and nearly a clone, at both an API and look and feel level, of Magic User Interface (MUI), a well-known Amiga shareware product by Stefan Stuntz.
AmiKit is a compilation of 425 pre-installed and pre-configured Amiga programs running on Windows, macOS, Linux computers and on Amiga computer with Vampire V2 card.
Amiga support and maintenance software performs service functions such as formatting media for a specific filesystem, diagnosing failures that occur on formatted media, data recovery after media failure, and installation of new software for the Amiga family of personal computers—as opposed to application software, which performs business, education, and recreation functions.
AmigaOS is a family of proprietary native operating systems of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers. It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, in 1985. Early versions of AmigaOS required the Motorola 68000 series of 16-bit and 32-bit microprocessors. Later versions were developed by Haage & Partner and then Hyperion Entertainment. A PowerPC microprocessor is required for the most recent release, AmigaOS 4.
Amiga Forever is an Amiga preservation, emulation and support package published by Cloanto, which allows Amiga software to run on non-Amiga hardware legally and without complex configuration.
Scalos is a desktop replacement for the original Amiga Workbench GUI, based on a subset of APIs and its own front-end window manager of the same name. Its goal is to emulate the real Workbench behaviour, plus integrating additional functionality and an enhanced look. As stated on its website, the name "Scalos" was inspired by the fictional time-accelerated planet Scalos in the Star Trek episode "Wink of an Eye".
Qvwm is a simple, lightweight window manager, which is intended to be a reimplementation of the Windows 95 interface for Linux systems. Released in 1996 under the GNU General Public License, it features a start menu, a taskbar incorporating a system tray, and Windows-like task-switching. The project's name comes from wordplay references to Japanese words and Roman numbers. In 2000, Linux Format called Qvwm "an unusually impressive imposter".
References
- ↑ Proffitt, Brian (October 4, 2000). "From the Desktop: Amiga, We Hardly Knew Ye, Looking at AmiWM". Linux Planet. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ Livermore, Chris (Christmas 1997). "NetBSD". Amiga Format. No. 105. Future Publishing. p. 87. ISSN 0957-4867.
- ↑ "amiwm". July 20, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ Saunders, Mike (April 2007). "Skins alive! Old-school skin: Amiga Workbench". Linux Format. No. 91. Future plc. p. 58. ISSN 1470-4234.
- ↑ Proffitt, Brian (October 4, 2000). "From the Desktop: Amiga, We Hardly Knew Ye - page 2, Looking at AmiWM". Linux Planet. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ↑ "amiwm". March 15, 1998. Archived from the original on March 13, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2017.