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The First Commercial GUI

Xerox's Star workstation was the first commercial implementation of the graphical user interface. The Star was introduced in 1981 and was the inspiration for the Mac and all the other GUIs that followed. (Image courtesy of Xerox Corporation.)

The Mac GUI

The top screen shot is an early Mac desktop with "Power Dude" being the name of the hard disk. Look at the difference between the icons, fonts and window borders on the old user interface compared to the Mac OS X window below. (Top screen shot courtesy of Peter Hermsen.)

Early Windows

This was the Windows 2.0 interface in the late 1980s. As rigid as it looks, it was an improvement over Windows 1.0 because it supported resizable windows that could overlap. (Image courtesy of Ian Albert, www.ianalbert.com)

Unix Workstations

The Motif graphical interface was added to the command-line world of Unix workstations in the 1980s. (Screen shot courtesy of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.)

A Design Revolution

GUIs enabled all kinds of imaginative application interfaces. In this earlier Bryce 3D modeling program, the symbols at the bottom left were camera controls. The large one was the camera trackball, while the other three controlled the x, y and z axes. On top were primitive graphic elements, including an "organic rock generator," fourth from left. (Screen shot courtesy of MetaCreations Corporation.)

Custom Looks for Windows

Stardock's WindowBlinds allows Windows users to have a unique desktop look with hundreds of pre-built designs to choose from. SkinStudio lets the more creative custom design their own look. (Image courtesy of Stardock Corporation, Inc., www.stardock.com)

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