[W/K] :: Macintosh user interface

  Macintosh user interface
       
           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)