Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a way for people to talk to machines using pictures and symbols instead of just typing words. It lets users interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and things you can see on the screen.

GUIs were made because typing commands can be hard and takes time to learn. Now, instead of typing, you can just click or tap on what you want. This makes using computers and other devices much easier.

You can find GUIs not just on computers, but also on many handheld devices like MP3 players, gaming devices, smartphones, and even machines in offices and factories. They work best on screens that show flat pictures.

GUI and interaction design

Designing how a graphical user interface (GUI) looks and works helps make software easy and fun to use. The goal is to help people use programs better by making them simple and clear.

GUIs include buttons, menus, and windows that users can click or tap to do things. A well-designed GUI picks the right tools so users can easily finish their tasks. It also lets users change how the interface looks, making it easier to update when needed. Big parts like windows often show main content, such as web pages or messages, while smaller parts help users enter information.

Examples

Here are some examples of graphical user interfaces you might see on computers:

• GNOME Shell
• KDE Plasma 6
• MATE
• Windows on an example Wayland compositor
• Xfce
• Enlightenment
• Sugar
• A twm X Window System environment
• The dwm tiling window manager
• Cinnamon
• Phosh

Components

Main article: List of graphical user interface elements

Further information: WIMP (computing), Window manager, and Desktop environment

A graphical user interface (GUI) uses different tools to help people use computers. It makes it easy to get and give information.

GUIs have special parts like windows, pictures (icons), places to type (text fields), menus, and a pointer. These parts work together so even people who are new to computers can use software. The pointer is often a mouse, and it helps choose commands from menus and do things on the screen. A window manager helps different parts of the computer work together.

On personal computers, these parts look like a desktop. This makes it feel like you’re working on a real desk with papers and folders. The way things are arranged can change. Some lists show items in rows, while others show them in grids. Websites often use rows or columns to show pictures and information in neat lines.

Post-WIMP interface

Main article: Post-WIMP

Small mobile devices like personal digital assistants and smartphones often use special ways to interact because they have limited space and different input tools. Some newer ways of interacting, called post-WIMP UIs, work better for these devices.

Since 2011, touchscreen operating systems like Apple's iOS on the iPhone and Android have used post-WIMP GUIs. These let users use multiple fingers on the screen to do things like pinching and rotating, which a regular mouse cannot do.

Interaction

To use a graphical user interface, or GUI, you can use many tools. Common ones include a computer keyboard. You can also use pointing devices to move the cursor, such as a mouse, pointing stick, touchpad, trackball, joystick, or even virtual keyboards. Some devices have head-up displays that show information right in front of your eyes.

Programs can change how the GUI looks or works. Tools like inotify or D-Bus help different parts of a computer talk to each other.

History

Main article: History of the graphical user interface

In the past, people needed simpler ways to use computers. Before, you had to type commands to make a computer work. This was hard for many people.

One important early program was called Sketchpad, made in 1963. It let people draw and change pictures on a computer screen using a special tool. Later, researchers made a system that let you click on links using a new device called a mouse. In the 1970s, a place called Xerox PARC began using pictures, windows, and menus to help people use computers more easily. This idea spread, and many modern computers use these same picture-based ways to help users.

Soon, companies like Apple and Microsoft began making their own versions of these easy-to-use interfaces. By the 1990s, most computers had picture-based systems that made them simpler to use. Today, even phones and tablets use these kinds of interfaces to make them easy for everyone.

Comparison to other interfaces

Since the commands available in command line interfaces can be many, complex operations can be performed using a short sequence of words and symbols. Command-line interfaces are lighter because they only show the information needed for a task; they don’t show preview pictures or draw web pages. This allows greater efficiency and productivity once many commands are learned. But learning all the commands can take time because the command words may not be easy to remember. Also, using the command line can become slow and mistake-prone when users must type long commands with many details or several different file names at once. However, windows, icons, menus, and pointers (called WIMP interfaces) show users many tools that represent and can activate some of the system's available commands.

GUIs can sometimes be tricky when settings are hidden deep in a system or moved around during updates. Also, icons and boxes are usually harder for users to control using computer programs.

WIMP interfaces often use different settings, as the meaning of all keys and clicks on specific spots on the screen change often. Command-line interfaces use different settings only in limited ways, such as for the current folder and certain environment variables.

Most modern operating systems provide both a GUI and some level of a command-line interface, although the GUIs usually receive more attention.

GUI wrappers help make Linux and Unix-like software applications easier to use by avoiding the difficult learning curve of the command-line, which requires commands to be typed on the keyboard. By starting a GUI wrapper, users can easily interact with, start, stop, and change settings, through graphical icons and visual parts of a desktop environment. Applications may also offer both interfaces, and when they do the GUI is usually a WIMP wrapper around the command-line version. This is especially common with applications designed for Unix-like operating systems. These were often made first because it let developers focus on what the product does without worrying about design details such as making icons and placing buttons. Making programs this way also lets users run the program in a shell script.

Three-dimensional graphical user interface

Many games and programs use special graphics to show 3D objects on the screen. This makes interfaces look more interesting and can help show information in new ways. For example, some operating systems show changing windows like flipping cards or rotating cubes.

3D GUIs have also been imagined in science fiction stories and movies, where characters use advanced systems that feel like entering another world.