1991: The Year We All Got GUI (photos)
by Jason Perlow | April 17, 2011 8:22pm PDT | Image 1 of 15
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1: Microsoft DOS
In 1991, PCs predominantly ran on Microsoft's DOS Operating System. Unlike today, where the GUI (Graphical User Interface) is taken for granted in PCs for the OS and applications, the GUI and the OS were separate products. Extremely primitive by today's standards, DOS was a 16-Bit character-mode OS and had no built-in multitasking capabilities. It also used an unjournaled 16-bit directory-based filesystem, FAT, which was used on both floppy and hard disks and had an 11 character limit for filenames, hence the "8.3" file format with names such as AUTOEXEC.BAT.
In addition to Microsoft's DOS, IBM had it's own version, PC-DOS, that ran specifically on its PS/2 personal computers. Digital Research, which pioneered in the late 1970's with the forerunner to DOS, CP/M, also released its own DOS-compatible OS, DR-DOS, and eventually ended being owned by Novell and later, SCO.
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Seriously? You mentioned NeXT, OS/2, and a host of non-GUI programs but failed to mention Mac OS (aside from the brief mention of OS X in the NeXT description)?
@poch333: apple crybaby
And pointing out Mac OS is missing hardly qualifies as being a cry baby. Mac OS was an important part of history.
And pointing out Mac OS is missing hardly qualifies as being a cry baby. Mac OS was an important part of history.
@ye I agree, Macintosh had the GUI in 1984 and yet they get no mention of that. Then they show Photoshop and Corel Draw, both of which are on the Mac OS. What a bunch of poor research and writing.
@ye NeXT IS Mac OS X. I also discussed system 7 on the slide about Photoshop.
@jperlow: NeXT IS Mac OS X.
Mac OS pre-dated OS X by approximately 17 years. I think it was a gross omission.
I also discussed system 7 on the slide about Photoshop.
And? A cursory mention is all you can give it? IMO Mac OS was certainly deserving of its own mention. Especially when you spoke to DOS, DESQView, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, WordPerfect , etc which aren't even GUI programs.
Mac OS pre-dated OS X by approximately 17 years. I think it was a gross omission.
I also discussed system 7 on the slide about Photoshop.
And? A cursory mention is all you can give it? IMO Mac OS was certainly deserving of its own mention. Especially when you spoke to DOS, DESQView, Lotus 1-2-3, dBase, WordPerfect , etc which aren't even GUI programs.
@jperlow
Yes but you imply that the first GUI OS was made in 1991, and that is not even close to being accurate.
Yes but you imply that the first GUI OS was made in 1991, and that is not even close to being accurate.
In 1993 I was using Lotus 1-2-3 2.2 to generate data I would copy and paste into Lotus Freelance 3.01 for DOS to generate charts that I would save as .EPS files before importing them into WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS.
In 2011 I use MS Excel to generate data that I copy and paste into PowerPoint to generate charts that I export as enhanced Windows metafiles that I import into Word documents.
The more things change....
(OLE has never worked, ever, for anyone!)
In 2011 I use MS Excel to generate data that I copy and paste into PowerPoint to generate charts that I export as enhanced Windows metafiles that I import into Word documents.
The more things change....
(OLE has never worked, ever, for anyone!)
@meyestone
In 1993 I was doing the same as you.
But in 2011 my life is very different from yours. OLE works for me and gets used occasionally. But I don't need OLE all the time, since each of the Office apps is so powerful that I can often use one to do the whole job (especially Excel, which does deep analysis and can present to results beautifully).
Finally, the object model behind Office allows us to automate the process of making the tools work together. An Excel workbook which with one click creates a complete presentation in PowerPoint (using a PowerPoint template embedded with the OLE - which works just fine).
One could say. "In 1993 we typed on a keyboard and saw the result on a video monitor. And that is exactly the same as we do today". Equally you can make what we both did with 1-2-3, Freelance and WordPerfect sound like what we do today. But in my case, it is totally different.
In 1993 I was doing the same as you.
But in 2011 my life is very different from yours. OLE works for me and gets used occasionally. But I don't need OLE all the time, since each of the Office apps is so powerful that I can often use one to do the whole job (especially Excel, which does deep analysis and can present to results beautifully).
Finally, the object model behind Office allows us to automate the process of making the tools work together. An Excel workbook which with one click creates a complete presentation in PowerPoint (using a PowerPoint template embedded with the OLE - which works just fine).
One could say. "In 1993 we typed on a keyboard and saw the result on a video monitor. And that is exactly the same as we do today". Equally you can make what we both did with 1-2-3, Freelance and WordPerfect sound like what we do today. But in my case, it is totally different.
Hey folks, I know that XEROX's PARC has GUI goodies running before 1984, but that was the date that Macintosh brought GUI to the world. I'm a Windows guy, and even I know that 
@SteveMak - Mac *popularised* the GUI to the world; however, as you acknowledge, Apple most certainly weren't the first, contrary to what most Mac users seem to have been brainwashed to think.
The Xerox Alto launched in **1973** with a full GUI (icons, windows, scrollbars etc), mouse and ethernet networking (the latter of which Apple didn't add to the Mac for years, believing the floppy disk to be an acceptable alternative!).
That said, I agree the title of this article is bizarre - I don't see how 1991 was a particularly important milestone in the history of GUIs! :/
The Xerox Alto launched in **1973** with a full GUI (icons, windows, scrollbars etc), mouse and ethernet networking (the latter of which Apple didn't add to the Mac for years, believing the floppy disk to be an acceptable alternative!).
That said, I agree the title of this article is bizarre - I don't see how 1991 was a particularly important milestone in the history of GUIs! :/
@techrepublic@... How many did they sell to the general public? Exactly ZERO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto
The Xerox Alto was an early personal computer developed at Xerox PARC in 1973. It was the first computer to use the desktop metaphor and mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI).
It was not a commercial product, but several thousand units were built and were heavily used at PARC, other Xerox facilities, and at several universities for many years. The Alto greatly influenced the design of personal computers in the following decades, notably the Apple Macintosh and the first Sun workstations. It is now very rare and is a valuable collector's item.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_Alto
The Xerox Alto was an early personal computer developed at Xerox PARC in 1973. It was the first computer to use the desktop metaphor and mouse-driven graphical user interface (GUI).
It was not a commercial product, but several thousand units were built and were heavily used at PARC, other Xerox facilities, and at several universities for many years. The Alto greatly influenced the design of personal computers in the following decades, notably the Apple Macintosh and the first Sun workstations. It is now very rare and is a valuable collector's item.
@SteveMak
The "ALL" part of the title makes it clear that the assumption is that most people started using GUI through Microsoft software. Which is true given Microsoft's popularity. Therefore the article is not about the year GUI was invented, but more about when GUI became accessible to everyone.
The "ALL" part of the title makes it clear that the assumption is that most people started using GUI through Microsoft software. Which is true given Microsoft's popularity. Therefore the article is not about the year GUI was invented, but more about when GUI became accessible to everyone.
I think one of the things that caused Novell to shrink in its market share was the lack of a GUI long after Win 95 came out. The menu driven system was good if you knew what parts of the menu tree to use for different functions; but it was distracting to have to exit a submenu and move to different submenus in a heirarchical way that was rigid.
@sboverie@... lack of a GUI
Well you are talking about a NOS here, not your standard desktop. I was maintaining a OS/2 network and several Novell networks at the same time and it was far easier to navigate around the Novell admin programs than OS/2. A GUI didn't really do anything to help the server.
Well you are talking about a NOS here, not your standard desktop. I was maintaining a OS/2 network and several Novell networks at the same time and it was far easier to navigate around the Novell admin programs than OS/2. A GUI didn't really do anything to help the server.
@kjrider@... Absolutely. I was using GUI based Dr. T's Tiger sequencing software on the Atari 1040st around '88 or '89, not to mention other software for graphics, word processing and spreadsheet/data base.
GEOS OS for the Commodore 64 was relased in 1986. No love for the Commodore either.
Up until 1998 I was consulting for a major utility company which was deploying new custom software to over 3,000 OS/2 warp desktop computers. I'm certain that OS/2 still dominates the desktop there, perhaps it's unusual.
As recently as a few years ago I was able to find OS/2 drivers for modern hardware and install OS/2 Warp 4 on a desktop.. No sound card support, but I found network drivers.
As recently as a few years ago I was able to find OS/2 drivers for modern hardware and install OS/2 Warp 4 on a desktop.. No sound card support, but I found network drivers.
I was using GS/OS (on the Apple ][GS) in 1987. And, as everyone knows, Mac's GUI came out in 1984. I didn't use Windows as my primary OS until around 92 or 93, but by then, I'd been using GUI's for 5 or 6 years. Also, Windows 1.0 came out in 1985, so I'm not sure what the significance of 1991 is in regards to GUIs. The "world" was certainly "introduced" to GUIs when the Mac came out in 1984.
I was lucky enough to have been starting my career just as all these products were coming into being. Fanbois of all stripes have no idea what it took to get to this point.
There were lots and lots of other technologies, including all the "what about ____?" comments made here. But for anyone in business at the time, this is what you used at the office -- including After Dark!
There were lots and lots of other technologies, including all the "what about ____?" comments made here. But for anyone in business at the time, this is what you used at the office -- including After Dark!
No mention of the Tandy Deskmate. That was a GUI - of sorts. Too bad it was not developed further.
1991? I got mine in 1985.
Apple came first to market with a GUI, followed by the likes of Atari (using GEM in the ST1024 and ST2048 which you could convert to Mac if you could get hold of the Mac ROMs) and Commodore with the Amiga which for quite some time was the cheapest and best for genlocking for the consumer market and worked wonders for wedding videos.
And, I think, they all used the same 68xxx chips...
Apple came first to market with a GUI, followed by the likes of Atari (using GEM in the ST1024 and ST2048 which you could convert to Mac if you could get hold of the Mac ROMs) and Commodore with the Amiga which for quite some time was the cheapest and best for genlocking for the consumer market and worked wonders for wedding videos.
And, I think, they all used the same 68xxx chips...
ow if only dos would work along side win 7 I could have all my dos based games back "sigh
@cally_laws@...
DosBox. and D-Fend Reloaded. And Abandonia.
DosBox. and D-Fend Reloaded. And Abandonia.
and it was already 4 years old, it was the Mac OS and was in use by many. Not surprising from a Microshaft propeller head.
All comments about early GUI shold include the Amiga. It didn't soar but it was remarkable for the me.
the more things change....
the great innovators weren't (except PARC).All your great innovators did was see a possible business case/opportunity and try to imitate it or flat out steal it. They added their own ideas that they thought made it better but history proves that everything in PARC has come to fruition (enet,gui,mouse, menuing). Jobs didn't even invent the tablet (ms had tried in the late 90's. Any brilliance can be more attributed to right place/right time.
my .02
the great innovators weren't (except PARC).All your great innovators did was see a possible business case/opportunity and try to imitate it or flat out steal it. They added their own ideas that they thought made it better but history proves that everything in PARC has come to fruition (enet,gui,mouse, menuing). Jobs didn't even invent the tablet (ms had tried in the late 90's. Any brilliance can be more attributed to right place/right time.
my .02
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