By: Christine Martz
Meaning of WIMP – “Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointing device”, is a graphical user
interface that allows a user to interact with the computer through the means of a
pointing device such as a mouse to select words from drop down menus or images such
as icons on the display screen that represent commands for movement, activation or
some other action.
The invention of the WIMP interface is credited to
Douglas Englebart and the Human Augmentation Project in the late 1960's.
The development of WIMP continued at Xerox PARC. The PARC research team designed
many of the elements that we associate with WIMP interfaces. Steve Jobs and
Apple created the Lisa computer in 1983 and the Macintosh in 1984, the first
mass-produced WIMP-based machines. In 1985, Microsoft proposed Windows, which
they intended to run on a variety of platforms.
“…Let us consider the mouse. This was an invention of
Xerox Parc as a crucial part of its revolutionary Windows, Icons, Menus and
Pointing device interface system. This interface and the mouse was popularised
first by Apple and then later taken up by the whole PC industry with great
enthusiasm, so much so that eventually it produced many species of mouse.” [Robin Bloor - VNU Business Publications]
“…The next wave along the evolutionary user interface path
was a tsunami. I'm referring, of course, to the introduction of the personal
computer, especially Microsoft's version of MS-DOS. The original PCs evolved
into current-day GUI-based WIMP systems as epitomized by Microsoft Windows.
(GUI stands for Graphical User Interface. WIMP is an acronym for Windows,
Icons, Menus, and Pointing device, or Windows, Icons, Mouse, and Pull-down menus).” [Jeff Tash - ITscout]
“…Further features often include "icons"; graphical
representations of programs and files. Such "objects" as windows and icons can
be manipulated by way of a mouse. This is summarized as the WIMP paradigm:
Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointing device.” [Steve Krause - skrause.org]
“…While maps are still being integrated in the classic Windows,
Icons, Menus and Pointing device (WIMP) interface, research in computer science
is attempting to find alternate forms of computer interaction. A criticism of the
WIMP interface is that it requires a considerable amount of concentration by making
users sit still and focus their attention on a screen. Other forms of information
display are much less demanding. Printed text, for example, surrounds us in many
ways but does not require the level of concentration of a WIMP interface.” [Michael P. Peterson - University of Nebraska]
“…The Apple Macintosh was a stunning commercial success.
Its many fans were enamored with its WIMP features, which made computing
seem much more natural than previous user interfaces such as command-line
interfaces employing typed-in text commands or menu-based interfaces that
offered lists or arrays of commands that the user activated by pressing
keys on the keyboard.” [BookRags, Inc.]
