Graphical user interface

A graphical user interface (or GUI, sometimes pronounced "gooey") is a method of interacting with a computer through a metaphor of direct manipulation of graphical images and widgets in addition to text.

GUIs versus CLIs

Because GUIs tend to show most or all relevant categories of commands on the display, users often learn them faster than a Command Line Interface (CLI). However, since the choice of displayed options to choose from has been made for the user and is usually more limited than the full set of options available, full use of the more arcane features of a GUI system often takes considerable time. In fact most users never use the complete featureset. By contrast, a CLI typically makes all options and choices equally accessible but also equally invisible and not easily remembered. A caustic comment about the 1984 Macintosh interface captures this: "you can learn to use a Macintosh in 30 minutes, but after six months you will have learned nothing more about using a Macintosh."

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Users with vision or motion disabilities often have trouble navigating in a GUI, and most commercial GUIs require at least an order of magnitude more computer power (CPU speed, RAM, disk space, display resolution and response, etc.) than a CLI, making a GUI unwieldy on less expensive, smaller, or older hardware. Designing suitable interfaces for handheld devices, such as PDA applications and their smartphone cousins, has been a major challenge for user interface designers, and some of the more successful diverge considerably from desktop computer designs. However, the manufacturers of these devices see this as a worthwhile investment; very few small and smart devices use a CLI.

Related Topics:
Disabilities - CPU - RAM - PDA - Smartphone

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