X Window System

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name = X Window System

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In computing, the X Window System (commonly X11 or X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays. It is the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces on Unix, Unix-like operating systems, and OpenVMS and is available for almost all modern operating systems.

Related Topics:
Computing - Windowing system - Bitmap - Graphical user interface - Unix - Unix-like - Operating system - OpenVMS

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X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the screen and interacting with a mouse and keyboard. X does not mandate the user interface — this is handled by individual programs. As such, the visual styling of X-based environments varies greatly; different programs may present radically different interfaces.

Related Topics:
Window - Screen - Mouse - Keyboard - User interface

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X features network transparency: the machine where application programs (the client applications) run need not be the user's local machine (the display server). X's usage of the terms "client" and "server" is the reverse of what people often expect, in that the "server" is the user's local display rather than the remote machine.

Related Topics:
Network transparency - Client - Server

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X originated at MIT in 1984. The current protocol version, X11, was released in September 1987. The project is led by the X.Org Foundation; the current reference implementation is version 11 release 6.8.2 and is free software under the MIT License and similar permissive licenses http://www.x.org/X11R6.8.2/doc/LICENSE1.html#1.

Related Topics:
MIT - 1984 - 1987 - X.Org Foundation - Reference implementation - Free software - MIT License

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