Going for a trip down GUI memory lane

GUIdebook, a website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces

Sunday, May 15, 2005 by Thomas Thomassen | Discussion: Websites

I came across this website today with an extensive collection of various graphical user interfaces from various Operating Systems dating back to the learly 80's. The site is very nicely organized, making it very easy to find spesific information about whatever system you are looking for. You can find anything from, startup screens to shutdown screens, even sounds can be sampled.

If you are looking for good images to create nostalgic skins/themes, relive the old days or simply curious, this is a really good site.

It also features some articles and links related to GUI design and history.
11 Reply 11 Referrals
crissy14
Reply #1 Sunday, May 15, 2005 4:03 PM
Cool website! Thanks for the link. My first OS was plain old dos (no GUI). I then progressed to Win 3.1. How drab 3.1 looks now! I'm now at WinXP Pro, and thinking about installing linux if I can ever get this dang computer to function properly.

PixelPirate
Reply #2 Sunday, May 15, 2005 4:19 PM
Cool, Ars Technica has an article about the history of the GUI:

Link

_02
Reply #3 Sunday, May 15, 2005 5:37 PM
Wow, that is a trip down memory lane! Thanks for the link.

Lantec
Reply #4 Sunday, May 15, 2005 7:47 PM
Neat site...
I didn't see X-Windows. I was a charter member of AOL and I remember they Liscensed a version of X-Windows as their first platform. I think Microsoft was in version 2 by this time, and it was a decent alternative as both ran on top of MSDOS.

Chris TH
Reply #5 Sunday, May 15, 2005 8:44 PM
They also missed DEC's GEM http://www.seasip.info/Gem/History/gem1.html

Posted via WinCustomize Browser/Stardock Central

kona0197
Reply #6 Monday, May 16, 2005 12:48 AM
They didn't say much about KDE and Gnome and other GUI window managers for Linux. Interesting.

jtfolden
Reply #7 Tuesday, May 17, 2005 4:06 PM
Lantec, my old brain is getting foggy but wasn't it GEOS (with it's simple Motif look) that AOL used initially?

PurrBall
Reply #8 Tuesday, May 17, 2005 6:50 PM
also http://www.winhistory.de/ is a good site. It is als avaliable in English (which is what I have it bookmared as)

Lantec
Reply #9 Wednesday, May 18, 2005 6:36 AM
jtfolden, I had to go take a look at the screen pic they have up for GEOS and you may be right. It looks close. I have a vague memory of it actually having the X-Windows branding on it, but I could have some synapse damge from those days. I was one of the first 1000 members (which gauranteed me the rate of $22.50 per hour for life) It didn't last very long as it was clunky and slow compared with CIM and the Prodigy services it was competing with.

Lantec
Reply #10 Wednesday, May 18, 2005 6:59 AM
Jtfolden - update
I just talked to a network admin in the building (older fella) who thinks it might be both. He says X-Windows may have been the client/server app that handled the connection with GEOS Ensemble being the OS and GUI however, he doesn't know for sure.

Tarkus
Reply #11 Wednesday, May 18, 2005 4:53 PM
No Atari?

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