A windowing system is a graphical user interface (GUI) which uses the window as one of its primary metaphors. It is normally one part of a larger desktop environment. It has been suggested that Look and feel be merged into this article or section. ... An example of a graphical user interface in Windows XP, with the My Music window displayed A window is a visual area, usually rectangular in shape, containing some kind of user interface, displaying the output of and allowing input for one of a number of simultaneously running computer processes. ... In graphical computing, a desktop environment (DE) offers graphical user interface (GUI) solution to operate a computer. ...

From a programmer's point of view, a windowing system implements graphical primitives such as rendering fonts or drawing a line on the screen, effectively providing an abstraction of the graphics hardware. A programmer or software developer is someone who programs computers, i. ... A Specimen of typeset fonts and languages, by William Caslon, letter founder; from the 1728 Cyclopaedia. ...

A window system enables the computer user to work with several programs at the same time. Each program runs in its own window, which is a rectangular area of the screen. Most window systems allow windows to overlap, and provide means for the user to perform standard operations such as moving/resizing a window, sending a window to the foreground/background and minimizing/maximizing a window.

Some window systems, like X, have advanced capabilities such as network transparency, allowing the user to run graphical applications on a remote machine. KDE 3. ... In a centralized database system, the only available resource that needs to be shielded from the user is the data, (that is, the storage system). ... A remote computer is a computer to which a user does not have physical access, but which he or she can access/manipulate via some kind of network from a local computer (one which the user does have physical access to). ...

See also

• History of the graphical user interface

The graphical user interface, or GUI (pronounced gooey), is a computer interface that uses graphic icons and controls in addition to text. ...

List of windowing systems

• 8½ and rio for Plan 9
• GEM
• Fresco/Berlin
• NEXTSTEP
• Quartz Compositor for Mac OS X
• X Window System
• Y Window System
• Some operating systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS (version 9 and earlier), and Palm OS, contain a windowing system which is integrated with the OS.

rio is Plan 9s window system. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... GEM (Graphical Environment Manager) was a windowing system created by Digital Research, Inc. ... In computing, Fresco (formerly known as Berlin) is a windowing system. ... NeXTSTEP is the original object-oriented, multitasking operating system that NeXT Computer, Inc. ... Quartz Compositor is the windowing system that is responsible for the user interface in Mac OS X. On a Mac OS X system, the Quartz Compositor can be seen in a process list as Window Manager or, in more recent versions, WindowServer. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... KDE 3. ... The Y Window System (Also known as Y-Windows) is a windowing system, consisting of a window server and a client library for writing applications. ... Microsoft Windows is a series of popular proprietary operating environments and operating systems created by Microsoft for use on personal computers and servers. ... On January 24th, 1984 Apple Computer introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer, with the Macintosh 128K model, which came bundled with the Mac OS operating system, then known as the System Software. ... Sherlock 2 for Mac OS 9 with the new metallic appearance Mac OS 9 was the last version of what has since become known as the classic Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS), introduced by Apple Computer on October 23, 1999. ... Palm OS is an operating system made by PalmSource, Inc. ...

References