computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...

, the desktop metaphor is an interface metaphor which is a set of unifying concepts used by

graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...

s to help users interact more easily with the computer. The desktop metaphor treats the

computer monitor A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a electronic visual display, visual display, support electronics, power supply, Housing (engineering), housing, electri ...

as if it is the top of the user's

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...

, upon which ''objects'' such as

document A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...

s and folders of documents can be placed. A document can be opened into a

window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent ma ...

, which represents a paper copy of the document placed on the desktop. Small applications called desk accessories are also available, such as a desk calculator or notepad, etc. The desktop metaphor itself has been extended and stretched with various implementations of

desktop environment In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphi ...

s, since access to features and

usability Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a softw ...

of the computer are usually more important than maintaining the 'purity' of the

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

. Hence one can find trash cans on the desktop, as well as disks and network volumes (which can be thought of as

filing cabinet A filing cabinet (or sometimes file cabinet in American English) is a piece of office furniture for storing paper documents in file folders. In the most simple context, it is an enclosure for drawer (furniture), drawers in which articles are sto ...

s—not something normally found ''on'' a desktop). Other features such as menu bars or taskbars have no direct counterpart on a real-world desktop, though this may vary by environment and the function provided; for instance, a familiar wall calendar can sometimes be displayed or otherwise accessed via a taskbar or menu bar belonging to the desktop.

History

The desktop metaphor was first introduced by

Alan Kay Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) published by the Association for Computing Machinery 2012 is an American computer scientist who pioneered work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) design. At Xerox ...

, David C. Smith, and others at Xerox PARC in 1970 and elaborated in a series of innovative software applications developed by PARC scientists throughout the ensuing decade. The first computer to use an early version of the desktop metaphor was the experimental Xerox Alto, and the first commercial computer that adopted this kind of interface was the

Xerox Star The Xerox Star workstation, officially named Xerox Star 8010 Information System, is the first commercial personal computer to incorporate technologies that have since become standard in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window- ...

. The use of window controls to contain related information predates the desktop metaphor, with a primitive version appearing in

Douglas Engelbart Douglas Carl Engelbart (January 30, 1925 – July 2, 2013) was an American engineer, inventor, and a pioneer in many aspects of computer science. He is best known for his work on founding the field of human–computer interaction, particularly ...

's " Mother of All Demos", though it was incorporated by PARC in the environment of the

Smalltalk Smalltalk is a purely object oriented programming language (OOP) that was originally created in the 1970s for educational use, specifically for constructionist learning, but later found use in business. It was created at Xerox PARC by Learni ...

language. One of the first desktop-like interfaces on the market was a program called Magic Desk I. Built as a cartridge for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

in 1983, a very primitive GUI presented a low resolution sketch of a desktop, complete with telephone, drawers, calculator, etc. The user made their choices by moving a sprite depicting a hand pointing by using the same

joystick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...

the user may have used for

video gaming Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...

. Onscreen options were chosen by pushing the fire button on the joystick. The Magic Desk I program featured a

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

graphically emulated complete with audio effects. Other applications included a calculator,

rolodex A Rolodex is a rotating card file device used to store a contact list. Its name, a portmanteau of the words "rolling" and "index", has become somewhat genericized for any personal organizer performing this function, or as a metonym for a total a ...

organiser, and a

terminal emulator A terminal emulator, or terminal application, is a computer program that emulates a video terminal within some other display architecture. Though typically synonymous with a shell or text terminal, the term ''terminal'' covers all remote term ...

. Files could be archived into the drawers of the desktop. A trashcan was also present. The first computer to popularise the desktop metaphor, using it as a standard feature over the earlier

command-line interface A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

was the

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

in 1984. The desktop metaphor is ubiquitous in modern-day personal computing; it is found in most

s of modern operating systems:

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

as well as

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

, and other

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X, *nix or *NIX) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Uni ...

systems. BeOS observed the desktop metaphor more strictly than many other systems. For example, external hard drives appeared on the 'desktop', while internal ones were accessed clicking on an

icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

representing the computer itself. By comparison, the Mac OS places all drives on the desktop itself by default, while in Windows the user can access the drives through an icon labelled "Computer".

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

terminology for its desktop metaphor was taken directly from workshop jargon. The desktop was called

Workbench A workbench is a sturdy table at which manual work is done. They range from simple flat surfaces to very complex designs that may be considered tools in themselves. Workbenches vary in size from tiny jewellers benches to the huge benches used by ...

, programs were called

tools A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ...

, small applications ( applets) were utilities, directories were drawers, etc. Icons of objects were animated and the directories are shown as drawers which were represented as either open or closed. As in the

classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...

and

desktop, an icon for a

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

would appear on the desktop when the disk was inserted into the drive, as it was a virtual counterpart of a physical floppy disk or CD-ROM on the surface of a workbench.

Paper paradigm

The ''paper paradigm'' refers to the

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

used by most modern computers and operating systems. The paper paradigm consists of, usually, black text on a white background, files within folders, and a "desktop". The paper paradigm was created by many individuals and organisations, such as

, Xerox PARC, and

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Co ...

, and was an attempt to make computers more user-friendly by making them resemble the common workplace of the time (with papers, folders, and a desktop). It was first presented to the public by Engelbart in 1968, in what is now referred to as "

The Mother of All Demos "The Mother of All Demos" was a landmark computer demonstration, named retroactively, of developments by Stanford Research Institute's Augmentation Research Center. It was presented at the Association for Computing Machinery / Institute of Ele ...

". From John Siracusa:

Back in 1984, explanations of the original Mac interface to users who had never seen a GUI before inevitably included an explanation of
icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, saints, and angels. Although especially ...
that went something like this: "This icon represents your file on disk." But to the surprise of many, users very quickly discarded any semblance of indirection. This icon ''is'' my file. My file ''is'' this icon. One is not a "representation of" or an "interface to" the other. Such relationships were foreign to most people, and constituted unnecessary mental baggage when there was a much more simple and direct connection to what they knew of reality.

Since then, many aspects of computers have wandered away from the paper paradigm by implementing features such as "shortcuts" to files,

hypertext Hypertext is E-text, text displayed on a computer display or other electronic devices with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access. Hypertext documents are interconnected by hyperlinks, which are typic ...

, and non-spatial file browsing. A shortcut (a link to a file that acts as a redirecting proxy, not the actual file) and hypertext have no real-world equivalent. Non-spatial file browsing, as well, may confuse novice users, as they can often have more than one window representing the same folder open at the same time, something that is impossible in reality. These and other departures from real-world equivalents are violations of the pure paper paradigm.

Notes and references

External links

ArsTechnica article on the spatial Mac OS Finder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Desktop Metaphor User interface techniques User interfaces Graphical user interfaces Software architecture Metaphors by type fr:Environnement de bureau#Métaphore du bureau

History

Paper paradigm

See also

Notes and references

External links