Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Macintosh user interface
     
         The {graphical user interface} used by
        {Apple Computer}'s {Macintosh} family of {personal computers},
        based on graphical representations of familiar office objects
        (sheets of paper, files, wastepaper bin, etc.) positioned on a
        two-dimensional "{desktop}" workspace.
     
        Programs and data files are represented on screen by small
        pictures ({icon}s).  An object is selected by moving a {mouse}
        over the real desktop which correspondingly moves the
        {pointer} on screen.  When the pointer is over an icon on
        screen, the icon is selected by pressing the button on the
        mouse.
     
        A {hierarchical file system} is provided that lets a user
        "{drag}" a document (a file) icon into and out of a {folder}
        (directory) icon.  Folders can also contain other folders and
        so on.  To delete a document, its icon is dragged into a
        {trash can} icon.  For people that are not computer
        enthusiasts, managing files on the Macintosh is easier than
        using the {MS-DOS} or {Unix} {command-line interpreter}.
     
        The Macintosh always displays a row of menu titles at the top
        of the screen.  When a mouse button is pressed over a title, a
        {pull-down menu} appears below it.  With the mouse button held
        down, the option within the menu is selected by pointing to it
        and then releasing the button.
     
        Unlike the {IBM PC}, which, prior to {Microsoft Windows} had
        no standard {graphical user interface}, Macintosh developers
        almost always conform to the Macintosh interface.  As a
        result, users are comfortable with the interface of a new
        program from the start even if it takes a while to learn all
        the rest of it.  They know there will be a row of menu options
        at the top of the screen, and basic tasks are always performed
        in the same way.  Apple also keeps technical jargon down to a
        minimum.
     
        Although the Macintosh user interface provides consistency; it
        does not make up for an {application program} that is not
        designed well.  Not only must the application's menus be clear
        and understandable, but the locations on screen that a user
        points to must be considered.  Since the mouse is the major
        selecting method on a Macintosh, mouse movement should be kept
        to a minimum.  In addition, for experienced typists, the mouse
        is a cumbersome substitute for well-designed keyboard
        commands, especially for intensive text editing.
     
        {Urban legned} has it that the Mac user interface was copied
        from {Xerox}'s {Palo Alto Research Center}.  Although it is
        true that Xerox's {smalltalk} had a GUI and Xerox introduced
        some GUI concepts commercially on the {Xerox Star} computer in
        1981, and that {Steve Jobs} and members of the Mac and {Lisa}
        project teams visited PARC, Jef Raskin, who created the Mac
        project, points out that many GUI concepts which are now
        considered fundamental, such as dragging objects and pull-down
        menus with the mouse, were actually invented at Apple.
     
        {Pull-down menu}s have become common on {IBM}, {Commodore} and
        {Amiga} computers.  {Microsoft Windows} and {OS/2}
        {Presentation Manager}, {Digital Research}'s {GEM},
        {Hewlett-Packard}'s {New Wave}, the {X Window System}, {RISC
        OS} and many other programs and operating environments also
        incorporate some or all of the desktop/mouse/icon features.
     
        {Apple Computer} have tried to prevent other companies from
        using some {GUI} concepts by taking legal action against them.
        It is because of such restrictive practises that organisations
        such as the {Free Software Foundation} previously refused to
        support ports of their software to Apple machines, though this
        ban has now been lifted.  [Why?  When?]
     
        (1996-07-19)