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As stated below, previous Command Line Interface (CLI) systems were difficult to use, relying on precise typing of (often complex) text-string commands, such as DIR C:\DOS\*.EXE /s /od.

As well, CLIs did not present graphical material such as graphs and diagrams, although specialist programs could.

Word processing and page setting were difficult under CLIs, but the Graphical User Interface (popularised by Apple) finally gave true What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), giving accurate renditions of pages as they would print.

The Apple Macintosh is famous for its Graphical User Interface (GUI).

The GUI had been developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre (PARC), when Apple became aware of the technology. There was dispute about the legality of Apple's adoption of Xerox's invention.

Apple's first GUI-based outing was the Lisa. Its high price (over USD 20k in today's money) meant that it failed in the market. Its novelty probably caused resistance as well. For more, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Lisa

With Apple's second outing, the Macintosh, the GUI finally became accepted across the industry.

Another explanation.

In brief, the original intent of the Apple line of computers was to create an operating system that was accessible to a non-technical user. Remember, at that time computers were mostly DOS or UNIX-like systems (command line interface, where everything needed to be typed out as direct instructions to the system). Apple was the first major computer line to use a graphical user interface, point-and-click mouse, and other innovations that in this day allow computer to be used by just about anyone, without technical expertise.

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15y ago

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