WIMP (computing)

The English acronym WIMP is mostly for " Windows ", " icons ", "Menus" and " pointer " (or " pointing device "). It refers to the currently dominant basic concept of modern graphical user interfaces ( GUIs) for workstations. The four terms mean translated into German: windows, icons, menus and pointers.

Windows

Windows are usually side by side or over stock representable zones, the text and image documents, editing tools and a v. m. can contain. Some types of windows are freely variable in size and position, while others are used for example only to display warning dialogs with a fixed size and position.

Icons

Symbols (English Icon ) are usually compact images, documents, applications, application functions, and so represent and may be accompanied by a short explanatory text. Examples are warning symbols, tool icons, navigation buttons and favicon. Compared to mere lines of text icons have many functions and types of media quickly detected and intuitive are recognizable: "Man is growing rapidly in the picture a little note of what he read could no longer conceive. "

Menus

Menus are usually fold selection lists for Application functions are not available. So-called pull-down menus work just down (down) on others because its menu bar is always at the very top edge of the monitor - the latter has the ergonomic advantage that one does not have to pay attention to the exact height when you click on the menu bar, but the mouse pointer can let slide along the edge of the monitor. Accordingly, otherwise it behaves with pull-up menu ( at the bottom edge of the monitor ) and pop -up menus ( at any point ). Other menu types are pie menus, context menus, inter alia,

Pointer

The pointer is on the GUI monitor movable index and main machining symbol, which is (eg mouse ) controlled by a pointing device. Depending on the application context of the mouse pointer with a suitable symbol (arrow, cursor, gripping hand, index finger, hold, etc. ) represents the currently selected by the user index and processing position.

Special features of the WIMP methodology

Here is indirectly the basic concept of direct manipulation include: Using tool (program) can be any material (document ) in a building (operating system ) are processed to without typing command lines. On the human scale WIMP principle is based, inter alia, the WYSIWYG principle.

With the development of new control technologies such as multi-touch displays or data gloves and to progress toward ubiquitous computing ( Rechnerallgegenwärtigkeit ), however, weaknesses show this operating concept. This new control methods are the human intuition significantly adjusted as the WIMP - concept, so that the operator is faster and the user is distracted by the operator so much on its core business. This is it so far but still at the expense of universality.

History

The first milestone of the WIMP story is the other and developed at Stanford Research Institute under the direction of Douglas Engelbart NLS ( oN -Line System), which in 1968 was presented to the public. Some NLS developers changed in the early 1970s to the Xerox PARC in order to realize the WIMP -based Smalltalk, which in turn was the inspiration for Apple's Mac OS.