Going for a trip down GUI memory lane

GUIdebook, a website dedicated to preserving and showcasing Graphical User Interfaces

http://www.aci.com.pl/mwichary/guidebook/
from WinCustomize Forums
I came across this website today with an extensive collection of various graphical user interfaces from various Operating Systems dating back to the learly 80's. The site is very nicely organized, making it very easy to find spesific information about whatever system you are looking for. You can find anything from, startup screens to shutdown screens, even sounds can be sampled.

If you are looking for good images to create nostalgic skins/themes, relive the old days or simply curious, this is a really good site.

It also features some articles and links related to GUI design and history.
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7,377 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Cool website! Thanks for the link. My first OS was plain old dos (no GUI). I then progressed to Win 3.1. How drab 3.1 looks now! I'm now at WinXP Pro, and thinking about installing linux if I can ever get this dang computer to function properly.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Cool, Ars Technica has an article about the history of the GUI:

Link
WindowBlinds - Free yourself of the default settings, customize your desktop.
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Wow, that is a trip down memory lane! Thanks for the link.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Neat site...
I didn't see X-Windows. I was a charter member of AOL and I remember they Liscensed a version of X-Windows as their first platform. I think Microsoft was in version 2 by this time, and it was a decent alternative as both ran on top of MSDOS.
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
They also missed DEC's GEM http://www.seasip.info/Gem/History/gem1.html

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Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
They didn't say much about KDE and Gnome and other GUI window managers for Linux. Interesting.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Lantec, my old brain is getting foggy but wasn't it GEOS (with it's simple Motif look) that AOL used initially?
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
also http://www.winhistory.de/ is a good site. It is als avaliable in English (which is what I have it bookmared as)
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
jtfolden, I had to go take a look at the screen pic they have up for GEOS and you may be right. It looks close. I have a vague memory of it actually having the X-Windows branding on it, but I could have some synapse damge from those days. I was one of the first 1000 members (which gauranteed me the rate of $22.50 per hour for life) It didn't last very long as it was clunky and slow compared with CIM and the Prodigy services it was competing with.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jtfolden - update
I just talked to a network admin in the building (older fella) who thinks it might be both. He says X-Windows may have been the client/server app that handled the connection with GEOS Ensemble being the OS and GUI however, he doesn't know for sure.