This site details the timeline of vaious graphical user interfaces, starting with Xerox’s Alto in 1973. The first GUI desktop I started to play around with is GEM, pictured here, for the Commodore 64. The major problem with these early environments was speed– GEM was darn slow, to the point that it was not usable on a daily basis. Too taxing for the hardware of the day, I guess…

The NeXTStep operating system really caught my eyes when I first saw it. I probably stopped by the UCLA computer store at least once a week just to play with it. emoticon Unfortunately, NeXT systems were way too expensive for most people. Like most, it wasn’t until Windows 3.0 that I began to use a graphical O/S. Bill Gates’s gotten us line & sinker since 1990 didn’t he?

Recently, I’ve been eyeing the Mac OS, considering getting a Mac mini for Katelyn ever since Apple announced them. Might just get one this xmas…