GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

a computer program that enables a person to communicate with a computer through the use of symbols, visual metaphors, and pointing devices. Best known for its implementation in Apple Computer, Inc.'s Macintosh and Microsoft Corporation's Windows operating system, the GUI has replaced the arcane and difficult textual interfaces of earlier computing with a relatively intuitive system that has made computer operation not only easier to learn but more pleasant and natural. The GUI is now the standard computer interface, and its components have themselves become unmistakable cultural artifacts. Steven Levy