look and feel

operating system The appearance and function of a program's

user interface. The term is most often applied to

graphical user interfaces (GUI) but might also be used by

extension for a textual command language used to control a

program.

Look and feel includes such things as the icons used to

represent certain functions such as opening and closing files,

directories and application programs and changing the size

and position of windows; conventions for the meaning of

different buttons on a mouse and keys on the keyboard; and

the appearance and operation of menus.

A user interface with a consistent look and feel is

considered by many to be an important factor in the ease of

use of a computer system. The success of the Macintosh userinterface was partly due to its consistency.

Because of the perceived importance of look and feel, there

have been several legal actions claiming breech of copyright

on the look and feel of user interfaces, most notably by

Apple Computer against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (which Apple

lost) and, later, by Xerox against Apple Computer. Such legal

action attempts to force suppliers to make their interfaces

inconsistent with those of other vendors' products. This can

only be bad for users and the industry as a whole.

(1995-03-03)