WIMP (computing)

In human–computer interaction, WIMP stands for "windows, icons, menus, pointer", denoting a style of interaction using these elements of the user interface. It was coined by Merzouga Wilberts in 1980. Other expansions are sometimes used, substituting "mouse" and "mice" or "pull-down menu" and "pointing", for menus and pointer, respectively.

          WIMP interaction was developed at Xerox PARC (see Xerox Alto, developed in 1973) and popularized with Apple's introduction of the Macintosh in 1984, which added the concepts of the "menu bar" and extended window management.

In a WIMP system:

•        A window runs a self-contained program, isolated from other programs that (if in a multi-program operating system) run at the same time in other windows.

•        An icon acts as a shortcut to an action the computer performs (e.g., execute a program or task).

•        A menu is a text or icon-based selection system that selects and executes programs or tasks.

•        The pointer is an onscreen symbol that represents movement of a physical device that the user controls to select icons, data elements, etc.

•        cut, copy, and paste.

This style of system improves human–computer interaction (HCI) by emulating real-world interactions and providing better ease of use for non-technical people—both novice and power users.

Due to the nature of the WIMP system, simple commands can be chained together to undertake a group of commands that would have taken several lines of command line instructions.