GEM, a Mac-like GUI and OS for Low-end
PCs- Roger
M - 2002.05.30
I used to wonder why no one came out with a Mac-like GUI/OS for
the PC long before Windows 3.1 or Windows 95.  It
turns out someone did. Unknown to most people, Windows wasn't the
first GUI for PCs - GEM was. What is GEM? GEM (Graphical Environment Manager) was the first
graphical user interface for the PC. It was developed by Digital
Research and first shown in 1983. The first version of GEM has been described as "the Mac OS running
on a PC." In fact, one person told me when they saw GEM on a PC, they
thought the fledgling Windows would be replaced by GEM. GEM was a lot
like the Mac or Windows 95 - way back in the mid-1980s. Later versions of GEM were altered a bit, as Apple Computer
thought GEM looked too much like the Mac GUI and  took
Digital Research to court. The Trash icon was removed, and a few
other things were changed in later versions. Still, GEM continued to
be developed for the PC, and various GEM applications, such as word
processors and publishing software, were created for it. GEM was designed to run on early and mid-1980s PCs. As such, GEM
is a good option for running on low-end PCs. Original GEM files and
applications, now abandonware, can be downloaded from this
page. [GEM was also ported to the Atari
ST, a 68000-based competitor to the Mac. ed] That is not all. GEM is not dead. GEM continues to be developed
and updated as FreeGEM.
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