Apple celebrates 30 years

Evolution of the Mac interface--Gallery 3

Bill Atkinson was Apple Computer's main developer of the user interface that first appeared on the Lisa and later on the Mac. A passionate photographer, Atkinson had the foresight in the late '70s and early '80s to document his UI work for Apple in a series of Polaroids.

The photos were published by another Mac pioneer, Andy Hertzfeld, in his book, "Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made." Through Herztfeld, Atkinson gave CNET News.com permission to republish them here.

This picture and the following two illustrate the Lisa desktop, circa late 1980, with a tab-shaped title, followed by a menu bar attached to the window. Windows could be reduced to tabs on the desktop. The development team has also changed the name of the clipboard (or waste basket, as it had been called) to "the scrap," an old typesetting term.

Credit: Photos courtesy Bill Atkinson. Captions adapted from Andy Hertzfeld's book "Revolution in the Valley."