The idea of Graphical user interface (GUI) is taken for granted on any mature computing product, whether it is a desktop or a mobile device, making it feel like it was always there. But actually, for the long time since late 19th century, the early computers were big mechanical calculators (invented by Charles Babbage and the first user, Ada Lovelace, young woman, was also the programmer and the operating system in one), then in early 20th century had to be manipulated by entering binary (sequence of "0"s and "1"s), and later through command line prompts in the 60s. The sophistication of controls made them widely inaccessible to the general public, making computer knowledge limited only to the computer science researchers and programming enthusiasts at the time until the 70s with the introduction of user-friendly interface. Let's take a look at some of the firsts in the technological field.
This is the first and earliest origin of contemporary desktop interfaces that we are familiar with today. Alto was developed by the Xerox PARC team in the early 70s as a way to diversify the product lineup to enter the Desktop computer market in addition to existing printer industry. It had some interface concepts like separate application windows. Some early applications were graphics editor that we know today, "What you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) word processor and printer (the user got things print out exactly what they saw on screen instead of code sequences which somehow turned into realistic text/graphics), Email (first conceptualized in the mid-60s and fully realized in this research project), networking capabilities with ARPANET, and introduction of additional human interface device being the three-buttoned mouse. Being the radical leap in human communications makes this version special. Apparently, it was a research prototype that never hit the market, but it gave an opportunity to other tech companies like Apple and Microsoft to take suite and come up with recognizable MacOS and Windows.
First and early version of Classic MacOS and MacOS in general, unveiled with the release of Macintosh, powered by the Motorola 68K CPU in 1984 on a floppy disk for the same machine (fun fact: all of the first OSes were on floppy disks). What makes this version special is the refinement and addition of features like shortcuts and widgets that are still used by most desktop OSes today. The included applications were Calculator, MacWrite (word processor), MacPaint (graphics editor), and two user guides, being “Guided Tour of Macintosh” and “Tour of MacPaint and MacWrite” which made user's life much easier. Since then and until now, it is the only GUI that isn't licensed to other hardware manufacturers which is more of a disadvantage than not.
A year later after Apple unveiled the Macintosh, rival Microsoft took a sneak peek of Classic MacOS and introduced a licensable version, which became a greater household name among the corporate offices. The 1.0 version was an “Operating Environment” add-on for MS-DOS that had to boot up from the floppy disk the same way Apple’s “System 1” does, but it’s available for other machines such as those from IBM and others. The included applications at the time were Windows Write, Calendar, Reversi game, Paint, Cardfile, Notepad, and all the others that are the same or similar to the ones found in Classic Macintosh. The most special feature was the early introduction of multitask windows, that notable in today’s desktop interfaces, and the ability of creating new directory that is still possible even in latest version at the moment, Windows 11.
First version was released on Palm mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs that were an early smartphone forerunners) - Pilot 1000 and 5000 series. Most of navigation and input was done with the included stylus through either dubbed “Graffiti handwriting recognition” or virtual keyboard which improved usability compared to T9 layout (all letters/characters condensed into 9 keys) that was common on most mobile phones during this era. The included software applications were Address, Date Book, Memo Pad, and To Do List, which brought some desktop only applications onto mobile devices for the first time through HotSync, which was the early data synchronization technology making possible to sync with Personal Computer (PC).
First came with the release of iPhone 2G (and 1st gen iPod touch) at Macworld by Steve Jobs himself. It was the only true touchscreen mobile OS which rendered out the use of stylus for navigation, but also threw away all the buttons except power/sleep, volume, and home buttons. The included apps were Phone (actual phone), Mail (electronic mailing system), Safari (web browser), iPod (music player), Text (SMS system, until iMessage would be available later on iOS 5 in 2011), Photos (photo storage/gallery), Camera (rear photo camera only), YouTube, Stocks (stock market tracking app), Maps (sourced by Google before switching to in house in 2012), Weather, Clock, Calculator, Notes, and iTunes (no App store yet, that will be a year later when Android 1.0 will be released in 2008). The most special thing about it was the promising possibilities to evolve beyond the simple phone by combining the phone with web browsing and media player, but also simplifying navigation with only the touchscreen and a few buttons.
An open-source (apps and interface could be utilized and customized to save time during development) and advanced version came a year later after iPhone OS, with extras including wider customization options like changing the wallpaper. It came with the joint release of the HTC Dream (aka. T-Mobile G1 or Era G1 in Poland), a slider screen form factor smartphone with QWERTY keyboard resembling the Blackberry handsets, was available from T-Mobile carrier in the US and a few other countries in Europe. It came with Google services and first included an app store, named Android Market (renamed to Google Play in later iterations) which iPhone OS lacked at its initial release in 2007. The touchscreen only successor variant had become the Samsung Galaxy i7500, which was closer to the iPhone in design and navigation methods that are still used in most mobile handsets even till this day, but with Android specifics.