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Re: X to close

#3

Post by bemmu »

In the Atari TOS screenshots, other icons such as arrows are black on white background.

If the icons in upper left and right are also like that, then the upper left icon is actually four little triangles pointing inwards and not an X. The one on the right is four little triangles pointing outwards.

(Or it could be an X)

Re: X to close

#5

Post by nwp90 »

No 'x' to close vi? Was that not always there? I've certainly been using it as long as I can remember; that's not to say it's always been there though - does anyone know when it was first available?

Edit: seems Wordstar used X too, probably starting in 1978.

Re: X to close

#7

Post by colmmacc »

'X' always seemed fitting for another, more poetic, reason: The kiss of death (X also represents a kiss). I wonder if it was in the designers mind.

Re: X to close

#8

Post by bhauer »

As an Atari ST user from 1985 to roughly 1993, I wasn't expecting the author would actually mention GEM/TOS. I was pleasantly surprised when I scrolled down and, lo, there it is.

That said, since the "X" in this case is white on a black background, I always interpreted the icon as four arrows pointing inward to indicate a shrinking/disappearing motion. In fact, when you closed a window, GEM would play an (inelegant) animation akin to the Macintosh of the time, composed of a sequence of boxes first shrinking from the size of the window to a small box and then shuffling that off to the top left of the screen.

As bemmu points out, the maximize button (at the top right in a GEM/TOS window) is four arrows pointing outward. Incidentally, GEM did not have a notion of "minimize."

Put another way, although I find the Japanese inspiration argument interesting, I don't think there's a whole lot to it. I think it's a fun coincidence.

In any event, thank you for the trip down memory lane and for the fun screen grabs!

Re: X to close

#9

Post by atsaloli »

nwp90 wrote: post #5

No 'x' to close vi? Was that not always there? I've certainly been using it as long as I can remember; that's not to say it's always been there though - does anyone know when it was first available? Edit: seems Wordstar used X too, probably starting in 1978.

Well, that's different. You are talking about an "x" that you type in, as opposed to an "x" you can click on.

To answer your question, "x" (short for eXit) was available in vi from the beginning:

ZZ Exits the editor. (Same as :xCR)

Source: Bill Joy's "An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi" http://www.verticalsysadmin.com/vi/vi_editor__bill_joy.pdf

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