Editing RISC OS (section)

=== Desktop ===
[[File:RISCOS 4 scr.png|thumb|A screenshot of RISC OS 4]]
The [[WIMP (computing)|WIMP]] interface is based on a [[stacking window manager]] and incorporates three [[mouse button]]s<ref name="Ryan2011">{{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Dan|title=History of Computer Graphics: DLR Associates Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=136myWlKpwEC&pg=PA358|access-date=13 June 2013|date=13 April 2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4567-5115-9|page=358|archive-date=6 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706155034/http://books.google.com/books?id=136myWlKpwEC&pg=PA358|url-status=live}}</ref> (named ''Select'', ''Menu'' and ''Adjust''), [[context-sensitive user interface|context-sensitive]] menus, window order control (i.e. send to back) and dynamic window [[Focus (computing)|focus]] (a window can have input focus at any position on the stack). The [[icon bar]] ([[Dock (computing)|Dock]]) holds icons which represent mounted disc drives, RAM discs, running applications, system utilities and docked: files, directories or inactive applications. These icons have context-sensitive menus and support [[drag-and-drop]] operation. They represent the running application as a whole, irrespective of whether it has open windows.

The GUI functions on the concept of files. The Filer, a [[spatial file manager]], displays the contents of a disc. Applications are run from the Filer view and files can be dragged to the Filer view from applications to perform saves, rather than opening a separate 'Save' dialog box where the user must navigate to a location already visible in the Finder. In addition, files can be directly transferred between applications by dragging a save icon into another application's window.

[[Application directories]] are used to store applications. The OS differentiates them from normal directories through the use of an [[Exclamation mark#Computing|exclamation mark]] (also called a ''pling'' or ''shriek'') prefix. Double-clicking on such a directory launches the application rather than opening the directory. The application's executable files and resources are contained within the directory, but normally they remain hidden from the user. Because applications are self-contained, this allows drag-and-drop installing and removing.

The {{nowrap|RISC OS}} ''Style Guide'' encourages a consistent [[look and feel]] across applications. This was introduced in {{nowrap|RISC OS 3}} and specifies application appearance and behaviour. Acorn's own main [[#Bundled applications|bundled applications]] were not updated to comply with the guide until {{nowraplinks|[[RISCOS Ltd]]}}'s ''Select'' release in 2001.<ref name="iconbar possibly influential">{{cite web |url=http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Influential/index1152.html |title=An arbitrary number of possibly influential RISC OS things |work=[[The Icon Bar]] |date=23 March 2007 |access-date=27 September 2011 |last=Phil |first=Mellor |quote=Admittedly it wasn't until RISC OS Select was released, almost 10 years later, that the standard Acorn applications (Draw, Edit, and Paint) implemented the style guide's clipboard recommendations, but most products followed it with care. |archive-date=31 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331173614/http://www.iconbar.com/articles/Influential/index1152.html |url-status=live }}</ref>