Any frequent user of a computer knows that interface design is important. We are all aware of our common input interface: the keyboard and mouse. Lurking beneath these common devices is another, more important aspect of a computer interface: the output device. Looking back on the days when LEDs and printers were the primary output devices, we take for granted our monitors attached to video cards. Despite the age and inefficiencies of our clumsy keyboard and mouse interface, the combination has served us well. Similarly, despite the age of our monitor outputs, they do the job just fine. Just like the features of that new super 114-key multimedia keyboard, or a 7 button laser mouse, graphical interface design through the monitor has gone through its own evolution. This week in "Notes from a Vista User" I plan to highlight the history of the Windows GUI, and displaying the latest evolution of that design that is present in all versions of Windows Vista to some extent or another: Aero.

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