<s>
GEM	O
(	O
for	O
Graphics	O
Environment	O
Manager	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
operating	B-Application
environment	I-Application
released	O
by	O
Digital	O
Research	O
(	O
DRI	O
)	O
in	O
1985	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
on	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
and	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
microprocessors	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
is	O
known	O
primarily	O
as	O
the	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
series	O
of	O
computers	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
also	O
supplied	O
with	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
IBM	O
PC-compatible	O
computers	O
from	O
Amstrad	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
standard	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
the	O
6MHz	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
AT	O
(	O
and	O
the	O
very	O
concept	O
of	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
was	O
brand	O
new	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
core	O
for	O
a	O
small	O
number	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
,	O
the	O
most	O
notable	O
being	O
Ventura	B-Application
Publisher	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
ported	O
to	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
other	O
computers	O
that	O
previously	O
lacked	O
graphical	B-Application
interfaces	I-Application
,	O
but	O
never	O
gained	O
popularity	O
on	O
those	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DRI	O
also	O
produced	O
X/GEM	B-Application
for	O
their	O
FlexOS	B-Operating_System
real-time	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
with	O
adaptations	O
for	O
OS/2	B-Device
Presentation	I-Device
Manager	I-Device
and	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
under	O
preparation	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lee	O
Lorenzen	O
(	O
at	O
Graphic	O
Software	O
Systems	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
)	O
who	O
had	O
recently	O
left	O
Xerox	O
PARC	O
(	O
the	O
birthplace	O
of	O
the	O
modern	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
wrote	O
much	O
of	O
the	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
for	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
8-bit	O
and	O
16-bit	B-Device
platforms	O
CP/M	B-Application
-80	I-Application
,	O
Concurrent	B-Operating_System
CP/M	I-Operating_System
,	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-86	I-Operating_System
and	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
(	O
NEC	B-Operating_System
APC-III	I-Operating_System
)	O
would	O
run	O
on	O
,	O
a	O
task	O
that	O
otherwise	O
would	O
have	O
required	O
considerable	O
effort	O
to	O
port	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
large	O
differences	O
in	O
graphics	O
hardware	O
(	O
and	O
concepts	O
)	O
between	O
the	O
various	O
systems	O
of	O
that	O
era	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
former	O
was	O
known	O
as	O
GDOS	O
(	O
Graphics	O
Device	O
Operating	B-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
)	O
and	O
the	O
latter	O
as	O
GIOS	O
(	O
Graphics	O
Input/Output	O
System	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
play	O
on	O
the	O
division	O
of	O
CP/M	B-Application
into	O
the	O
machine-independent	O
BDOS	B-Operating_System
(	O
Basic	O
Disk	O
Operating	B-General_Concept
System	I-General_Concept
)	O
and	O
the	O
machine-specific	O
BIOS	B-Operating_System
(	O
Basic	B-Operating_System
Input/Output	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DOS	B-Device
version	O
of	O
GSX	O
supports	O
loading	O
drivers	O
in	O
the	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-86	I-Operating_System
CMD	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consequently	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
driver	O
binary	O
may	O
operate	O
under	O
both	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-86	I-Operating_System
and	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
16-bit	B-Device
version	O
of	O
GSX	O
1.3	O
evolved	O
into	O
one	O
part	O
of	O
what	O
would	O
later	O
be	O
known	O
as	O
GEM	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
an	O
effort	O
to	O
build	O
a	O
full	O
GUI	B-Application
system	O
using	O
the	O
earlier	O
GSX	O
work	O
as	O
its	O
basis	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VDI	O
also	O
added	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
multiple	O
fonts	O
and	O
added	O
a	O
selection	O
of	O
raster	B-Algorithm
drawing	I-Algorithm
commands	O
to	O
the	O
formerly	O
vector-only	O
GKS-based	O
drawing	O
commands	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
module	O
,	O
GEM	O
AES	O
(	O
Application	O
Environment	O
Services	O
)	O
,	O
provided	O
the	O
window	O
management	O
and	O
UI	O
elements	O
,	O
and	O
GEM	O
Desktop	O
used	O
both	O
libraries	O
in	O
combination	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
8086	B-General_Concept
version	O
of	O
the	O
entire	O
system	O
was	O
first	O
demoed	O
at	O
COMDEX	O
in	O
November	O
1984	O
,	O
and	O
shipped	O
as	O
GEM/1	O
on	O
28	O
February	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
Desktop	O
1.1	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
10	O
April	O
1985	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
CGA	B-Device
and	O
EGA	B-Device
displays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	O
Research	O
also	O
positioned	O
Concurrent	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
4.1	O
with	O
GEM	O
as	O
alternative	O
for	O
IBM	O
's	O
TopView	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
DRI	O
originally	O
designed	O
GEM	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
so	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
check	O
for	O
and	O
only	O
run	O
on	O
IBM	O
computers	O
,	O
and	O
not	O
PC	O
compatibles	O
like	O
those	O
from	O
Compaq	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
company	O
hoped	O
to	O
receive	O
license	O
fees	O
from	O
compatible	O
makers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
reacted	O
with	O
what	O
BYTE	B-Application
described	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
small	O
explosion	O
"	O
;	O
it	O
reported	O
that	O
at	O
a	O
DRI-hosted	O
seminar	O
in	O
February	O
1985	O
,	O
more	O
than	O
half	O
of	O
the	O
attendees	O
agreed	O
that	O
GEM	O
's	O
incompatibility	O
with	O
Compaq	O
was	O
a	O
serious	O
limitation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Applications	O
that	O
supported	O
GEM	O
included	O
Lifetree	O
Software	O
's	O
GEM	B-Application
Write	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
point	O
,	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
sued	O
DRI	O
in	O
what	O
would	O
turn	O
into	O
a	O
long	O
dispute	O
over	O
the	O
"	O
look	O
and	O
feel	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
GEM/1	O
system	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
an	O
almost	O
direct	O
copy	O
of	O
Macintosh	B-Device
(	O
with	O
some	O
elements	O
bearing	O
a	O
closer	O
resemblance	O
to	O
those	O
in	O
the	O
earlier	O
Lisa	B-Device
,	O
available	O
since	O
January	O
1983	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
DRI	O
responded	O
with	O
the	O
"	O
lawsuit-friendly	O
"	O
GEM	O
Desktop	O
2.0	O
,	O
released	O
on	O
24	O
March	O
1986	O
,	O
with	O
support	O
for	O
VGA	B-Protocol
displays	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
Stewart	O
Alsop	O
II	O
said	O
that	O
GEM	O
was	O
among	O
several	O
GUIs	B-Application
that	O
"	O
have	O
already	O
been	O
knocked	O
out	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
market	O
by	O
Apple	O
,	O
IBM/Microsoft	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
XM	O
with	O
"	O
GEM	O
Desktop	O
3.0	O
"	O
was	O
an	O
updated	O
version	O
of	O
GEM/2	O
in	O
1986/1987	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
(	O
including	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
Plus	I-Operating_System
)	O
which	O
allowed	O
task-switching	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
run	O
up	O
to	O
ten	O
GEM	O
and	O
DOS	B-Device
programs	O
at	O
once	O
,	O
swapping	O
out	O
to	O
expanded	B-Device
memory	I-Device
(	O
XM	O
)	O
through	O
EMS/EEMS	O
or	O
to	O
disk	O
(	O
including	O
RAM	B-Application
disks	I-Application
,	O
thereby	O
also	O
allowing	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
extended	B-Device
memory	I-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
could	O
be	O
copied	O
and	O
pasted	O
between	O
applications	O
through	O
a	O
clipboard	O
with	O
filter	O
function	O
(	O
a	O
feature	O
later	O
also	O
found	O
in	O
TaskMAX	O
under	O
DR	B-Application
DOS	I-Application
6.0	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
GEMXM	O
source	O
code	O
is	O
now	O
freely	O
available	O
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
GNU	B-License
General	I-License
Public	I-License
License	I-License
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM/4	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
1990	O
,	O
included	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
Bézier	O
curves	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
still	O
not	O
commonly	O
found	O
outside	O
the	O
PostScript	B-Language
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
version	O
was	O
produced	O
specifically	O
for	O
Artline	B-Application
2	O
,	O
a	O
drawing	O
program	O
from	O
the	O
German	O
company	O
CCP	O
Development	O
GmbH	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	O
also	O
included	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
font	O
management	O
system	O
,	O
which	O
made	O
it	O
incompatible	O
with	O
the	O
likes	O
of	O
Timeworks	B-Application
Publisher	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Artline	B-Application
1	O
still	O
ran	O
on	O
GEM	O
3.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
version	O
of	O
GEM	O
called	O
GEM/5	O
was	O
produced	O
by	O
GST	O
Software	O
Products	O
for	O
Timeworks	B-Application
Publisher	I-Application
2.1	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
Desktop	O
itself	O
was	O
spun	O
off	O
in	O
1990	O
as	O
a	O
product	O
known	O
as	O
ViewMAX	B-Application
which	O
was	O
used	O
solely	O
as	O
a	O
file	O
management	O
shell	O
under	O
DR	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
led	O
to	O
a	O
situation	O
where	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
applications	O
(	O
including	O
ViewMAX	B-Application
)	O
could	O
exist	O
all	O
with	O
their	O
own	O
statically	B-Application
linked	I-Application
copy	O
of	O
the	O
GEM	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1991	O
,	O
ViewMAX	B-Application
2	O
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
started	O
with	O
X/GEM	B-Application
based	O
on	O
GEM/1	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
required	O
use	O
of	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
multitasking	O
CP/M	B-Application
-based	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
DRI	O
also	O
produced	O
X/GEM	B-Application
for	O
their	O
FlexOS	B-Operating_System
real-time	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
with	O
adaptations	O
for	O
OS/2	B-Device
Presentation	I-Device
Manager	I-Device
and	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
under	O
preparation	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
developed	O
Ventura	B-Application
Publisher	I-Application
(	O
which	O
was	O
later	O
marketed	O
by	O
Xerox	O
and	O
eventually	O
by	O
Corel	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
go	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
very	O
popular	O
desktop	O
publishing	O
program	O
for	O
some	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
the	O
production	O
68000	B-Device
version	O
of	O
GEM	O
began	O
in	O
September	O
1984	O
,	O
when	O
Atari	O
sent	O
a	O
team	O
called	O
"	O
The	O
Monterey	O
Group	O
"	O
to	O
Digital	O
Research	O
to	O
begin	O
work	O
on	O
porting	O
GEM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
,	O
the	O
plan	O
was	O
to	O
run	O
GEM	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-68K	I-Operating_System
,	O
both	O
ostensibly	O
ported	O
to	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
by	O
DRI	O
prior	O
to	O
the	O
ST	O
design	O
being	O
created	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Digital	O
Research	O
also	O
offered	O
GEMDOS	O
(	O
originally	O
written	O
as	O
GEMDOS	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
DOS-like	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
aimed	O
to	O
port	O
GEM	O
to	O
different	O
hardware	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
8086	B-General_Concept
and	O
68000	B-Device
processors	O
and	O
had	O
been	O
adapted	O
to	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Lisa	I-Device
2/5	O
and	O
the	O
Motorola	O
VME/10	O
development	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
decided	O
in	O
January	O
1985	O
to	O
give	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
existing	O
CP/M	B-Operating_System
-68K	I-Operating_System
code	O
and	O
instead	O
port	O
GEMDOS	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
platform	O
,	O
referring	O
to	O
it	O
as	O
TOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Atari	O
had	O
provided	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
68000	B-Device
version	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
given	O
full	O
rights	O
to	O
continued	O
developments	O
without	O
needing	O
to	O
reverse-license	O
it	O
back	O
to	O
DRI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
the	O
Apple-DRI	O
lawsuit	O
did	O
not	O
apply	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	O
versions	O
of	O
GEM	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
were	O
allowed	O
to	O
keep	O
a	O
more	O
Mac-like	O
UI	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
next	O
seven	O
years	O
,	O
from	O
1985	O
to	O
1992	O
,	O
new	O
versions	O
of	O
TOS	B-Application
were	O
released	O
with	O
each	O
new	O
generation	O
of	O
the	O
ST	O
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Updates	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
more	O
colors	O
and	O
higher	O
resolutions	O
in	O
the	O
raster-side	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
but	O
remained	O
generally	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
GKS	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
Atari	O
released	O
TOS	B-Application
4	O
,	O
or	O
MultiTOS	B-Application
,	O
along	O
with	O
their	O
final	O
computer	O
system	O
,	O
the	O
Falcon030	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
combination	O
with	O
MiNT	B-Application
,	O
TOS	B-Application
4	O
allowed	O
full	O
multitasking	O
support	O
in	O
GEM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Caldera	O
bought	O
the	O
remaining	O
Digital	O
Research	O
assets	O
from	O
Novell	O
on	O
23	O
July	O
1996	O
,	O
initial	O
plans	O
were	O
to	O
revive	O
GEM	O
and	O
ViewMAX	B-Application
technologies	O
for	O
a	O
low-footprint	O
user	O
interface	O
for	O
OpenDOS	B-Application
in	O
mobile	O
applications	O
as	O
Caldera	O
View	O
,	O
but	O
these	O
plans	O
were	O
abandoned	O
by	O
Caldera	O
UK	O
in	O
favour	O
of	O
DR-WebSpyder	B-Application
and	O
GROW	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Caldera	O
Thin	O
Clients	O
(	O
later	O
known	O
as	O
Lineo	O
)	O
released	O
the	O
source	O
to	O
GEM	O
and	O
GEMXM	O
under	O
the	O
terms	O
of	O
GNU	B-License
GPL-2.0-only	I-License
in	O
April	O
1999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
development	O
of	O
GEM	O
for	O
PC	O
continues	O
as	O
FreeGEM	B-Application
and	O
OpenGEM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
platform	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
DRI	O
sources	O
were	O
ported	O
again	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
the	O
free	O
and	O
open	O
source	O
TOS	B-Application
clone	O
EmuTOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
New	O
implementations	O
of	O
the	O
AES	O
portions	O
of	O
GEM	O
have	O
been	O
implemented	O
from	O
scratch	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
XaAES	O
,	O
and	O
MyAES	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
are	O
fully	O
re-entrant	O
and	O
support	O
multitasking	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
FreeMiNT	B-Application
multitasking	O
extensions	O
to	O
TOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
major	O
advantage	O
VDI	O
provided	O
over	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
was	O
the	O
way	O
multiple	O
devices	O
and	O
contexts	O
were	O
handled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
such	O
information	O
was	O
stored	O
in	O
memory	O
inside	O
the	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
resulted	O
in	O
serious	O
problems	O
when	O
attempting	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
handle	O
pre-emptive	O
multitasking	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
drawing	O
layer	O
(	O
QuickDraw	B-Operating_System
)	O
needed	O
to	O
have	O
direct	O
memory	O
access	O
into	O
all	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
AES	O
provided	O
the	O
window	B-Application
system	I-Application
,	O
window	O
manager	O
,	O
UI	O
style	O
and	O
other	O
GUI	B-Application
elements	O
(	O
widgets	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
performance	O
reasons	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
widgets	O
were	O
actually	O
drawn	O
using	O
character	O
graphics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Compared	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
AES	O
provided	O
a	O
rather	O
spartan	O
look	O
and	O
the	O
system	O
shipped	O
with	O
a	O
single	O
monospaced	O
font	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GEM	O
Desktop	O
was	O
an	O
application	O
program	O
that	O
used	O
AES	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
file	O
manager	O
and	O
launcher	O
,	O
the	O
traditional	O
"	O
desktop	O
"	O
environment	O
that	O
users	O
had	O
come	O
to	O
expect	O
from	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
the	O
GEM	O
Desktop	O
ran	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
DOS	B-Device
(	O
MS-DOS	B-Application
,	O
DOS	B-Operating_System
Plus	I-Operating_System
or	O
DR	B-Application
DOS	I-Application
on	O
the	O
PC	O
,	O
GEMDOS	O
on	O
the	O
Atari	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
the	O
actual	O
display	O
was	O
cluttered	O
with	O
computer-like	O
items	O
,	O
including	O
path	O
names	O
and	O
wildcards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
GEM	O
was	O
much	O
more	O
"	O
geeky	O
"	O
than	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
,	O
but	O
simply	O
running	O
a	O
usable	O
shell	O
on	O
DOS	B-Device
was	O
a	O
huge	O
achievement	O
on	O
its	O
own	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Otherwise	O
,	O
GEM	O
has	O
its	O
own	O
advantages	O
over	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	O
such	O
as	O
proportional	O
sliders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
desktop	O
accessories	O
(	O
and	O
also	O
a	O
few	O
simple	O
applications	O
)	O
can	O
be	O
run	O
under	O
ViewMAX	B-Application
without	O
modification	O
.	O
</s>
