look and feel

Generally refers to the user interface of a program, especially with regard to its similarity to other programs. This issue has been and will continue to be hotly contested in the courts, because some programs look and function like others, and the original developer sometimes gets upset about it.

Oddly enough, programming languages have never been copyrighted or patented, which allows a developer to write a compiler that translates a language identical to one already in use. However, when a vendor sells a software package that looks and feels like another, it is subject to litigation, and look and feel cases have been won in the U.S. courts.

(operating system)

look and feel - The appearance and function of a program's user interface. The term is most often applied to graphical user interfaces (GUI) but might also be used by extension for a textual command language used to control a program.

Look and feel includes such things as the icons used to represent certain functions such as opening and closing files, directories and application programs and changing the size and position of windows; conventions for the meaning of different buttons on a mouse and keys on the keyboard; and the appearance and operation of menus.

A user interface with a consistent look and feel is considered by many to be an important factor in the ease of use of a computer system. The success of the Macintosh user interface was partly due to its consistency.

Because of the perceived importance of look and feel, there have been several legal actions claiming breech of copyright on the look and feel of user interfaces, most notably by Apple Computer against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard (which Apple lost) and, later, by Xerox against Apple Computer. Such legal action attempts to force suppliers to make their interfaces inconsistent with those of other vendors' products. This can only be bad for users and the industry as a whole.