Command Line GUI

When (most of) the world first moved to a windowed environment for computing, there was a loud complaint: Some things could be done much faster on the command prompt.  This, as we all know was a complaint that has never, and in all likeliness, will never be taken care of.  What I propose is a universal single key access (anywhere, anytime) that starts up a "type-in" command box, that can accept commands similar to point-and-click.  For example, the window would come up when you press ____ (fill in your favorite key on the keyboard) and you could type in plain ______ (fill in your language here), and it would start programs, load documents, or manage files.  This would allow people who use the keyboard, more often (better) than the mouse, to type in commands very quickly and therefore raise productivity.

I'll use the scenario of a typical OA (office administator) and his/her daily duties.  First off the OA arrives at work.  The first the he/she does is startup the computer, and because she is using UniOS on his/her new quadrillion instruction per second computer, the machine boots up in under 1/10th of a second.  First thing he/she does is type in "Load up the last document I was working on", and the document and proper application load.  Because he/she is very adept at typing, this request only takes one second.  It's good to note here, a point-and-click method would involve finding either the previous document organizer (in Windows 95 it is located on the start bar), or find the file, in the directory structure, and click on it.  This method would take at least 4-5 seconds with the previous document management system, or 10+ finding it in the directory structure.  Plus, you have to take your hands off the keyboard, removing you from your primary interface.  This is not a natural movement, and although steps have been taken to put pointing devices on the keyboard, it is still and unnatural movement.

The second thing this OA has to do is copy an older document to a removable storage device.  She/He would type "copy "weekly report" to floppy disk".  This method, again, is only about one second, while the alternative is significantly longer (try it yourself! :).

Next She/He has to do some routine maintinence of the system, to get rid of some older/outdated files.  She/he would type "delete all files from January".  As you can see, we can add some awesome versatility to the program.  The key to the whole idea is the human interface aspect.  It has to be easy to use, and very versitile.  It's important to note that this typed interface, while much more natural than point-and-click, can be supplemented with a more natural speach-to-text engine to allow voice input.  Entire system control could be maintained from a voice command source allowing the blind to be able to better take advantage of the computer system.  This would also entail a later document on totality voice computer systems (voice applications, games and system control).