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Background

Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1984, X provides a graphics- window system for computer networks. Every computer network requires a system that will allow users to communicate with it. X provides such a system and employs graphics windows as its foundation. Each graphics window represents a particular application, such as a text editor, a debugger, an electronic mail manager, or a terminal emulator. X lets you open multiple windows and run several applications simultaneously.

The activity within one window executes independently of the activity in the other windows. For example, you can compile a FORTRAN program in one window, read electronic mail in another, run a clock in a third, and run a text editing program in a fourth window. This feature makes X very powerful because you can access many different applications--- even different computers---from a single terminal; you simply open new windows as needed.

First, and foremost, however, X is a windowing system, not a complete operating system. UNIX is an operating system. See the Information Systems document Introduction to the UNIX Operating System for more information on UNIX. X mediates the communication between individuals and a computer network. X creates windows that represent applications, but does not execute the applications itself. In the current Information Systems (IS hereafter) configuration, applications most often run on computers separate from an individual's computer terminal.

You can tailor X to suit your needs. For example, you can tell X to run certain applications automatically each time you start an X session. That saves you the trouble of starting them manually every time you log in.