Crafting the user-centered document interface: the Hypertext Editing System (HES) and the File Retrieval and Editing System (FRESS)

This article traces the development of two important hypertext systems in the history of computing, and the new paradigms they created: the Hypertext Editing System (HES) and the File Retrieval and Editing System (FRESS). HES was the world's first word processor to run on commercial equipment. It was also the first hypertext system that beginners could use, and pioneered many modern hypertext concepts for personal use. Although the idea of hypertext predates HES and FRESS, this article argues that these two systems were successful because they demonstrated hypertext to a sceptical public; they were both working prototypes.