Bill Atkinson, one of the creative forces behind Apple’s earliest and most iconic software, passed away on June 5 from complications related to pancreatic cancer. He was 73.
His family shared the news on Facebook, saying he died peacefully at home in Portola Valley, surrounded by loved ones including his beloved dog, Poppy.
If you’ve ever used a Mac, you’ve likely experienced Bill’s work without even realizing it. He was Apple employee number 51, personally recruited by Steve Jobs, and played a major role in designing the look and feel of early Apple computers long before slick interfaces became the norm.
Atkinson helped develop the graphical interface for both the Lisa and the original Macintosh. He created QuickDraw, the graphics engine that powered the Mac’s visuals, as well as MacPaint and HyperCard—a tool that let users build interactive apps way before “apps” were even a thing.
Many of the features we now take for granted—like the menu bar, the lasso tool for selections, and the little “marching ants” animation—came from his imagination. Even the smooth, rounded rectangles (called RoundRects) you still see across Apple products today were his idea.
After he left Apple in 1990, Atkinson turned his passion to nature photography, capturing the same kind of beauty and detail he once brought to screens.
He leaves behind his wife, two daughters, a stepson, a stepdaughter, four sisters, two brothers and a legacy that continues to live on every time someone powers up a Mac.
Bill didn’t just help build software. He helped change the way people interact with computers, and in many ways, made technology feel more human.
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