Refers to
software and
hardware that treat
objects on a
display screen as
bit maps or geometrical shapes rather than as
characters. In contrast,
character-based systems treat everything as
ASCII or
extended ASCII characters.
All graphics software is by definition graphics based. Systems that manipulate text can also be graphics based; for example, desktop publishing systems are essentially graphics-based word processors.
Traditionally, most DOS applications -- word processors, spreadsheets, and database management systems -- have been character based. Windows and the Mac OS are graphics-based.
