About box

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The about box for KDE 3.5.1

An about box or about dialog is a dialog box that displays the credits of a computer software. The concept of the about box originated with the first Macintosh operating system, where About [program name] was typically the first item in the Apple menu. In most Microsoft Windows programs, about boxes can be accessed (opened) from the menu bar, under About... menu item, in the Help menu. For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer's about box could be opened by opening the Help menu, then selecting About Internet Explorer menu item. Generally, most programs' about boxes include information about product name and installed version, company name, and copyright information, though there are programs that include much more information in their about box, like system information, registration information (if the program is distributed as shareware), text of license agreement, and the names of contributors to the project. About boxes are not standardized and are sometimes creative or entertaining in their design. Since about 2000, Apple Computer made a decision not to include the names of developers in their applications' about boxes to prevent other companies from poaching their employees.