Where did the term "setup wizard" come from?

Question

I was just downloading/installing something, and it just suddenly struck me that the setup tools are all called "installation wizard' or "setup wizard". Just out of curiosity, where did this use of "wizard" come from? Did somebody just randomly call it that and everybody followed suit?

Answer 1

Interesting Question :)



Upon some Revision i've found... (Notice... ►)



1.a person who practices magic; magician or sorcerer.

2.a conjurer or juggler.

►3.Also, whiz, wiz  [wiz] Show IPA. a person of amazing skill or accomplishment: a wizard at chemistry.



4.of or pertaining to a wizard.

5.magic.

►6.British Slang . superb; excellent; wonderful: That's wizard!



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A software wizard or setup assistant is a user interface type that presents a user with a sequence of dialog boxes that lead the user through a series of well-defined steps. Tasks that are complex, infrequently performed, or unfamiliar may be easier to perform using a wizard. In contrast, an expert system guides a user through a series of (usually yes/no) questions to solve a problem.



By 2001, wizards had become commonplace in most consumer-oriented operating systems, although not always under the name "wizard". In Mac OS X, for example, they are called "assistants"; some examples include the "Setup Assistant", which is run at initial bootup of the Macintosh, and the "Network Setup Assistant", which has a similar function to the MS-Windows "New Connection Wizard". GNOME refers to its wizards as "assistants".



Many web applications, for instance online booking sites, make use of the wizard paradigm to complete lengthy interactive processes, sometimes becoming similar to automated online assistants. Oracle Designer also uses wizards extensively.



The use of wizards is controversial among user interface designers[who?] because wizards encourage modal windows, which their opponents consider antithetical to proper human interface design.[citation needed]



The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (Version 3.0) urges technical writers to refer to these assistants as "wizards" and to use lowercase letters. In countries where the concept of wizard does not convey the idea of helpfulness or is offensive (via the suggestion that actual magic is being used[1]), the manual suggests using the term "assistant" instead.



Hope it helps :)

Answer 2

Early settlers interior the recent international have been presented to Maze i.e. Corn by using the community inhabitants. After eating a lot of Corn, Eagles, Squirrels and different varmints', all of them had to Crap yet there became no lavatory Paper i.e. Bun Wad, so as that they got here upon the Corn Cobs worked properly to scrub their Bung Holes, subsequently the term CORN hollow. Later once you have under the effect of alcohol on apple cider they crammed bags with corn and shrink holes in 2 boards and threw the luggage of C at one yet another attempting to get them into the Holes

Answer 3

LOL funny question... maybe because it's like magic? idk... although remember in the old microsoft word you had that annoying paperclip? you could change it to other annoying things, and one was a wizard...