As admirers of Apple, Steve Jobs, and the Macintosh, we mourn the passing of Bill Atkinson, a true genius whose contributions to personal computing transformed the way we all interact with technology. Atkinson, who died at 74 on June 5, 2025, in Portola Valley, California, from pancreatic cancer (just like his collaborator Steve Jobs), was not just a programmer but a creative force whose work made computers accessible, intuitive, and inspiring. His legacy, woven into the fabric of Apple’s early days, will forever resonate with fans of the Mac and the products it begat, the iPod, iPhone, iPad, and much more.
Born in Los Gatos, California, Atkinson’s journey to Apple was serendipitous. A neurochemistry graduate student at the University of Washington, he was lured away from his PhD by Jef Raskin and Steve Jobs, becoming Apple’s employee No. 51 in 1978. Jobs’ pitch to “help invent the future” ignited Atkinson’s passion, and he dove into the nascent world of personal computing with unbridled enthusiasm. Atkinson’s role as a cornerstone of the Lisa and Macintosh teams is the stuff of legend.
Atkinson’s brilliance shone brightest in his creation of QuickDraw, the graphics library that powered the Lisa and Macintosh’s groundbreaking graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Before these machines, computers were clunky, text-based beasts, intimidating to all but the most tech-savvy. QuickDraw, with its ability to render shapes, text, and images efficiently, brought the “desktop” metaphor to life. Features we now take for granted — pull-down menus, the double-click, and “marching ants” selection animations — sprang from Atkinson’s mind. His code, likened by colleagues to the works of art adorning the Sistine Chapel, was both art and engineering, a testament to his ability to make technology feel human.
MacPaint, Atkinson’s digital canvas, was a revelation. Bundled with the first Macintosh in 1984, it empowered ordinary users to create art on a computer screen. Users will remember marveling at MacPaint’s tool palette — brushes, pencils, and the lasso tool — concepts that still echo in modern software like Pixelmator and Photoshop. Atkinson’s vision made creativity accessible, turning the Macintosh into what Steve Jobs called a “bicycle for the mind.”
Perhaps Atkinson’s most visionary contribution was HyperCard, launched in 1987, a forerunner of the World Wide Web. Described by him as a “software erector set,” it allowed non-programmers to build interactive applications, weaving text, images, and links. HyperCard was Atkinson’s love letter to creativity, giving users the ability to shape their own digital worlds. Its influence on the web and modern app development is a reminder of his forward-thinking genius.
Atkinson’s collaboration with Steve Jobs was electric. Their close partnership in the early 1980s fueled the Macintosh’s creation, though Atkinson stayed at Apple when Jobs left in 1985, driven by his commitment to HyperCard. Beyond Apple, he co-founded General Magic and later pursued nature photography, capturing the same beauty he once coded into pixels.
Survived by his wife, daughters, stepchildren, and siblings, Atkinson leaves a legacy that lives in every Mac. To fans of Apple and the Macintosh, he was a hero who made technology delightful, proving that one coder’s vision could change the world.
MacDailyNews Take: R.I.P., Bill Atkinson.
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What a beautiful, well written tribute.
Thank you for that.
Oh man. I’m so sad about that. Rest in piece Bill
Thanks MDN for sharing those wonderful videos of Bill. RIP.
Bill Atkinson is a true Apple icon. Notice his background wasn’t in computers but neurochemistry. This was quite common in the early days of Apple. Jobs like people who could think outside the box and magically wed technology with fine arts.
Some great videos embedded in article.
Notice the end user commitment in the first video. A hallmark of Apple in the early days but is now all but lost.
“Art and engineering: …of his code.
Job possessed this combo as well.
It’s this combo that’s mostly disappeared from AAPL. It was also this combo that created tools for users to be creators themselves. Contemporary AAPL presents VERY LITTLE that promotes the User as Creator. Jobs was regularly promoting software for what you could do/make with it. Productivity/creativity were primary. It hooked me.
Now, users are looked at as primarily consumers. Huge vacancy.
Walter Delco is 100% spot on with his post. Excellent observation with huge implications. Newer adapters of the Apple platform have no or little awareness of the reality of this shift.
In 1989 I did some work where I had to use a Mac. When times were slack, I poked around that Mac, just out of curiosity. That’s when I discovered HyperCard.
I was immediately impressed by it and could see that it allowed me to write custom software to make my work simpler. Graphical interfaces were rare in those days, my clients were impressed to see what appeared to be cutting edge software instead of the command line driven interfaces which were ubiquitous at that time.
I then decided that I needed a home computer which would run HyperCard, which meant that it had to be a Mac. I’ve never bought any computer other than a Mac since then. If that early Mac did not have HyperCard, I might never have been tempted to ever buy a Mac. I was astonished when Apple lost interest in HyperCard and let it fade away.