Bill Atkinson Apple Engineer Behind MacPaint HyperCard Dies at 74

Bill Atkinson, a pioneering Apple engineer and software designer, passed away in June 2025 due to complications from pancreatic cancer. Joining Apple in 1978 as the 51st employee and recruited by Steve Jobs, Atkinson was instrumental in developing key graphical user interface innovations for the Lisa and Macintosh computers, including QuickDraw, MacPaint, and HyperCard, which paved the way for interactive software development and modern hypermedia. He introduced design elements such as RoundRects, the menu bar, and the selection lasso, many of which remain integral to Apple's products today. After leaving Apple in 1990, Atkinson co-founded General Magic and later worked at Numenta, focusing on artificial intelligence, while also gaining acclaim as a nature photographer. Colleagues and the tech community remember him as a visionary who transformed personal computing and made technology more accessible and beautiful. His legacy endures in the foundational tools and concepts that shaped graphical computing and user-friendly interfaces.