diff --git a/src/graphical_terminal_io.cc b/src/graphical_terminal_io.cc
index e32b4b3..5a4255b 100644
--- a/src/graphical_terminal_io.cc
+++ b/src/graphical_terminal_io.cc
@@ -27,10 +27,36 @@
 #include <gtkmm/textview.h>
 #include <glibmm/ustring.h>
 
+#include <algorithm>
+
 using namespace sgpem;
 
 GraphicalTerminalIO::GraphicalTerminalIO() 
-{}
+{
+  using namespace Gtk;
+  
+  set_title(_("Textual Simulation Log"));
+  set_default_size(500,300);
+
+  Gtk::Box* mainbox = manage(new VBox());
+  add(*mainbox);
+  
+  _text_output.set_editable(false);
+  _text_output.modify_font(Pango::FontDescription("monospace"));
+  mainbox->pack_start(_text_output);
+
+  Gtk::Box* cmdbox = manage(new HBox());
+  mainbox->pack_end(*cmdbox, false, false);
+
+  cmdbox->pack_start(_text_input);
+
+  //Gtk::Button* bt_tell = manage(new Button(_("Tell")));
+  //  signals lack return value:
+  //bt_tell->signal_clicked().connect(sigc::mem_fun(*this, read_buffer));
+  //cmdbox->pack_start(*bt_tell, false, true);
+  
+  show_all_children();
+}
 
 GraphicalTerminalIO::~GraphicalTerminalIO() 
 {}
@@ -38,13 +64,25 @@ GraphicalTerminalIO::~GraphicalTerminalIO()
 GraphicalTerminalIO::size_type  
 GraphicalTerminalIO::write_buffer(const Glib::ustring& buffer)
 {
-  // FIXME
-  return 0;
+  _text_output.get_buffer()->insert_at_cursor(buffer);
+  return buffer.size();
 }
 
-GraphicalTerminalIO::size_type
-GraphicalTerminalIO::read_command(Glib::ustring& buffer) const 
+Glib::ustring
+GraphicalTerminalIO::read_command() const 
 {
-  // FIXME
-  return 0;
+  using Glib::ustring;
+  static const ustring whitespaces = " \r\b\n\t\a";
+                             // are there any other wspaces?
+  
+  ustring command = _text_input.get_text();
+  
+  // trimming:
+  size_type f = command.find_first_not_of(whitespaces);
+  size_type l = command.find_last_not_of(whitespaces);
+  if(f == ustring::npos)
+    return 0;
+  
+  _text_input.set_text(ustring(""));
+  return command.substr(f,l);
 }
diff --git a/src/graphical_terminal_io.hh b/src/graphical_terminal_io.hh
index c3fe16c..3d48e52 100644
--- a/src/graphical_terminal_io.hh
+++ b/src/graphical_terminal_io.hh
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <gtkmm/box.h>
 #include <gtkmm/entry.h>
 #include <gtkmm/textview.h>
+#include <gtkmm/window.h>
 #include <glibmm/ustring.h>
 
 #include "io_manager.hh"
@@ -42,18 +43,18 @@ namespace sgpem {
   /** \brief 
    * 
    * ... long desc ... */
-  class GraphicalTerminalIO : public IOManager, public Gtk::VBox 
+  class GraphicalTerminalIO : public IOManager, public Gtk::Window
   {
     typedef unsigned int size_type;
   public:
     GraphicalTerminalIO();
     virtual ~GraphicalTerminalIO();
     
-    virtual size_type  write_buffer(const Glib::ustring& buffer);
-    virtual size_type  read_command(Glib::ustring& buffer) const;
+    virtual size_type     write_buffer(const Glib::ustring& buffer);
+    virtual Glib::ustring read_command() const;
   private:
-    Gtk::TextView   text_output;
-    Gtk::Entry      text_input;
+    Gtk::TextView         _text_output;
+    mutable Gtk::Entry    _text_input;
   };
   
 }
diff --git a/src/io_manager.hh b/src/io_manager.hh
index e765cd5..3fdb21b 100644
--- a/src/io_manager.hh
+++ b/src/io_manager.hh
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ namespace sgpem {
   public:
     virtual ~IOManager() {}
     
-    virtual size_type  write_buffer(const Glib::ustring& buffer) = 0;
-    virtual size_type  read_command(Glib::ustring& buffer) const = 0;
+    virtual size_type      write_buffer(const Glib::ustring& buffer) = 0;
+    virtual Glib::ustring  read_command() const = 0;
   };
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main.cc b/src/main.cc
index dcc248f..a788727 100644
--- a/src/main.cc
+++ b/src/main.cc
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ main(int argc, char* argv[])
     filenames.insert(filenames.begin(), a_ptr, a_ptr+a_count);
   }
   */
-  //start_gui(argc, argv);
+  start_gui(argc, argv);
   
   //SMOKE-TEST for backend classes
   cout << "\n\n********************************";  
diff --git a/src/main_window.cc b/src/main_window.cc
index 6a10372..2127f33 100644
--- a/src/main_window.cc
+++ b/src/main_window.cc
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ using namespace sgpem;
 MainWindow::MainWindow() 
 {
   set_title(PACKAGE_STRING);
-  set_default_size(800, 600);
+  //set_default_size(800, 600);
   
   Gtk::Box* mainbox = manage(new Gtk::VBox());
   add(*mainbox);  
diff --git a/src/start_gui.cc b/src/start_gui.cc
index 7f63642..9d4d8bb 100644
--- a/src/start_gui.cc
+++ b/src/start_gui.cc
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include "config.h"
 #include "gettext.h"
 
-#include "main_window.hh"
+#include "graphical_terminal_io.hh"
 #include "start_gui.hh"
 
 #include <gtkmm/main.h>
@@ -30,6 +30,6 @@ void
 start_gui(int argc, char** argv) 
 {
   Gtk::Main gtk_main(argc,argv);
-  sgpem::MainWindow main_window;
+  sgpem::GraphicalTerminalIO main_window;
   Gtk::Main::run(main_window);
 }