Xerox Alto user interface

E2458
WIMP interface graphical user interface

The Xerox Alto user interface was a pioneering graphical user interface featuring windows, icons, and a desktop metaphor that profoundly shaped the design of modern personal computing environments.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (12)

Surface form Occurrences
Xerox Alto 5
Xerox Alto personal workstation 2
Xerox Alto software 2

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf WIMP interface ⓘ
graphical user interface ⓘ
basedOn research at Xerox PARC ⓘ
colorModel monochrome ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
demonstratedTo Apple engineers in late 1970s ⓘ
designedFor personal workstation use ⓘ
designGoal make computing more accessible to non-specialists ⓘ
developedBy Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Xerox PARC
developedFor Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Xerox Alto
displayType portrait bitmapped display ⓘ
documentedIn Xerox PARC technical reports ⓘ
feature WYSIWYG text editing ⓘ
bitmapped graphics display ⓘ
contextual menus ⓘ
iconic file representations ⓘ
icons ⓘ
menus ⓘ
mouse pointer ⓘ
mouse-driven interaction ⓘ
multiple document windows ⓘ
overlapping windows ⓘ
resizable windows ⓘ
scroll bars ⓘ
scrollable documents ⓘ
window title bars ⓘ
hardwarePlatform Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
surface form: Xerox Alto workstation
historicalSignificance foundation of modern GUI design ⓘ
inception 1973 ⓘ
influenced Apple Lisa user interface ⓘ
Apple Macintosh user interface ⓘ
Windows ⓘ
surface form: Microsoft Windows user interface

Star user interface ⓘ
modern desktop environments ⓘ
inputDevice keyboard ⓘ
three-button mouse ⓘ
notableFor early use of mouse-driven GUI ⓘ
early use of overlapping windows ⓘ
pioneering desktop metaphor ⓘ
predecessor command-line interfaces ⓘ
researchContext human–computer interaction ⓘ
office automation ⓘ
resolution 606×808 pixels ⓘ
usedInApplication Bravo text editor ⓘ
Draw graphics program ⓘ
Gypsy text editor ⓘ
Laurel email client ⓘ
usesMetaphor desktop metaphor ⓘ

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Lisa OS → basedOn → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox PARC GUI concepts
Gypsy text editor → category → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto software
Laurel email client → category → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto software
Xerox Alto user interface → developedBy → Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox PARC
Xerox Alto user interface → developedFor → Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto
Gypsy text editor → hardwareEnvironment → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto personal workstation
Xerox Alto user interface → hardwarePlatform → Xerox Alto user interface self-linksurface differs ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto workstation
Laurel email client → hardwareRequirements → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto personal workstation
NLS → influenced → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
Apple Lisa → influencedBy → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto
Apple Macintosh team → influencedBy → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox PARC Alto interface concepts
Python → influencedBy → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Smalltalk
Star user interface → introducedOnPlatform → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Star workstation
Alan Kay → knownFor → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto
Gypsy text editor → operatingSystem → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto system software
Laurel email client → operatingSystem → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto operating system
Gypsy text editor → platform → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto
Laurel email client → platform → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto
Star user interface → predecessorOf → Xerox Alto user interface ⓘ
this entity surface form: Microsoft Windows 1.0 user interface