Xerox Alto

E270586
minicomputer personal computer research prototype

The Xerox Alto was a pioneering early personal computer that introduced the graphical user interface, mouse, and desktop metaphor that heavily influenced later systems like the Apple Macintosh.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (9)

Label Occurrences
Xerox Alto canonical 10
Xerox Alto personal computer 2
Xerox Alto document preparation environment 1

Statements (56)

Predicate Object
instanceOf minicomputer ⓘ
personal computer ⓘ
research prototype ⓘ
countryOfOrigin United States of America ⓘ
surface form: United States
cpu Xerox-designed microcoded processor ⓘ
developedBy Xerox PARC ⓘ
developer Palo Alto Research Center ⓘ
surface form: Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
displayOrientation portrait ⓘ
displayResolution 606×808 pixels ⓘ
displayType bitmapped display ⓘ
firstShipment 1973 ⓘ
formFactor desktop computer ⓘ
influenced Apple Lisa ⓘ
Apple Macintosh computers ⓘ
surface form: Apple Macintosh

Xerox Star system ⓘ
surface form: Xerox Star

modern graphical user interfaces ⓘ
inputDevice 5-key chord keyset ⓘ
keyboard ⓘ
mouse ⓘ
introduced 1973 ⓘ
introducedConcept WYSIWYG text editing ⓘ
desktop metaphor ⓘ
graphical user interface ⓘ
mouse-driven interface ⓘ
overlapping windows ⓘ
locationOfPrototypes Xerox PARC ⓘ
surface form: Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, California
networkInterface Ethernet ⓘ
networkSpeed 2.94 Mbit/s ⓘ
notableFeature first widely recognized GUI-based personal computer ⓘ
networked workstations using Ethernet ⓘ
support for WYSIWYG document editing ⓘ
operatingSystem Alto OS ⓘ
XDE ⓘ
powerSupply integrated into cabinet ⓘ
primaryStorage dynamic RAM ⓘ
primaryStorageCapacity 128 kilobytes ⓘ
256 kilobytes ⓘ
primaryUser Xerox internal researchers ⓘ
universities ⓘ
programmingLanguageUsed BCPL ⓘ
Mesa ⓘ
Smalltalk ⓘ
secondaryStorage 2.5 MB removable hard disk cartridge ⓘ
software BCPL compiler ⓘ
Bravo word processor ⓘ
Draw graphics program ⓘ
Gypsy text editor ⓘ
surface form: Gypsy word processor

Laurel email client ⓘ
Smalltalk environment ⓘ
successor Xerox Star system ⓘ
surface form: Xerox Star
unitsProduced approximately 2000 ⓘ
usedFor computer graphics research ⓘ
networking research ⓘ
office automation research ⓘ
user interface research ⓘ
wordSize 16-bit ⓘ

Referenced by (19)

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

Xerox PARC → developed → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Mesa → usedIn → Xerox Alto ⓘ
subject surface form: Mesa (programming language)
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto environment
Mesa → targetPlatform → Xerox Alto ⓘ
subject surface form: Mesa (programming language)
Xerox → developed → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Xerox → developed → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox NoteTaker (prototype)
Xerox Star system → predecessor → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Xerox Star system → influencedBy → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Bravo text editor → operatingSystem → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Bravo text editor → platform → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto personal computer
Bravo text editor → usedWith → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto document preparation environment
Dynabook concept → hasInfluenced → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Fellow at Xerox PARC → associatedWith → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto project
Cedar (programming language) → usedOn → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox workstations
Butler Lampson → notableWork → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto operating system
Charles P. Thacker → knownFor → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Charles P. Thacker → designed → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Charles P. Thacker → notableProject → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto personal computer
Alto Executive → developedFor → Xerox Alto ⓘ
Alto Executive → runsOn → Xerox Alto ⓘ
this entity surface form: Xerox Alto workstation