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Xerox Alto

The Xerox Alto is a computer system developed at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) in the 1970s. It is considered one of the first workstations or personal computers, and its development pioneered many aspects of modern computing. The advances include graphical user interface (GUI), computer mouse, Ethernet networking, and the ability to run…

History, Architecture & Software

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Connectivity
Ethernet
CPU
TTL-based, with the ALU built around four 74181 MSI chips. It has user programmable microcode, uses big-endian format and a CPU clock of 5.88 MHz.
Developer
Xerox PARC
Display
606 × 808 pixels
Input
Keyboard, 3-button mouse, 5-key chorded keyboard
Introductory price
US$32,000 (equivalent to $140,000 in 2025)

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Overview

History

Architecture

Software

Diffusion and evolution

Xerox and the Alto

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Map overview Semantic statistics

Xerox Alto

Nodes141
Edges140
Triples116
Avg. degree1.99
Density0.014184
Components1

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Xerox Alto

Top relations

related to history · 54
Xerox Alto → Abbey Silverstone, Alan, Alto, Alto's, An, Art, Association, Bob Nishimura, Butler Lampson, California, Charles, Charles Stark Draper Prize, Computer History Museum, Computer-based Education Research Laboratory, Computing Machinery, Doug Stewart, Douglas Engelbart, Due, Dustin Lindberg, El Segundo
related to Further reading · 26
Xerox Alto → Alto, Brock, Calif, Center, Computer Age, David, Dawn, Dealers, HarperCollins, Hiltzik, IEEE Spectrum, ISBN, Lightning, March, Michael, New York, OCLC, Palo Alto, PDF, Retrieved March
related to External links · 15
Xerox Alto → Archived June, Archived November, BCPL, Butler Lampson, CHM, Code, ConrAltoJS Xerox Alto Online, DigiBarn, Hello, SALTO, SALTO-Xerox Alto, The Alto, Wayback Machinebrainsqueezer/, Wayback MachineXerox Alto Source, Xerox Alto I/II Simulator
Connectivity · 1
Xerox Alto → Ethernet
CPU · 1
Xerox Alto → TTL-based, with the ALU built around four 74181 MSI chips. It has user programmable microcode, uses big-endian format and a CPU clock of 5.88 MHz.
Developer · 1
Xerox Alto → Xerox PARC
Display · 1
Xerox Alto → 606 × 808 pixels
Input · 1
Xerox Alto → Keyboard, 3-button mouse, 5-key chorded keyboard
Introductory price · 1
Xerox Alto → US$32,000 (equivalent to $140,000 in 2025)
Manufacturer · 1
Xerox Alto → Xerox PARC

Important terminology Word statistics

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Important terminology

alto xerox computer system parc first display one systems computers star used workstations mouse microcode machine disk developed interface based

Entity relationships Subject–Predicate–Object triples

SubjectPredicateObjectConfidenceSrc
Xerox AltoConnectivityEthernet1.00infobox
Xerox AltoCPUTTL-based, with the ALU built around four 74181 MSI chips. It has user programmable microcode, uses big-endian format and a CPU clock of 5.88 MHz.1.00infobox
Xerox AltoDeveloperXerox PARC1.00infobox
Xerox AltoDisplay606 × 808 pixels1.00infobox
Xerox AltoInputKeyboard, 3-button mouse, 5-key chorded keyboard1.00infobox
Xerox AltoIntroductory priceUS$32,000 (equivalent to $140,000 in 2025)1.00infobox
Xerox AltoManufacturerXerox PARC1.00infobox
Xerox AltoMedia2.5 MB one-platter disk cartridge1.00infobox
Xerox AltoMemory96 – 512 KB (128 KB for $4000)1.00infobox
Xerox AltoOperating systemAlto Executive (Exec)1.00infobox
Xerox AltoRelatedETH Lilith; Lisa; Apollo/Domain1.00infobox
Xerox AltoReleasedMarch 1, 1973; 53 years ago (1973-03-01)1.00infobox
Xerox AltoSuccessorXerox Star1.00infobox
Xerox AltoUnits shippedAlto I: 120 Alto II: 2,0001.00infobox
Xerox Altois acomputer system developed at Xerox PARC0.90text

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    Min side: 3
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