# Xerox Alto (2026-08-19)

**URL:** <https://pluralist.net/t/xerox-alto-2026-08-19/344>\
**Category:** breadcrumbs\
**Created:** [August 19, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://pluralist.net/t/xerox-alto-2026-08-19/344 "2026-08-19T13:37:22Z")\
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**Author:** ![delyan](https://pluralist.net/user_avatar/pluralist.net/delyan/32/245_2.png) [@delyan](https://pluralist.net/u/delyan)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2026, 1:37pm UTC](https://pluralist.net/t/xerox-alto-2026-08-19/344/1 "2026-08-19T13:37:22Z")

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# Xerox Alto

The computer is a **Xerox Alto** , developed at Xerox PARC beginning in **1973**.

| Specification | Xerox Alto |
| --- | --- |
| Introduced | **1973** |
| Display resolution | **606 × 808 pixels** |
| Orientation | **Portrait** |
| Display | 1-bit monochrome bitmap |
| Screen size | ~8 × 10 inches |
| Typical RAM | **128 KB** initially |
| Local disk | **2.5 MB** removable cartridge |
| Networking | **3 Mbps Ethernet** |
| Input | Keyboard, **3-button mouse** , 5-key chord keyboard |

## Operating System

The Alto ran the **Alto Operating System** , with the **Alto Executive (“Exec”)** serving as its command environment.

It wasn’t quite a modern GUI operating system with one persistent desktop and multiple applications. Applications generally took control of the bitmapped display themselves.

Important Alto software included:

- **Bravo** — pioneering WYSIWYG word processor
- **Smalltalk** — graphical, object-oriented programming environment
- **Draw** — graphics program
- **Laurel** — graphical email
- **Mesa** and BCPL development environments
- Ethernet-based file and printing services

## The Display

The Alto’s display resolution was:

**606 × 808 pixels**

This was a **true bitmapped framebuffer**. Individual pixels were represented in memory rather than the display being a conventional character terminal.

The unusual **portrait orientation** was deliberate: the screen approximated the shape of a sheet of paper. This was particularly useful for WYSIWYG document editing.

## Why the Alto Matters

The remarkable thing is the date: **1973**.

The Alto already demonstrated many concepts that would define personal computing:

- Bitmapped graphics
- Mouse input
- Graphical user interfaces
- Windows and menus
- WYSIWYG document editing
- Ethernet networking
- Network file servers
- Network printing
- Graphical email
- Object-oriented graphical programming

This was **four years before the Apple II** and **eight years before the IBM PC**.

The Alto also belongs directly to the technological lineage that eventually produced Xerox’s Lisp machines and **Interlisp-D/Medley** :

**Xerox Alto → PARC Lisp research → D-machines (Dorado/Dandelion/etc.) → Interlisp-D → Medley**