What shape was its screen?

Portrait, like a sheet of paper

What was special about the Bravo editor?

What you see is what you get text

Was the Alto sold widely to the public?

No, it was mostly used internally

Xerox Alto Quiz: The 1973 Computer With a Mouse and Windows

This xerox alto quiz boots up a machine years ahead of its time. Play 10 interactive questions on Xerox PARC in Palo Alto, a 1973 computer with a portrait-shaped bitmap screen, windows and a mouse, Ethernet networking, the Bravo WYSIWYG editor, the Smalltalk language, why it was never sold widely, Steve Jobs' 1979 visit and the later Xerox Star.

Start Xerox Alto Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Where
Where was the Alto developed?
Year
When was the Alto first working?
Screen
What shape was its screen?
Mouse
Which pointing device did it use?
Net
Which networking technology was developed alongside it?
Bravo
What was special about the Bravo editor?
Lang
Which programming language grew up on the Alto?
Sold
Was the Alto sold widely to the public?
Jobs
Who visited PARC in 1979 and was inspired?
Star
What was Xerox's later commercial workstation?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Where was the Alto developed?
Answer: Xerox PARC
PARC stands for Palo Alto Research Center.
Q2: When was the Alto first working?
Answer: 1973
It was far ahead of its time.
Q3: What shape was its screen?
Answer: Portrait, like a sheet of paper
It showed bitmap graphics.
Q4: Which pointing device did it use?
Answer: A mouse
Doug Engelbart pioneered the mouse.
Q5: Which networking technology was developed alongside it?
Answer: Ethernet
Robert Metcalfe co-invented it.
Q6: What was special about the Bravo editor?
Answer: What you see is what you get text
Fonts appeared on screen.
Q7: Which programming language grew up on the Alto?
Answer: Smalltalk
Alan Kay's group created it.
Q8: Was the Alto sold widely to the public?
Answer: No, it was mostly used internally
Thousands were built for research.
Q9: Who visited PARC in 1979 and was inspired?
Answer: Steve Jobs
Apple's Lisa and Mac followed.
Q10: What was Xerox's later commercial workstation?
Answer: The Xerox Star
It launched in 1981.

The Desktop Before Desktops

The Xerox Alto was developed at Xerox PARC, the Palo Alto Research Center, and first worked in 1973. It had a portrait-shaped bitmap screen like a sheet of paper, windows and a mouse, a pointing device pioneered earlier by Doug Engelbart. It was years ahead of its time.

Ethernet, co-invented by Robert Metcalfe, was developed alongside the Alto to link machines and laser printers. The Bravo editor showed text on screen as it would print, an early what-you-see-is-what-you-get program. Alan Kay's group developed the Smalltalk language on the Alto.

The Alto was not sold widely; thousands were built for research and internal use. In 1979 Steve Jobs visited PARC and was inspired, and Apple's Lisa and Macintosh followed. Xerox launched its own commercial workstation, the Xerox Star, in 1981, but it was expensive and sold poorly.

What This Quiz Teaches

Tech history fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the Alto was made
What features it had
Which inventions came with it
Why it was not sold
Who it inspired

Did You Know?

Laser printing was developed at PARC.
The Alto mouse had three buttons.
Restored Altos have run again.
PARC researchers moved to Apple and Microsoft.
Its graphics drew individual pixels.