30 Jun
1999
30 Jun
'99
3:44 p.m.
Alto----+----->D machines ----> Apple Lisa
----> Macintosh ----> MS Windows
| | Close similarities
+-----> PERQ
I don't want to imply a direct technical link here. But it's clear that the
Macintosh was influenced by the Lisa. And that Windows was influenced by
the Macintosh.
For better or worse, the GUI (in particular MS Windows) has a major
influence on today's computing. More so than (IMHO) the influence of
cheap home computers. In other words, had the ZX80, etc never existed
(but keeping the IBM PC etc), then computing today wouldn't be that
different. Had the PERQ/Dmachines, etc never existed, then things would
most likely have been somewhat different.
This is a bit flawed - the PERQ machines were a dead end, more or less,
and really did not influence GUI design. The D machines did, and can be
creditted with the glory. Just because the two machines are similar does
not mean they both influenced the same thing.
Its like saying Amdahl 470V had a great infulence on computer
architecture. Yes, they are similar to S/360s and 370s, and yes, the same
guy did them all, but the IBM machines were the ones that started the
avalanche.
William Donzelli
aw288(a)osfn.org