Xerox PARC’s 1981 computer, The Xerox Star, introduced an array of features that I feel altered the course of computer history. When I read about the Xerox Star, I was surprised by all of the innovative ideas it introduced. As opposed to just being for engineers and scientists, Xerox Star tailored computers for offices for the first time, shaping the office environment we think of today. Featuring a graphical user interface, or GUI, Xerox Star was the first look at what has now become familiar to us: windows, icons, menus, and pointers. This important shift from command-line interface served as a large part of Xerox Star’s legacy, inspiring the development of computers as we know it today.
Other impactful features of Xerox Star included things like the desktop metaphor, equating actions on the computer to real objects in the office, allowing office workers to easily learn to interact with the computer. Files, folders, and documents could be seen on the screen for the first time commercially, paving the way for modern computers. Xerox Star also helped to introduce the computer mouse to a commercial audience. Consistent commands and networking also added to Xerox Star’s shining legacy as an important computer in history.
Overall, The Xerox Star introduced many familiar and important innovations and helped to launch the use of computers in work environments, as well as shape the way we have interacted with computer interfaces since and continue to today. Though it was not particularly commercially successful, the introduction of things such as the desktop metaphor and computer mouse served as proof that the Xerox Star was a big step in the right direction. These achievements built a lasting legacy for the Xerox Star, shifting the direction of computer history and helping to shape the technology we now use daily.