The Xerox Alto was the Xerox PARC computer that pioneered a graphical user interface and mouse-driven desktop in 1973.
Xerox PARC designed the Alto as an experimental personal computer for research and office-computing work. It used a bitmapped display, a three-button mouse, windows, icons, and an Ethernet connection—features that later became familiar in commercial personal computers.
The Alto was not sold as a mass-market product. Xerox later developed the Xerox Star, a commercial office system influenced by PARC research. Apple engineers also visited Xerox PARC, and ideas associated with the Alto influenced the Lisa and Macintosh, although the later products were independently designed and implemented.
The Alto is sometimes incorrectly called the first commercial graphical computer. Its historical importance lies in demonstrating an integrated graphical workstation years before such interfaces became common to consumers.