Computer History Museum Releases Apple Lisa Source Code on 40th Launch Anniversary
The Computer History Museum located in Mountain View, California, today released the Apple Lisa source code, including its system and applications software. Today happens to be the 40th anniversary of the original January 19, 1983 release of the Apple Lisa.
Aimed at business users, the Apple Lisa was priced at close to $10,000 when it was introduced, and the high price tag combined with software issues and problems with floppy disks caused it to be something of a commercial failure. Though it was largely replaced with the much more affordable Apple Macintosh and Lisa 2 after just two years, The Apple Lisa is known for its innovative use of a graphical user interface (GUI).
The Apple Lisa included several apps, such as a word processor, spreadsheet, and charts, all of which were bundled with the system. The GUI was inspired by Xerox PARC's Smalltalk system, but had its own innovations that ultimately inspired Apple's future operating systems as well as Microsoft's Windows software.
Those interested in downloading the Apple Lisa code can do so through the Computer History Museum website.
The code is being released as part of the Computer History Museum's ongoing "Art of Code" series, which explores historical code releases that power significant developments in computing. There will be a hybrid in-person/online event on January 31 at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Time that will commemorate Apple's PC journey and highlight what made the Lisa the company's "most important flop."
Popular Stories
Apple today released iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, the...
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, the first update for the macOS Sequoia operating system. The 15.0.1 update comes a week after Apple first released macOS Sequoia 15. Mac users can download the macOS Sequoia update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. According to Apple's release notes, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 fixes a bug that could cause the Messages app...
Now that it's been two weeks since the iPhone 16 models were released, we've been able to spend enough time with the new devices to share a more in-depth review on their performance, battery life, feature set, and more. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've been testing the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, but the gap between the Pro models and the standard iPhone 16...
Amazon is hosting another Prime Day event this year, called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days and offering shoppers the first chance to save on holiday shopping from a major retailer. Similar to the first Prime Day, it will last for two days (October 8-9) and you can already find a large selection of early deals across Amazon's storefront, covering savings on tech, clothing, video games, groceries, and...
It's hard to believe we're already into October with the iPhone 16 launch behind us, but there's lots more still to come from Apple this year on both the hardware and software fronts. We're still expecting a number of Mac and perhaps some iPad updates in the very near future, while Apple Intelligence features are set to begin rolling out with iOS 18.1 and related operating system updates....
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
Apple is working on a new iPad mini that will "potentially" be released "by the end of 2024," according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Last month, Gurman reported that Apple had "new iPads in the works," including an upgraded version of the iPad mini. At the time, he said the device was "on deck for Apple's October event" alongside the first M4 Macs. The wording in his...
Apple will announce several new M4 Mac models around the end of October, with the company planning to launch at least some of them as soon as Friday, November 1, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that Apple will launch a new M4 version of its low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, as well as higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models...
