Before the Mac, there was the Lisa, Apple’s first computer with a graphical user interface. Lisa was released 40 years ago this week, and to celebrate the anniversary, the Computer History Museum – which calls Lisa “Apple’s major flop” – is offering the source code of the Lisa software for free download.
The download is only 7 MB compressed, 30 MB expanded. However, you must agree to a license agreement before you can get the download and provide your name and an email address. And once you download it, you need to figure out how to run it.
A look at the Lisa GUI immediately tells you where the Mac has its roots. Basically the desktop of the Mac still is based on Lisa, with drop-down menus at the top and icons for files and apps. The Lisa software ran on a Motorola 68000 and even enabled multitasking, but the 6800 struggled with the Lisa software, and the computer was slow and expensive, becoming a footnote after the Mac launched in 1984.
Named after Steve Jobs’ daughter, the Lisa debuted on January 19, 1983. The price was $9,995, which was several thousand dollars more expensive than IBM PCs with command-line interfaces. Apple hoped the GUI was enough to overcome the high price and slow performance, but the computer failed to sell.
The Macintosh made its debut in 1984, at a more reasonable $2,495, Apple also released new Lisa computers at the same time, but it was the Mac that caught on and Lisa was eventually scrapped. Suffice to say, without Lisa, there wouldn’t be a Mac, and the machine’s history is fascinating. You can learn more about Lisa’s history on the Computer History Museum website.
The Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California (about 9 miles north of Apple Park in Cupertino), is hosting an event to celebrate Lisa’s 40th birthday. Speakers who were part of Lisa’s development team, such as Bill Atkinson, Bruce Daniels and John Couch, are featured. The event also has demos featuring a working Lisa computer and an Apple-themed scavenger hunt. The event is January 31 at 5:30 PM Pacific and registration is required.
