Workstation

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A workstation was a high-end personal computer (physically a desktop, not a laptop), capable of running computationally demanding applications. Almost ubiquitously, they included a bit-mapped display, a mouse, and a data network connection (usually Ethernet). With the increasing power of later personal computers, they faded out as a separate category.

Some workstations

  • Apollo, 1980: DN series
  • MIT-LCS, 1979: Nu Machine
  • MIT-AI, 1978: CADR LISP machine
  • Silicon Graphics, 1984: IRIS 1000
  • Stanford University, 1981: SUN
  • Three Rivers, 1979: PERQ

"Workstation-like" computers introduced before the concept

These machines has some or all of the attributes, but are usually not regarded as workstations.

See also