Editing X Window System (section)

===Predecessors===
Several bitmap display systems preceded X. From [[Xerox]] came the [[Xerox Alto|Alto]] (1973) and the [[Xerox Star|Star]] (1981). From [[Apollo Computer]] came [[Domain/OS#User interface|Display Manager]] (1981). From [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] came the [[Apple Lisa|Lisa]] (1983) and the [[Macintosh 128K|Macintosh]] (1984). The [[Unix]] world had the [[Andrew Project]] (1982) and [[Rob Pike]]'s [[Blit (computer terminal)|Blit]] terminal (1982).

Carnegie Mellon University produced a remote-access application called Alto Terminal, that displayed overlapping windows on the Xerox Alto, and made remote hosts (typically DEC VAX systems running Unix) responsible for handling window-exposure events and refreshing window contents as necessary.

X derives its name as a successor to a pre-1983 window system called [[W Window System|W]] (the letter preceding X in the [[English alphabet]]). W ran under the [[V (operating system)|V operating system]]. W used a network protocol supporting terminal and graphics windows, the server maintaining display lists.