The Professional Workstation Research Project

Powerful, inexpensive processors, low-cost storage, and high-resolution color displays make single-user, networked, multiprogrammed computer workstations suitable replacements for the time-shared mainframe environment of the scientific and engineering professional. Distributed processing via networks of workstations connected to larger server machines, which are in turn connected to national and international networks, allows a completely new form of computer-aided organization for institutions. The flexibility and speed of such machines mean that a new revolution in information processing and human activity support is inevitable. The professional workstation project has as its immediate goal a networked, distributed system of single-user workstations. Each will use the Unix operating system and provide powerful object-oriented graphics tools that will enhance the productivity of scientific and engineering professionals.