Regarding the desktop metaphor: Magic Cap is actually not a good example for the desktop metaphor in its original sense, which is really about a stack of overla

Regarding the desktop metaphor: Magic Cap is actually not a good example for the desktop metaphor in its original sense, which is really about a stack of overlapping documents (windows). The desktop metaphor is about managing a stack of papers on a desktop, not about the desktop itself or any tangible appliances on it. (Probably, it should have been the "stack of documents metaphor", as opposed to the "office metaphor", which can do perfectly without this, as shown by Magic Cap. Arguably, "stack" was a concept already much discussed in a totally unrelated meaning (as in LIFO buffers), which may well be why Alan Kay rather avoided this. Kay's term also puts an emphasis on the OS providing the larger tableau for this to happen. But this tableau is notably an abstract one and not tied to any real-life experiences. According to Kay, it's "like magic".) Regarding linking pages (like individual paper documents): Mind that the anchor tag is a two-part expression. It marks a specific location in the abstract, serial document stream and allows other documents to link to this specific location. (This is also, why it is not the "link" tag.) It is only in the absence of a named descriptor (hash, fragment) that a link defaults to the top of the document. (Also, mind that previous system like NLS already took a radically different approach to the organization of documents, more related to unfolding building blocks than to any monolithic document.)