[2] The X1 was designed by the Mathematical Centre in Amsterdam, an academic organization that had been involved in computer design since 1947, and manufactured by Electrologica NV,[3] a company formed expressly for the purpose of producing the machine.

The X1 was a solid-state binary computer ("completely transistorized"[1]) with magnetic core memory.

Word-length was 27 bits and peripherals included punched and magnetic tape.

[1] The X1 allowed conditional execution of every instruction, not just branches as is the case in most computers.

The normal use of symbolic addresses is to name "paragraphs", i.e., related blocks of code or data.