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Atari ST is a line of
personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
s from
Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of Home computer, home computers and Video game console, video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than ...
and the successor to the company's 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available in July. It was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color
graphical user interface A graphical user interface, or GUI, is a form of user interface that allows user (computing), users to human–computer interaction, interact with electronic devices through Graphics, graphical icon (computing), icons and visual indicators such ...
, using a version of
Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser ...
's GEM environment from February 1985. The Atari 1040ST, released in 1986 with 1 MB of memory, was the first home computer with a cost per kilobyte of RAM under US$1/KB. After
Jack Tramiel Jack Tramiel (, ); born Idek Trzmiel (; December 13, 1928 â€“ April 8, 2012) was a Polish- American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The Commodore PET, VIC-20, and Commodore 64 are som ...
purchased the assets of the Atari, Inc. consumer division in 1984 to create Atari Corporation, the 520ST was designed in five months by a small team led by
Shiraz Shivji Shiraz Shivji (born 1947 in what is now known as Tanzania) was the primary designer of the Atari ST computer for Atari Corporation, which was developed in five months and released in 1985, and one of the engineers who developed the Commodore 64. ...
. Alongside the
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
,
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...
,
Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II) is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Inc., Apple Computer beginning in September 1986. It is the fifth and most powerful model of the Apple II family. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound" ...
and
Acorn Archimedes The Acorn Archimedes is a family of personal computers designed by Acorn Computers of Cambridge, England. The systems in this family use Acorn's own ARM architecture processors and initially ran the Arthur operating system, with later models ...
, the ST is part of a mid-1980s generation of computers with 16 or 16/32-bit processors, 256  KB or more of RAM, and
mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...
-controlled graphical user interfaces. "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", referring to the
Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
's
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
external bus and
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...
internals. The ST was sold with either Atari's color monitor or less expensive
monochrome monitor A monochrome monitor is a type of computer monitor in which computer text and images are displayed in varying tones of only one color, as opposed to a color monitor that can display text and images in multiple colors. They were very common in t ...
. Color graphics modes are available only on the former while the highest-resolution mode requires the monochrome monitor. Most models can display the color modes on a TV. In
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
and some other markets, the ST gained a foothold for CAD and
desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...
. With built-in
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
ports, it was popular for music sequencing and as a controller of
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...
s among amateur and professional musicians. The Atari ST's primary competitor was the Amiga from Commodore. The 520ST and 1040ST were followed by the Mega series, the STE, and the portable STacy. In the early 1990s, Atari released three final evolutions of the ST with significant technical differences from the original models: TT030 (1990), Mega STE (1991), and
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
(1992). Atari discontinued the entire ST computer line in 1993, shifting the company's focus to the
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
video game console.


Development

The Atari ST was born from the rivalry between home computer makers Atari, Inc. and
Commodore International Commodore International Corporation was a home computer and electronics manufacturer with its head office in The Bahamas and its executive office in the United States founded in 1976 by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. It was the successor compan ...
.
Jay Miner Jay Glenn Miner (May 31, 1932 â€“ June 20, 1994) was an American integrated circuit designer, known primarily for developing graphics and audio chips for the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit computers and as the "father of the Amiga". Early life ...
, one of the designers of the custom chips in the
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600 is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977 as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS), it popularized microprocessor-based hardware and games stored on swappable ROM cartridg ...
and
Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...
, tried to convince Atari management to create a new chipset for a video game console and computer. When his idea was rejected, he left Atari to form a small
think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
called Hi-Toro in 1982 and began designing the new "Lorraine" chipset. Hi-Toro, by then renamed Amiga, ran out of capital to complete Lorraine's development, and Atari, now owned by
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC (doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warner ...
, paid Amiga to continue its work. In return, Atari received exclusive use of the Lorraine design for one year as a video game console. After that time, Atari had the right to add a keyboard and market the complete computer, designated the 1850XLD.


Tramel Technology

After leaving
Commodore International Commodore International Corporation was a home computer and electronics manufacturer with its head office in The Bahamas and its executive office in the United States founded in 1976 by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. It was the successor compan ...
in January 1984,
Jack Tramiel Jack Tramiel (, ); born Idek Trzmiel (; December 13, 1928 â€“ April 8, 2012) was a Polish- American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The Commodore PET, VIC-20, and Commodore 64 are som ...
formed Tramel (without an "i") Technology, Ltd. with his sons and other ex-Commodore employees and, in April, began planning a new computer. Interested in Atari's overseas manufacturing and worldwide distribution network, Tramiel negotiated with Warner in May and June 1984. He secured funding and bought Atari's consumer division, which included the console and home computer departments, in July. The arcade video game division remained part of Warner. As executives and engineers left Commodore to join Tramel Technology, Commodore filed lawsuits against four former engineers for infringement of
trade secret A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...
s. The Tramiels did not purchase the employee contracts with the assets of Atari, Inc. and re-hired approximately 100 of the 900 former employees. Tramel Technology soon changed its name to
Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of Home computer, home computers and Video game console, video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than ...
.


Commodore and Amiga

Amid rumors that Tramiel was negotiating to buy Atari, Amiga Corp. entered discussions with Commodore. This led to Commodore wanting to purchase Amiga Corporation outright, which Commodore believed would cancel any outstanding contracts, including Atari's. Instead of Amiga Corp. delivering Lorraine to Atari, Commodore delivered a check of $500,000 on Amiga's behalf, in effect returning the funds Atari invested in Amiga for the chipset. Tramiel countered by suing Amiga Corp. on August 13, 1984, seeking damages and an injunction to bar Amiga (and effectively Commodore) from producing anything with its technology. The lawsuit left the Amiga team in limbo during mid-1984. Commodore eventually moved forward, with plans to improve the chipset and develop an
operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
. Commodore announced the
Amiga 1000 The Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most advanced grap ...
with the Lorraine chipset in July 1985, but it wasn't available in quantity until 1986. The delay gave Atari time to deliver the Atari 520ST in June 1985. In March 1987, the two companies settled the dispute out of court in a closed decision.


ST hardware

The lead architect of the new computer project at Tramel Technology and Atari Corporation was ex-Commodore employee
Shiraz Shivji Shiraz Shivji (born 1947 in what is now known as Tanzania) was the primary designer of the Atari ST computer for Atari Corporation, which was developed in five months and released in 1985, and one of the engineers who developed the Commodore 64. ...
, who previously worked on the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
's development. Different CPUs were investigated, including the 32-bit
National Semiconductor National Semiconductor Corporation was an United States of America, American Semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturer, which specialized in analogue electronics, analog devices and subsystems, formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, ...
NS32000, but engineers were disappointed with its performance, and they moved to the
Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
. The Atari ST design was completed in five months in 1984, concluding with it being shown at the January 1985 Consumer Electronics Show. A custom sound processor called AMY had been in development at Atari, Inc. and was considered for the new ST computer design. The chip needed more time to complete, so AMY was dropped in favor of a commodity Yamaha YM2149F variant of the
General Instrument AY-3-8910 The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument (GI) in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit computing, 16-bit General Instrument CP1600, CP1610 or one of the PIC microcontrollers, PIC1650 ser ...
.


Operating system

Soon after the Atari buyout,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
suggested to Tramiel that it could port
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
to the platform, but the delivery date was out by two years. A proposal to write a new operating system was rejected as Atari management was unsure whether the company had the required expertise.
Digital Research Digital Research, Inc. (DR or DRI) was a privately held American software company created by Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit systems like MP/M, Concurrent DOS, FlexOS, Multiuser ...
was working on a new GUI-based system called Crystal, soon to become GEM, but was fully committed to the Intel platform. A team from Atari was sent to Digital Research headquarters to work on a port to the 68000. Atari's Leonard Tramiel oversaw "Project Jason" (also known as The Operating System) for the ST series, named for designer and developer Jason Loveman. GEM is based on CP/M-68K, a direct port of
CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...
to the 68000. By 1985, CP/M was becoming increasingly outdated; it did not support subdirectories, for example. Digital Research was also in the process of building GEMDOS, a
disk operating system A disk operating system (DOS) is a computer operating system that requires a disk or other direct-access storage device as secondary storage. A DOS provides a file system and a means for loading and running computer program, programs stored on th ...
for GEM, and debated whether a port of it could be completed in time for product delivery in June. The decision was eventually taken to port it, resulting in a GEMDOS file system which became part of
Atari TOS TOS (The Operating System) is the operating system of the Atari ST range of computers. This range includes the 520ST and 1040ST, their STF/M/FM and STE variants and the Mega ST/STE. Later, 32-bit machines ( TT, Falcon030) were developed using a ...
(for "The Operating System", colloquially known as the "Tramiel Operating System"). This gave the ST a fast,
hierarchical A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an importan ...
file system, essential for hard drives, and provided programmers with function calls similar to
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
. The Atari ST character set is based on codepage 437.


Release

After six months of intensive effort following Tramiel's takeover, Atari announced the 520ST at the Winter
Consumer Electronics Show CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
in January 1985. ''InfoWorld'' assessed the prototypes shown at computer shows as follows:
Pilot production models of the Atari machine are much slicker than the hand-built models shown at earlier computer fairs; it doesn't look like a typical Commodore 64-style, corner-cutting, low-cost Jack Tramiel product of the past.
Atari unexpectedly displayed the ST at Atlanta COMDEX in May. Similarities to the original
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
and Tramiel's role in its development resulted in it being nicknamed Jackintosh. Atari's rapid development of the ST amazed many, but others were skeptical, citing its "cheap" appearance, Atari's uncertain financial health, and poor relations between Tramiel-led Commodore and software developers. In early 1985, the 520ST shipped to the press, developers, and
user group A users' group (also user's group or user group) is a type of Club (organization), club focused on the use of a particular technology, usually (but not always) computer-related. Overview Users' groups started in the early days of Mainframe compu ...
s, and in early July 1985 for general retail sales. It saved the company. Atari ST print advertisements stated, "America, We Built It For You", and quoted Atari president Sam Tramiel: "We promised. We delivered. With pride, determination, and good old ATARI know how". By November, Atari stated that more than 50,000 520STs had been sold, "with U.S. sales alone well into five figures". The machine had gone from concept to store shelves in a little under one year. Atari had intended to release the 130ST with 128 KB of RAM and the 260ST with 256 KB. However, the ST initially shipped without TOS in ROM and required booting TOS from floppy, taking 206 KB RAM away from applications. The 260ST was launched in Europe on a limited basis. Early models have six
ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...
sockets for easy upgrades to TOS. New ROMs were released a few months later and were included in new machines and as an upgrade for older machines. Atari originally intended to include GEM's Graphical Device Operating System (GDOS), which allows programs to send GEM VDI ( Virtual Device Interface) commands to drivers loaded by GDOS. This allows developers to send VDI instructions to other devices simply by pointing to it. However, GDOS was not ready at the time the ST started shipping and was included in software packages and with later ST machines. Later versions of GDOS support vector fonts. A limited set of GEM fonts were included in the ROMs, including the ST's standard 8x8 pixel graphical character set. It contains four characters which can be placed together in a square, forming the face of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs (the figurehead of the
Church of the SubGenius The Church of the SubGenius is a parody religion that satirizes better-known belief systems. It teaches a complex philosophy that focuses on J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, purportedly a salesman from the 1950s, who is revered as a prophet by the Church. SubGen ...
). The ST was less expensive than most contemporaries, including the Macintosh Plus, and is faster than many. Largely as a result of its price and performance factor, the ST became fairly popular, especially in Europe where foreign-exchange rates amplified prices. The company's English advertising slogan of the era was "Power Without the Price". An Atari ST and terminal emulation software was much cheaper than a
Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
VT220 The VT200 series is a family of computer terminals introduced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in November 1983. The VT220 was the basic version, a text-only version with multi-lingual capabilities. The VT240 added monochrome ReGIS vecto ...
terminal, commonly needed by offices with central computers. By late 1985, the 520STM added an RF modulator for TV display.


Industry reaction

''
Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...
'' stated that Tramiel's poor pre-Atari reputation would likely make computer stores reluctant to deal with the company, hurting its distribution of the ST. One retailer said, "If you can believe
Lucy Lucy is an English language, English feminine given name derived from the Latin masculine given name Lucius with the meaning ''as of light'' (''born at dawn or daylight'', maybe also ''shiny'', or ''of light complexion''). Alternative spellings ar ...
when she holds the football for
Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the Protagonist, principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily newspaper, daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown ...
, you can believe Jack Tramiel"; another said that because of its experience with Tramiel, "our interest in Atari is zero, zilch". Neither Atari nor Commodore could persuade large chains like ComputerLand or BusinessLand to sell its products. Observers criticized Atari's erratic discussion of its stated plans for the new computer, as it shifted between using mass merchandisers, specialty computer stores, and both. When asked at COMDEX, Atari executives could not name any computer stores that would carry the ST. After a meeting with Atari, one analyst said, "We've seen marketing strategies changed before our eyes". Tramiel's poor reputation influenced potential software developers. One said, "Dealing with Commodore is like dealing with Attila the Hun. I don't know if Tramiel will be following his old habits ... I don't see a lot of people rushing to get software on the machine." Large business-software companies like Lotus,
Ashton-Tate Ashton-Tate Corporation was a US-based software company best known for developing the popular dBASE database application and later acquiring Framework from the Forefront Corporation and MultiMate from Multimate International. It grew from ...
, and Microsoft did not promise software for either the ST or Amiga, and the majority of software companies were hesitant to support another platform beyond the
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...
, Apple, and
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
.
Philippe Kahn Philippe Kahn (born March 16, 1952) is a French engineer, entrepreneur, and founder of four technology companies: Borland, Starfish Software, LightSurf Technologies, and Fullpower Technologies. Kahn is credited with creating the first camera ...
of
Borland Borland Software Corporation was a computing technology company founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad, and Philippe Kahn. Its main business was developing and selling software development and software deployment products. B ...
said, "These days, if I were a consumer, I'd stick with companies uch as Apple and IBM I know will be around". At Las Vegas COMDEX in November 1985, the industry was surprised by more than 30 companies exhibiting ST software while the Amiga had almost none. After Atlanta COMDEX, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that "more than 100 software titles will be available for the T most written by small software houses that desperately need work", and contrasted the "small, little-known companies" at Las Vegas with the larger ones like
Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
and
Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
, which planned Amiga applications.
Trip Hawkins William Murray "Trip" Hawkins III (born December 28, 1953) is an American entrepreneur and founder of Electronic Arts, The 3DO Company, and Digital Chocolate. Career A fan of the Strat-O-Matic Football pen and paper games, Hawkins started his ...
of Electronic Arts said, "I don't think Atari understands the software business. I'm still skeptical about its resources and its credibility." Although Michael Berlyn of
Infocom Infocom, Inc., was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerston ...
promised that his company would quickly publish all of its games for the new computer, he doubted many others would soon do so.
Spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a Point of sail#Reaching, reach (wind at 90° to the course) to Point of sail#Running downwind, downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinna ...
and Lifetree were more positive, both promising to release ST software. Spinnaker said that "Atari has a vastly improved attitude toward software developers. They are eager to give us technical support and machines". Lifetree said, "We are giving Atari high priority". Some, such as Software Publishing Corporation, were unsure of whether to develop for the ST or the Amiga. John C. Dvorak wrote that the public saw both Commodore and Atari as selling "cheap disposable" game machines, in part because of their computers' sophisticated graphics.


Design

The original 520ST case design was created by Ira Velinsky, Atari's chief Industrial Designer. It is wedge-shaped, with bold angular lines and a series of grilles cut into the rear for airflow. The keyboard has soft tactile feedback and rhomboid-shaped function keys across the top. It is an all-in-one unit, similar to earlier home computers like the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
, but with a larger keyboard with cursor keys and a numeric keypad. The original has an external floppy drive (SF354) and
AC adapter An AC adapter or AC/DC adapter (also called a wall charger, power adapter, power brick, or wall wart) is a type of external power supply, often enclosed in a case similar to an AC plug. AC adapters deliver electric power to devices that la ...
. Starting with the 1040ST, the floppy drive and power supply are integrated into the base unit.


Ports

The ports on the 520ST remained largely unchanged over its history.


Standard

*
RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...
c serial port ( DB25 male, operating as basic 9-conductor DTE) * Centronics printer port ( DB25 female, officially compliant only with the most basic unidirectional standard with a single, "Busy" input line; unofficially offering some bidirectional capabilities) * Atari joystick ports ( DE-9 male) for the mouse and game controllers * 2
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
ports (5-pin
DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken ...
, "IN" and "OUT") Because of its bi-directional design, the Centronics printer port can be used for joystick input, and several games used available adaptors that used the printer socket, providing two additional 9-pin joystick ports.


ST-specific

* Monitor port (custom 13-pin
DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken ...
, 12 of the pins in a rectangular pattern, carrying signals for both RGB and monochrome monitors, monophonic audio and, in later models, composite video) * ACSI (similar to
SCSI Small Computer System Interface (SCSI, ) is a set of standards for physically connecting and transferring data between computers and peripheral devices, best known for its use with storage devices such as hard disk drives. SCSI was introduced ...
) DMA port (custom-sized 19-pin D-sub, for hard disks and laser printers, capable of up to 2 MB/s with efficient programming) * Floppy port (14-pin DIN, listed as operating at 250 kbit/s) * ST cartridge port (double-sided 40-contact edge connector socket, for 128 KB
ROM cartridge A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, cassette, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, ...
s)


Monitor

The ST supports a
monochrome A monochrome or monochromatic image, object or palette is composed of one color (or values of one color). Images using only shades of grey are called grayscale (typically digital) or black-and-white (typically analog). In physics, mon ...
or colour monitor. The colour hardware supports two resolutions: 320 × 200 pixels, with 16 of 512 colours; and 640 × 200, with 4 of 512 colours. The monochrome monitor was less expensive and has a single resolution of 640 × 400 at 71.25 Hz. The attached monitor determines available resolutions, so each application either supports both types of monitors or only one. Most ST games require colour with productivity software favouring the monochrome. The Philips CM8833-II was a popular color monitor for the Atari ST.


Floppy drive

Atari initially used single-sided 3.5 inch floppy disk drives that could store up to 360 KB. Later drives were double-sided and stored 720 KB. Some commercial software, particularly games, shipped by default on single-sided disks, even supplying two 360 KB floppies instead of a single double-sided one, to avoid alienating early adopters. Some software uses formats which allow the full disk to be read by double-sided drives but still lets single-sided drives access side A of the disk. Many magazine coverdisks (such as the first 30 issues of ''ST Format'') were designed this way, as were a few games. The music in '' Carrier Command'' and the intro sequence in '' Populous'' are not accessible to single-sided drives, for example. STs with double-sided drives can read disks formatted by
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
, but IBM PC compatibles can not read Atari disks because of differences in the layout of data on track 0.


Later systems


1040ST

Atari upgraded the basic design in 1986 with the 1040STF, stylized as 1040STF: essentially a 520ST with twice the RAM and with the power supply and a double-sided
floppy drive A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...
with twice the capacity, and built-in instead of external. This adds to the size of the machine, but reduces cable clutter. The joystick and mouse ports, formerly on the right side of the machine, are in a recess underneath the keyboard. An "FM" variant includes an RF modulator allowing a television to be used instead of a monitor. The trailing "F" and "FM" were often dropped in common usage. In ''
BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
'' magazine's March 1986 cover photo of the system, the name plate reads 1040STFM but in the headline and article it's simply "1040ST". The 1040ST is one of the earliest personal computers shipped with a base RAM configuration of 1 MB. With a list price of in the US, ''
BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...
'' hailed it as the first computer to break the $1000 per megabyte price barrier. ''
Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...
'' noted that the 1040ST is the first computer with one megabyte of RAM to sell for less than $2,500. A limited number of 1040STFs shipped with a single-sided floppy drive of 360KB storage capacity verses 720KB in the double sided version. We can find also lot of 520 STF versions in Europe, early models are dated 1986, December and have also a single-sided floppy drive of 360KB storage capacity.


Mega

Initial sales were strong, especially in Europe, where Atari sold 75% of its computers.
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
became Atari's strongest market, with small business owners using them for desktop publishing and CAD. To address this growing market segment, Atari introduced the ST1 at Comdex in 1986. Renamed to Mega, it includes a high-quality detached keyboard, a stronger case to support the weight of a monitor, and an internal bus expansion connector. An optional 20 MB hard drive can be placed below or above the main case. Initially equipped with 2 or 4 MB of RAM (a 1 MB version, the Mega 1, followed), the Mega machines can be combined with Atari's laser printer for a low-cost desktop publishing package. A custom
blitter A blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within a computer's memory. A blitter can copy large quantities of data from one memory area to a ...
coprocessor improved some graphics performance, but was not included in all models. Developers wanting to use it had to detect its presence in their programs. Properly written applications using the GEM
API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...
automatically make use of the blitter.


STE

In late 1989,
Atari Corporation Atari Corporation was an American manufacturer of Home computer, home computers and Video game console, video game consoles. It was founded by Jack Tramiel on May 17, 1984, as Tramel Technology, Ltd., but then took on the Atari name less than ...
released the 520STE and 1040STE (also written STE), enhanced version of the ST with improvements to the multimedia hardware and operating system. It features an increased color palette of 4,096 colors from the ST's 512 (though the maximum displayable palette without programming tricks is still limited to 16 in the lowest 320 × 200 resolution, and even fewer in higher resolutions),
genlock Genlock (generator locking) is a common technique where the video output of one source (or a specific reference signal from a signal generator) is used to synchronize other picture sources together. The aim in video applications is to ensure the ...
support, and a
blitter A blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within a computer's memory. A blitter can copy large quantities of data from one memory area to a ...
coprocessor (stylized as "BLiTTER") which can quickly move large blocks of data (particularly, graphics data) around in RAM. The STE is the first Atari with PCM audio; using a new chip, it added the ability to play back 8-bit (signed) samples at 6258 Hz, 12,517 Hz, 25,033 Hz, and even 50,066 Hz, via
direct memory access Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed i ...
(DMA). The channels are arranged as either a mono track or a track of LRLRLRLR... bytes. RAM is now much more simply upgradable via SIMMs. Two enhanced joystick ports were added (two normal joysticks can be plugged into each port with an adapter), with the new connectors placed in more easily accessed locations on the side of the case. The enhanced joystick ports were re-used in the
Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. It is in the fifth generation of video game consoles, and it competed with Fourth generation of video game consoles, fo ...
console and are compatible. The STE models initially had software and hardware conflicts resulting in some
applications Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...
and video games written for the ST line being unstable or even completely unusable, primarily caused by programming direct hardware calls which bypassed the operating system. Furthermore, even having a joystick plugged in would sometimes cause strange behavior with a few applications (such as the
WYSIWYG In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for what you see is what you get, refers to software that allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed document, web ...
word-processor application 1st Word Plus). '' Sleepwalker'' was the only STE-only game from a major publisher, but there were STe enhancements in games such as '' Another World'', '' Zool'' and '' The Chaos Engine'', as well as exclusives from smaller companies. The last STE machine, the Mega STE, is an STE in a grey Atari TT case that had a switchable 16 MHz, dual-bus design (16-bit external, 32-bit internal), optional Motorola 68881 FPU, built-in 1.44 MB "HD" 3-inch floppy disk drive, VME expansion slot, a network port (very similar to that used by Apple's LocalTalk) and an optional built-in 3" hard drive. It also shipped with TOS 2.00 (better support for hard drives, enhanced desktop interface, memory test, 1.44 MB floppy support, bug fixes). It was marketed as more affordable than a TT but more powerful than an ordinary ST.


Atari TT

In 1990, Atari released the high-end workstation-oriented Atari TT030, based on a 32 MHz Motorola 68030 processor. The "TT" name ("Thirty-two/Thirty-two") continued the nomenclature because the 68030 chip has 32-bit buses both internally and externally. Originally planned with a 68020 CPU, the TT has improved graphics and more powerful support chips. The case has a new design with an integrated hard-drive enclosure.


Falcon

The final model of ST computer is the Falcon030. Like the TT, it is 68030-based, at 16 MHz, but with improved video modes and an on-board Motorola 56001 audio
digital signal processor A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) integrated circuit chips. ...
. Like the Atari STE, it supports sampling frequencies above 44.1 kHz; the sampling master clock is 98340 Hz (which can be divided by a number between 2 and 16 to get the actual sampling frequencies). It can play the STE sample frequencies (up to 50066 Hz) in 8 or 16 bit, mono or stereo, all by using the same DMA interface as the STE, with a few additions. It can both play back and record samples, with 8 mono channels and 4 stereo channels, allowing musicians to use it for recording to hard drive. Although the 68030 microprocessor can use 32-bit memory, the Falcon uses a 16-bit bus, which reduces performance and cost. In another cost-reduction measure, Atari shipped the Falcon in an inexpensive case much like that of the STF and STE. Aftermarket upgrade kits allow it to be put in a desktop or rack-mount case, with the keyboard separate. Released in 1992, the Falcon was discontinued by Atari the following year. In Europe, C-Lab licensed the Falcon design from Atari and released the C-Lab Falcon Mk I, identical to Atari's Falcon except for slight modifications to the audio circuitry. The Mk II added an internal 500 MB SCSI hard disk; and the Mk X further added a desktop case. C-Lab Falcons were also imported to the US by some Atari dealers.


Software

As with the
Atari 8-bit computers The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of home computers introduced by Atari, Inc., in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The architecture is designed around the 8-bit MOS Technology 650 ...
, software publishers attributed their reluctance to produce Atari ST products in part to—as ''
Compute! ''Compute!'' (), often stylized as ''COMPUTE!'', is an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's ''PET Gazette'', one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET. ...
'' reported in 1988—the belief in the existence of a "higher-than-normal amount of software piracy". That year,
WordPerfect WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, disp ...
threatened to discontinue the Atari ST version of its word processor because the company discovered that pirate
bulletin board system A bulletin board system (BBS), also called a computer bulletin board service (CBBS), is a computer server running list of BBS software, software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user perfor ...
s (BBSs) were distributing it, causing ''ST-Log'' to warn that "we had better put a stop to piracy ''now'' ... it can have harmful effects on the longevity and health of your computer". A positive review of '' Typhoon Thompson'' in '' Antic'' concluded: In 1989, magazines published a letter by Gilman Louie, head of Spectrum HoloByte. He stated that he had been warned by competitors that releasing a game like ''
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
'' on the ST would fail because BBSs would widely disseminate it. Within 30 days of releasing the non-
copy protected Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, is any measure to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found on vid ...
ST version, the game was available on BBSs with maps and code wheels. Because the ST market was smaller than that for the IBM PC, it was more vulnerable to piracy which, Louie said, seemed to be better organized and more widely accepted for the ST. He reported that the Amiga version sold in six weeks twice as much as the ST version in nine weeks, and that the Mac and PC versions had four times the sales. ''Computer Gaming World'' stated "This is certainly the clearest exposition ... we have seen to date" of why software companies produced less software for the ST than for other computers. Several third-party OSes were developed for, or ported to, the Atari ST.
Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
clones include
Idris Idris may refer to: People * Idris (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Idris (prophet), Islamic prophet in the Qur'an, traditionally identified with Enoch, an ancestor of Noah in the Bible * Idris ...
,
Minix MINIX is a Unix-like operating system based on a microkernel Software architecture, architecture, first released in 1987 and written by American-Dutch computer scientist Andrew S. Tanenbaum. It was designed as a clone of the Unix operating syste ...
, and the
MiNT Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...
OS which was developed specifically for the Atari ST.


Audio

Plenty of professional quality MIDI-related software was released. The popular Windows and Macintosh applications
Cubase Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-do ...
and Logic Pro originated on the Atari ST (the latter as Creator, Notator, Notator-SL, and Notator Logic). Another popular and powerful ST music sequencer application, KCS, contains a "Multi-Program Environment" that allows ST users to run other applications, such as the synthesizer patch editing software XoR (now known as Unisyn on the Macintosh), from within the sequencer application. Music tracker software became popular on the ST, such as the TCB Tracker, aiding the production of quality music from the Yamaha synthesizer, now called
chiptune Chiptune, also called 8-bit music (although not all chiptune is 8-bit music), is a style of electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video gam ...
s. Due to the ST having comparatively large amounts of memory for the time, sound sampling packages became feasible.
Replay Professional Replay Professional was a sound sampling product for the Atari ST. This was released in 1988. It consisted of a cartridge which interfaced an analog to digital converter (with 10, 12 and 14 bit variants) and software. It included a suite of offl ...
features a sound sampler using the ST cartridge port to read in parallel from the cartridge port from the ADC. For output of digital sound, it uses the on-board frequency output, sets it to 128 kHz (inaudible) and then modulates the amplitude of that. MasterTracks Pro originated on Macintosh, then ST, then IBM PC version. It continued on
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
and
macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
, along with the original company's notation applications Encore.


Applications

Professional
desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...
software includes Timeworks Publisher, PageStream and Calamus. Word processors include
WordPerfect WordPerfect (WP) is a word processing application, now owned by Alludo, with a long history on multiple personal computer platforms. At the height of its popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s, it was the market leader of word processors, disp ...
, Microsoft Write, AtariWorks, Signum, Script and First Word (bundled with the machine). Spreadsheets include
3D-Calc ''3D-Calc'' is a 3-dimensional spreadsheet program for the Atari ST computer. The first version of the program was released in April 1989 and was distributed by ISTARI bvba, Ghent, Belgium. History Starting in May 1991, the English version was dis ...
, and databases include Zoomracks. Graphics applications include NEOchrome, DEGAS & DEGAS Elite, Deluxe Paint, STAD, and Cyber Paint (which author Jim Kent would later evolve into Autodesk Animator) with advanced features such as 3D design and animation. The Spectrum 512 paint program uses rapid palette switching to expand the on-screen color palette to 512 (up to 46 colors per scan line).
3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, sometimes called Computer-generated imagery, CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional Computer-generated imagery, computer graphics, are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian coor ...
applications (like Cyber Studio CAD-3D, which author Tom Hudson later developed into
Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that provides software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquarte ...
3D Studio), brought 3D modelling, sculpting, scripting, and
computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...
to the desktop. Video capture and editing applications use dongles connected to the cartridge port for low frame rate, mainly silent and monochrome, but progressed to sound and basic color in still frames. At the end, Spectrum 512 and CAD-3D teamed up to produce realistic 512-color textured 3D renderings, but processing was slow, and Atari's failure to deliver a machine with a math coprocessor had Hudson and Yost looking towards the PC as the future before a finished product could be delivered to the consumer.
Garry Kasparov Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
became the first
chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
player to register a copy of
ChessBase ChessBase is a German company that develops and sells chess software, maintains a chess news site, and operates an internet chess server for online chess. Founded in 1986, it maintains and sells large-scale databases containing the moves of recor ...
, a popular commercial database program for storing and searching records of chess games. The first version was built for Atari ST with his collaboration in January 1987. In his autobiography ''Child of Change'', he regards this facility as "the most important development in chess research since printing". Graphical touchscreen point of sale software for restaurants was originally developed for Atari ST by Gene Mosher under the ViewTouch copyright and trademark. Instead of using GEM, he developed a GUI and widget framework for the application using the NEOchrome paint program.


Software development

The 520ST was bundled with both Digital Research
Logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...
and Atari ST BASIC. Third-party BASIC systems with better performance were eventually released: HiSoft BASIC, GFA BASIC, FaST BASIC, DBASIC, LDW BASIC, Omikron BASIC, BASIC 1000D and STOS. In the later years of the Atari ST, Omikron Basic was bundled with it in Germany. Atari's initial development kit from Atari is a computer and manuals. The cost discouraged development. The later Atari Developer's Kit consists of software and manuals for . It includes a resource kit, C compiler (first Alcyon C, then Mark Williams C), debugger, 68000 assembler, and non-disclosure agreement. The third-party Megamax C development package was . Other development tools include 68000 assemblers (MadMac from Atari, HiSoft Systems's Devpac, TurboAss, GFA-Assembler), Pascal (OSS Personal Pascal, Maxon Pascal, PurePascal),
Modula-2 Modula-2 is a structured, procedural programming language developed between 1977 and 1985/8 by Niklaus Wirth at ETH Zurich. It was created as the language for the operating system and application software of the Lilith personal workstation. It w ...
, C compilers (
Lattice C The Lattice C Compiler was released in June 1982 by Lifeboat Associates and was the first C compiler for the IBM Personal Computer. The compiler sold for $500 and would run on PC DOS or MS-DOS (which at the time were the same product with differ ...
, Pure C, Megamax C, GNU C, Aztec C, AHCC),
LISP Lisp (historically LISP, an abbreviation of "list processing") is a family of programming languages with a long history and a distinctive, fully parenthesized Polish notation#Explanation, prefix notation. Originally specified in the late 1950s, ...
, and
Prolog Prolog is a logic programming language that has its origins in artificial intelligence, automated theorem proving, and computational linguistics. Prolog has its roots in first-order logic, a formal logic. Unlike many other programming language ...
.


Games

The ST had success in gaming due to the low cost, fast performance, and colorful graphics compared to contemporary PCs or 8-bit systems. ST game developers include Steve Bak,
Peter Molyneux Peter Douglas Molyneux (; born 5 May 1959) is an English video game designer and programmer. He created the god games '' Populous'', ''Dungeon Keeper'', and '' Black & White'', as well as ''Theme Park'', the ''Fable'' series, '' Curiosity: Wh ...
, Doug Bell, Jeff Minter, Éric Chahi, Jez San, and David Braben. When the Atari ST was released in 1985, it seemed to be aimed at the professional market. However, the inclusion of two joystick ports and a low-resolution mode of 320x200 pixels, with 16 colours from a 512-colour palette, hinted at its potential for gaming. Initially, it was uncertain whether these new 16-bit machines could really deliver a next-generation gaming experience, as the games at launch didn't show a significant visual improvement over the 8-bit systems of the time. After a while, the first ST games began to appear that people were attracted to: * '' Time Bandits'' - which brought the labyrinth action to the ST, but was not technically superior to the 8-bit. * '' Major Motion'' - a Spy Hunter clone that could be played with the mouse. * '' Arena '' - a decathlon game that had to be played with the keyboard, but had graphics with a level of detail beyond the capabilities of any 8-bit system. * '' Megaroids '' - an ''
Asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
'' clone in a medium resolution of 640x200 in 4 colours. This made it outstanding at the time. * '' Joust '' - an arcade port showing the new capabilities of bitmap graphics compared to the character set graphics of 8-bit systems - oon Patrol- offered a high resolution 640x400 black and white version. * '' Sundog '' - An RPG with simple graphics, but a story that made it a classic. As developers became more familiar with the ST's capabilities, they were able to exploit its full potential. This resulted in games with visuals that far surpassed anything seen on 8-bit systems. Notable examples include * '' Goldrunner'' - Its sampled sound, bitmap graphics and smooth scrolling were impressive. * ''
Starglider ''Starglider'' is a 3D video game published in 1986 by Rainbird. It was developed by Jez San under his company name Argonaut Software. The game is a fast-moving, first-person combat flight simulator, rendered with colourful wireframe vector ...
'' - Featuring a multi-second title sample, a feat for the time, its fast, colourful 3D wireframe graphics showcased the power of the 16-bit processor. * '' Gauntlet'' - Arcade port with the ability to play with 4 players via a parallel port joystick adapter. * '' ST Karate'' - Fighting game * '' Oids'' - 2D physics-based action game inspired by '' Thrust''. It wasn't long before ST games were gracing the covers of leading computer game magazines. It became standard practice to develop games on the ST and then port them to other platforms. Several of these titles went on to have a significant impact on the history of computer gaming: * The realtime pseudo-3D
role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...
'' Dungeon Master'', was developed and released first on the ST, and is considered to be the best-selling software ever produced for the platform. * Simulation games like ''
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
'' and '' Flight Simulator II'' use the ST's graphics hardware, as do many arcade ports. * The 1987
first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
, '' MIDI Maze'', uses the
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
ports to connect up to 16 machines for networked deathmatch play. * The 3D Rollercoaster Racer '' Stunt Car Racer'' had fast 3D graphics, surpassing those of other systems, largely due to the ST's powerful CPU. * The arcade conversion '' Super Sprint'' remained exclusive to the ST for several years, cementing its status as one of the system's signature titles. Beyond the mainstream releases, there was also a flourishing scene of games designed specifically for the Atari ST's monochrome mode. With its 640x400 resolution, coupled with the crisp display of Atari's SM124 monitor, this mode provided a canvas for some truly distinctive games, offering unique aesthetics and gameplay: * ''
Oxyd ''Oxyd'' is a 1990 puzzle video game developed for the Atari ST and ported to the Amiga, Mac (computer), Macintosh, MS-DOS, and NeXT by Dongleware Verlags GmbH. It is a game of puzzles and tests to restart all the oxygen generators (called Oxyd ...
'' - Based on the classic memory card game, ''Oxyd'' delivered a compelling puzzle experience. * '' Ballerburg'' - A game that captivated a generation and may have paved the way for titles like ''Worms''. * '' Bolo'' - a breakout game. The Atari ST enjoyed a period of dominance throughout the second half of the 1980s, but its influence began to diminish as the next decade dawned. Competitors with custom chips gained the upper hand for a time until the PC took over. During this period, games were predominantly developed on these rival systems and subsequently ported to the ST. The inherent nature of game conversions meant that the original, optimised for its native hardware, often suffered compromises in the translation. A prime example is olfchild a superb game in its original form, but the ST version was noticeably inferior due to a rushed port. While the enhanced capabilities of the Atari 1040 STE were welcomed by the Atari ST community, the number of games that utilised them was limited. This was largely due to the relatively small user base of STe owners, making exclusive STe development commercially unviable. However, some titles did manage to garner positive attention beyond the Atari community: * '' Obsession'' - A
pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
simulation that boasted numerous tables, leveraging the STe's expanded colour palette and improved hardware scrolling. * '' Substation '' - A first-person shooter set within an icy environment. * '' Brutal Football'' - A sports game that showed off the STe's Blitter chip. * '' Sleepwalker'' - an STe only game by Ocean Software. The
Atari Falcon The Atari Falcon030 (usually shortened to Atari Falcon), released in 1992, is the final personal computer from Atari Corporation. A high-end model of the Atari ST line, the machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU and a Motorola 56001 digital s ...
, intended as the successor to the ST/STe, found a dedicated following within the Atari scene, resulting in a vibrant homebrew community. Sadly, the Falcon's overall market penetration was insufficient to make a widespread impact. Notable titles include: * '' Crown of Creation'' - A 3D game. * '' Ishar'' I, II, III - A series of well-regarded dungeon crawlers. * '' Racer 2'' - A highly polished driving game. * '' Cannon Fodder'' - Top-down tactical shooter. Although often overlooked by mainstream publications, the Atari ST gaming scene remains active. Dedicated Atari enthusiasts continue to develop and release new games. Notable examples include: * '' Stario Land'' - A meticulously crafted platformer, reminiscent of Mario, which demonstrated the capabilities of smooth scrolling on the ST, subtly highlighting the shortcomings of earlier attempts like '' The Great Giana Sisters''. * '' Double Bobble 2000'' - A faithful recreation of ''
Bubble Bobble is a platform game series originally developed and published by Taito. The first entry in the series, '' Bubble Bobble'', was released in 1986 as an arcade cabinet. In most entries in the series, players control two dragons named Bub and Bob. Th ...
'', specifically for the Atari Falcon. * '' Grav'' - A challenging shoot-em-up. * '' Hector vs The Mutant Vampire Tomatoes From Hel'' -: A quirky action-platformer. Beyond the ongoing development of new games, the Atari ST community maintains a presence through various initiatives. Notably, the Atari ST Offline Tournament (STOT), established in 2007, provides a monthly platform for high-score competitions, keeping classic games in active rotation. Furthermore, gatherings and dedicated MIDI Maze events demonstrate the enduring popularity of networked play on the ST. Social media platforms, particularly YouTube, feature numerous channels dedicated to showcasing Atari ST games. Online resources like AtariMania (archiving), Atari-Forum (community), Atari Legend (the central Atari ST portal), and AtariCrypt (a diverse hub) serve as essential pillars of the community, ensuring the Atari ST remains an active platform.


Emulators

Spectre GCR emulates the
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
. MS-DOS emulators were released in the late 1980s. PC-Ditto has a software-only version, and a hardware version that plugs into the cartridge slot or kludges internally. After running the software, an MS-DOS boot disk is required to load the system. Both run MS-DOS programs in CGA mode, though much more slowly than on an
IBM PC The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the List of IBM Personal Computer models, IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on ...
. Other options are the PC-Speed ( NEC V30), AT-Spee (
Intel 80286 The Intel 80286 (also marketed as the iAPX 286 and often called Intel 286) is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced on February 1, 1982. It was the first 8086-based CPU with separate, non- multiplexed address and data buses and also the f ...
), and ATonce-386SX ( Intel 80386SX) hardware emulator boards.


Music industry

The ST's low cost, built-in MIDI ports, and fast, low-latency response times made it a favorite with musicians. * Prominent Russian film music and song composer
Aleksandr Zatsepin Aleksandr Sergeyevich Zatsepin (; born 10 March 1926) is a Soviet and Russian composer, known for his soundtracks to movies, notably comedies directed by Leonid Gaidai. People's Artist of Russia (2003) and Hero of Labour of the Russian Federat ...
started using personal computers for work with Atari 1040ST and continued using
Cubase Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-do ...
and Vienna Symphonic Library. * German electronic music pioneers
Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...
relied heavily on the Atari ST in the studio and for live performances during the late 1980s and 1990s. * The album notes for
Mike Oldfield Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...
's '' Earth Moving'' state that it was recorded using an Atari ST and C-Lab MIDI software. * The
Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...
album '' You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' was created using an Atari ST. * In the Paris performance of
Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompan ...
's album ''Waiting for Cousteau'', the Paris La Défense – Une Ville En Concert, musicians have attached Atari ST machines with C-Lab Unitor software to their keyboards, as seen in the TV live show and video recordings. *
White Town Jyoti Prakash Mishra (born 30 July 1966), better known by his stage name White Town, is a British-Indian singer, musician, and record producer, producer. He is best known for his 1997 hit song "Your Woman". Early life Jyoti Prakash Mishra was ...
's " Your Woman", which reached No. 1 in the UK singles charts, was created using an Atari ST. * The Utah Saints used a 520ST and 1040ST running Cubase during the recording of both of their albums, '' Utah Saints'' and '' Two'', with their 1040ST still occasionally used for re-recording or remixing early tracks up to 2015. * Atari Teenage Riot programmed most of their music on an Atari ST, including the entire album '' Is This Hyperreal?'' (June 2011). * Cabaret Voltaire founder Richard H. Kirk said in 2016 that he continues to write music on an Atari 1040ST with C-Lab. * Darude used Cubase on an Atari 1040ST when he created his 2000 hit " Sandstorm". *
Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...
used a combination of an Atari ST and Cubase in the studio during the production of '' Songs of Faith and Devotion'' in 1992. The machine is visible in the documentary included with the 2006 remaster of the album. * Record producer Jimmy Hotz used an Atari ST to produce
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...
's ''
Tango in the Night ''Tango in the Night'' is the fourteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 13 April 1987 by Warner Bros. Records. As a result of Lindsey Buckingham's departure later that year, it is the fifth and final stu ...
'' album, and records for B. B. King and Dave Mason. * English DJ and house producer Joey Negro. * English songwriters and record producers Stock, Aitken, and Waterman. * English synth-pop duo
Pet Shop Boys Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 100 million records worldwide and were listed as the most successful duo in UK music h ...
replaced their
Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, music sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commerc ...
with an Atari ST, with their programmer Pete Gleadall saying, " tari STwas just much easier to work with". * Canadian industrial band
Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy was a Canadian electro-industrial band formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group was among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crom ...
used the Atari ST with Steinberg Pro 24 software to produce several of their albums, including ''
Rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...
'' and '' The Process''. A 1040ST can be seen in footage of the band jamming in their studio during ''The Process''s writing sessions. * Dario G used the Atari ST to produce the dance track "Sunchyme" which reached No. 2 in the UK charts.


Technical specifications

All STs are made up of both custom and commercial chips. * Custom chips: ** ST Shifter "Video shift register chip": Enables bitmap graphics using 32 KB of contiguous memory for all resolutions. Screen address has to be a multiple of 256. ** ST GLU "Generalized Logic Unit": Control logic for the system used to connect the ST's chips. Not part of the data path, but needed to bridge chips with each other. ** ST MMU "Memory Management Unit": Provides signals needed for CPU/blitter/DMA and Shifter to access dynamic RAM. Even memory accesses are given to CPU/blitter/DMA while odd cycles are reserved for DRAM refresh or used by Shifter for displaying contents of the frame buffer. ** ST DMA "
Direct Memory Access Direct memory access (DMA) is a feature of computer systems that allows certain hardware subsystems to access main system computer memory, memory independently of the central processing unit (CPU). Without DMA, when the CPU is using programmed i ...
": Used for floppy and hard drive data transfers. Can directly access main memory in the ST. * Support chips: ** MC6850P ACIA "Asynchronous Common Interface Adapter": Enables the ST to directly communicate with MIDI devices and keyboard (two chips used). for
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
, for keyboard. ** MC68901 MFP "Multi Function Peripheral": Used for interrupt generation/control, serial and misc. control input signals. Atari TT030 has two ''MFP'' chips. ** WD-1772-PH "Western Digital Floppy Disk Controller": Floppy controller chip. ** YM2149F PSG " Programmable Sound Generator": Provides three-voice sound synthesis, also used for floppy signalling, serial control output and printer parallel port. ** HD6301V1 "Hitachi keyboard processor": Used for keyboard scanning and mouse/joystick ports.


ST/STF/STM/STFM

As originally released in the 520ST: * CPU:
Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
16-/32-bit CPU @ 8 
MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...
. 16-bit data/32-bit internal/24-bit address. * RAM: 512 KB or 1  MB * Display modes (60 Hz NTSC, 50 Hz PAL, 71.2 Hz monochrome): ** Low resolution: 320 × 200 (16 color), palette of 512 colors ** Medium resolution: 640 × 200 (4 color), palette of 512 colors ** High resolution: 640 × 400, monochrome * Sound: Yamaha YM2149 3-voice square wave plus 1-voice white noise mono Programmable Sound Generator * Drive: Single-sided 3"
floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...
drive, 360 KB capacity when formatted to standard 9 sector, 80 track layout. * Ports: TV out (on ST-M and ST-FM models, NTSC or PAL standard RF-modulated),
MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...
in/out (with 'out-thru'),
RS-232 In telecommunications, RS-232 or Recommended Standard 232 is a standard introduced in 1960 for serial communication transmission of data. It formally defines signals connecting between a ''DTE'' (''data terminal equipment'') such as a compu ...
serial,
Centronics Centronics Data Computer Corporation was an American manufacturer of computer printers, now remembered primarily for the parallel interface that bears its name, the Centronics connector. History Foundations Centronics began as a divisio ...
parallel (printer), monitor ( RGB or Composite Video color and mono, 13-pin
DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken ...
), extra disk drive port (14-pin
DIN DIN or Din or din may refer to: People and language * Din (name), people with the name * Dīn, an Arabic word with three general senses: judgment, custom, and religion from which the name originates * Dinka language (ISO 639 code: din), spoken ...
), DMA port (ACSI port, Atari Computer System Interface) for
hard disk A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...
s and Atari Laser Printer (sharing RAM with computer system), joystick and mouse ports (9-pin MSX standard) *
Operating System An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...
: TOS v1.00 with Graphics Environment Manager (GEM) Very early machines have the OS on a floppy disk before a final version was burned into ROM. This version of TOS was bootstrapped from a small core
boot ROM Boot ROM is a piece of read-only memory (ROM) that is used for booting a computer system. It contains instructions that are run after the CPU is reset to the reset vector, and it typically loads a bootloader. There are two types of boot ROM: ...
. In 1986, most production models became STFs, with an integrated single- (520STF) or double-sided (1040STF) double density floppy disk drive built-in, but no other changes. Also in 1986, the ''520STM'' (or ''520STM'') added an RF modulator for allowing the low and medium resolution color modes when connected to a TV. Later ''F'' and ''FM'' models of the 520 had a built-in double-sided disk drive instead of a single-sided one.


STE

As originally released in the 520STE/1040STE: * All of the features of the 520STFM/1040STFM * Extended palette of 4,096 available colors to choose from *
Blitter A blitter is a circuit, sometimes as a coprocessor or a logic block on a microprocessor, dedicated to the rapid movement and modification of data within a computer's memory. A blitter can copy large quantities of data from one memory area to a ...
chip (stylized as BLiTTER) to copy/fill/clear large data blocks with a max write rate of 4 Mbytes/s * Hardware support for horizontal and vertical fine scrolling and split screen (using the Shifter video chip) * DMA
sound chip A sound chip is an integrated circuit (chip) designed to produce audio signals through digital, analog or mixed-mode electronics. Sound chips are typically fabricated on metal–oxide–semiconductor (MOS) mixed-signal chips that process a ...
with 2-channels stereo 8-bit
PCM Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a method used to Digital signal (signal processing), digitally represent analog signals. It is the standard form of digital audio in computers, compact discs, digital telephony and other digital audio application ...
sound at 6.25/12.5/25/50 kHz and stereo RCA audio-out jacks (using enhancements to the Shifter video chip to support audio shifting) * National LMC 1992 audio controller chip, allowing adjustable left/right/master volume and bass and treble EQ via a Microwire interface * Memory: 30-pin SIMM memory slots ( SIPP packages in earliest versions) allowing upgrades up to 4 MB Allowable memory sizes including only 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 2.5 and 4.0 MB due to configuration restraints (however, 2.5 MB is not officially supported and has compatibility problems). Later third-party upgrade kits allow a maximum of 14 MB w/Magnum-ST, bypassing the stock MMU with a replacement unit and the additional chips on a separate board fitting over it. * Ability to synchronize the video timings with an external device so that a video
Genlock Genlock (generator locking) is a common technique where the video output of one source (or a specific reference signal from a signal generator) is used to synchronize other picture sources together. The aim in video applications is to ensure the ...
device can be used without having to make any modifications to computer's hardware * Analogue joypad ports (2), with support for devices such as paddles and light pens in addition to joysticks/joypads. The
Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. It is in the fifth generation of video game consoles, and it competed with Fourth generation of video game consoles, fo ...
joypads and Power Pad joypads (gray version of Jaguar joypads marketed for the STE and
Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
) can be used without an adapter. Two standard Atari-style digital joysticks could be plugged into each analogue port with an adapter. * TOS 1.06 (also known as TOS 1.6) or TOS 1.62 (which fixed some major backwards-compatibility bugs in TOS 1.6) in two socketed 128 KB ROM chips. * Socketed PLCC
68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...
CPU


Models

The members of the ST family are listed below, in roughly chronological order: ; 520ST: original model with 512 KB RAM, external power supply, no floppy disk drive. The early models had only a bootstrap ROM and TOS had to be loaded from disk. ; 520ST+: same as the original model 520ST, but with 1 MB of RAM, ; 260ST: originally intended to be a 256 KB variant, but actually sold in small quantities in Europe with 512 KB. Used after the release of the 520ST+ to differentiate the cheaper 512 KB models from the 1  MB models. Because the early 520STs were sold with TOS on disk, which used up 192 KB of RAM, the machine only had around 256 KB left. ; 520STM: a 520ST with a built-in modulator for TV output and 512 KB RAM. ; 520STFM: a 520STM with a redesigned motherboard in a larger case with a built-in floppy disk drive (in some cases a single-sided drive only), and 512 KB RAM. ; 520STF: a 520STFM without RF modulator ; 1040STF: a 520STFM with 1 MB of RAM and a built-in double-sided floppy disk drive, but without RF modulator ; 1040STFM: a 520STFM with 1 MB of RAM and a built-in double-sided floppy disk drive with RF modulator ; Mega ST (MEGA 1, MEGA 2, MEGA 4): redesigned motherboard with 1, 2 or 4 MB of RAM, respectively, in a much improved " pizza box" case with a detached keyboard. All MEGA mainboards have a PLCC socket for the BLiTTER chip and some early models did not include the BLiTTER chip. They also included a real-time clock and internal expansion connector. Some early MEGA 2 had a MEGA 4 mainboard with half of the memory chip places unpopulated and the MEGA 2 can be upgraded by adding the additional DRAM chips and some resistors for the control lines. The MEGA 1 mainboards had a redesigned memory chip area and could not be upgraded in this way as there are only places for the 1 MB DRAM chips. ; 520STE and 1040STE: a 520STFM/1040STFM with enhanced sound, a BLiTTER chip, and a 4096-color palette, in the older 1040-style all-in-one case ; Mega STE: same hardware as 1040STE except for a faster 16 MHz processor with 16K cache, an onboard SCSI controller, additional faster RS232 port, VME expansion port, in an ST gray version of the TT case ; STacy: a
portable Portable may refer to: General * Portable building, a manufactured structure that is built off site and moved in upon completion of site and utility work * Portable classroom, a temporary building installed on the grounds of a school to provide a ...
(but definitely not
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
) version of the ST with the complete ST keyboard, an LCD screen simulating 640x400 hi-res, and a mini-trackball intended mostly for travelers and musicians because of the backlit screen and its built-in midi ports. Originally designed to operate on 12 standard C cell flashlight batteries for portability, when Atari finally realized how quickly the machine would use up a set of batteries (especially when rechargeable batteries of the time supplied insufficient power compared to the intended alkalines), they simply glued the lid of the battery compartment shut. ; ST BOOK: a later portable ST, more portable than the STacy, but sacrificing several features in order to achieve this, notably the backlight and internal floppy disk drive. Files were meant to be stored on a small amount (one megabyte) of internal
flash memory Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...
'on the road' and transferred using serial or parallel links, memory flashcards or external (and externally powered) floppy disk to a desktop ST once back indoors. The screen is highly reflective for the time, but still hard to use indoors or in low light, it is fixed to the 640 × 400 1-bit mono mode, and no external video port was provided. Despite its limitations, it gained some popularity, particularly amongst musicians.


Unreleased

The 130ST was intended to be a 128 KB variant. It was announced at the 1985 CES alongside the 520ST but never produced. The 4160STE was a 1040STE, but with 4 MB of RAM. A small quantity of development units were produced, but the system was never officially released. Atari did produce a quantity of 4160STE metallic case badges which found their way to dealers, so it's not uncommon to find one attached to systems which were originally 520/1040STE. No such labels were produced for the base of the systems.


Related systems

Atari Transputer Workstation is a standalone machine developed in conjunction with Perihelion Hardware, containing modified ST hardware and up to 17
transputer The transputer is a series of pioneering microprocessors from the 1980s, intended for parallel computing. To support this, each transputer had its own integrated memory and serial communication links to exchange data with other transputers. ...
s capable of
massively parallel Massively parallel is the term for using a large number of computer processors (or separate computers) to simultaneously perform a set of coordinated computations in parallel. GPUs are massively parallel architecture with tens of thousands of ...
operations for tasks such as ray tracing.


Clones

Following Atari's departure from the computer market, both Medusa Computer Systems and Milan Computer manufactured Atari Falcon/TT-compatible machines with
68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola ...
and 68060 processors. The FireBee is an Atari ST/TT clone based on the Coldfire processor. The GE-Soft Eagle is a 32 MHz TT clone.


Peripherals

* SF354: Single-sided double-density 3-inch floppy drive (360 KB) with external power supply * SF314: Double-sided double-density 3-inch floppy drive (720 KB) with external power supply * PS3000: Combined 12-inch color monitor and 360k 3-inch floppy drive (SF354). Speaker. Manufactured by JVC in limited quantity (≈1000), only a few working models remain. * SM124: Monochrome monitor, 12-inch screen (9.5-inch displayed image), speaker, 640 × 400 pixels, 70 Hz refresh * SM125: Monochrome monitor, 12-inch screen, up/down/sideways swivel stand, speaker, 640x400 pixels, 70 Hz refresh * SM147: Monochrome monitor, 14-inch screen, no speaker, replacement for SM124 * SC1224: Color monitor, 12-inch screen, 640 × 200 pixels plus speaker * SC1425: Color monitor, 14-inch screen, One speaker on the left of screen, a jack to plug ear-listeners * SC1435: Color monitor, 14-inch screen, stereo speakers, replacement for SC1224 (rebadged Magnavox 1CM135) * SM195: Monochrome monitor, 19-inch screen for TT030. 1280 × 960 pixels. 70 Hz refresh * SH204: External hard drive, 20 MB MFM drive, "shoe box" case made of metal * SH205: External hard drive, Mega ST matching case, 20 MB MFM 3.5-inch (Tandon TM262) or 5.25-inch (Segate ST225) drive with ST506 interface (became later the Megafile 20) * Megafile 20, 30, 60: External hard drive, Mega ST matching case, ACSI bus; Megafile 30 and 60 had a 5.25-inch RLL (often a Seagate ST238R 30 MB or Seagate ST277R 60 MB drive) with ST506 interface * Megafile 44: Removable cartridge drive, ACSI bus, Mega ST matching case * SLM804: Laser printer, connected through ACSI DMA port, used ST's memory and processor to build pages for printing * SLM605: Laser printer, connected through ACSI DMA port, smaller than SLM804.


Satandisk

SatanDisk is a SD and MMC card adapter for
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...
16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two ...
computer A computer is a machine that can be Computer programming, programmed to automatically Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (''computation''). Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic set ...
s, such as the Atari ST, invented in 2007. The objective is to replace mechanical hard drives available from Atari (SH204, SH205 and Megafile) and compatible products. The interface allows the connection of an SD or MMC card to be attached to the ACSI (hard disc) port of Atari computers, and has been tested to be compatible with TOS versions 1.02 to 2.06. The maximum supported size is 4 GB. The device appears to the system as any regular ACSI attached hard disc, but has so far only been successfully used with the proprietary and commercial HDDriver driver package. In 2009 the developer Jookie (Miroslav NOHAJ) introduced a successor UltraSatan which supports two SD/MMC cards in parallel. The adapter features hot-plug capability of the cards and includes a battery backed up RTC chip. Additionally to the commercial HDDriver it is supported by the free ICD PRO.


See also

*
Bitstream Speedo Fonts Bitstream Speedo, or Speedo, is an obsolete scalable font format created by Bitstream Inc. Speedo was used on Atari ST, Falcon, in the XyWrite word processor, and in very early versions of WordPerfect and Microsoft Windows. Speedo was replaced by ...
– the fonts included in the Atari ST


References


External links


"The little green desktop"





BYTE Magazine September 1986, Atari ST Software Development
{{Authority control 68000-based home computers All-in-one computers Atari ST Home computers Products introduced in 1985 Computer-related introductions in 1985