Atari ST - Wikipedia. The Atari ST is a line of home computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8- bit family. The initial ST model, the 5. ST, saw limited release in April- June 1.
![]() July.[1][2] The Atari ST is the first personal computer to come with a bitmapped color GUI,[3] using a version of Digital Research's GEM released in February 1. The 1. 04. 0ST, released in 1. RAM in the base configuration and also the first with a cost- per- kilobyte of less than US$1.[5]The Atari ST is part of a mid- 1. Ki. B or more of RAM, and mouse- controlled graphical user interfaces. It includes the Macintosh, Commodore Amiga, Apple IIGS, and, in certain markets, the Acorn Archimedes. ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty- two",[6] which refers to the Motorola 6. The ST was sold with either Atari's color monitor or the less expensive monochrome monitor. The system's two color graphics modes are only available on the former while the highest resolution mode needs the monochrome monitor. In some markets, particularly Germany, the machine gained a strong foothold as a small business machine for CAD and desktop publishing work. Thanks to its built- in MIDI ports, the ST enjoyed success for running music- sequencer software and as a controller of musical instruments among both amateurs and well- known musicians. The ST was superseded by the Atari STE, Atari TT, Atari MEGA STE, and Falcon computers. Origins[edit]The Atari ST was born from the rivalry between home- computer makers Atari, Inc. Commodore International. Our basic electronics course with hands-on training lab allows you to learn electronics troubleshooting at home with real world experiments and online exams. Amiga contract[edit]Jay Miner, one of the original designers for the custom chips found in the Atari 2. Atari 8- bit family, tried to convince Atari management to create a new chipset for a video game console and computer. When his idea was rejected, Miner left Atari to form a small think tank called Hi- Toro in 1. Lorraine" chipset. The company, which was later renamed Amiga Corporation, was pretending to sell video game controllers to deceive competition while it developed a Lorraine- based computer.[7]Amiga ran out of capital to complete Lorraine's development, and Atari, owned by Warner Communications, paid Amiga to continue development work. In return Atari received exclusive use of the Lorraine design for one year as a video game console. After one year Atari would have the right to add a keyboard and market the complete computer, designated the 1. XLD. As Atari was heavily involved with Disney at the time, it was later code- named "Mickey", and the 2. K memory expansion board was codenamed "Minnie".[8]Tramiel Technology[edit]After leaving Commodore International in January 1. Jack Tramiel formed Tramel Technology with his sons and other ex- Commodore employees and, in April, began planning a new computer. The company initially considered the National Semiconductor. NS3. 20xx microprocessor but was disappointed with its performance.[9][1. This started the move to the 6. The lead designer of the Atari ST was ex- Commodore employee Shiraz Shivji, who had previously worked on the Commodore 6. Tramiel learned that Warner wanted to sell Atari which, in mid- 1. Interested in Atari's overseas manufacturing and worldwide distribution network for his new computer, Tramiel negotiated with Warner in May and June 1. He secured funding and bought Atari's Consumer Division (which included the console and home computer departments) in July. As executives and engineers left Commodore to join Tramiel's new Atari Corporation, Commodore responded by filing lawsuits against four former engineers for theft of trade secrets. The Tramiels did not purchase the employee contracts when they bought the assets of Atari Inc., so one of their first acts was to interview Atari Inc. This company was originally called TTL (Tramiel Technologies Limited), later renamed to Atari Corp. At the time of the purchase of Atari Inc's assets, there were roughly 9. After the interviews, approximately 1. Atari Corp. At one point a custom sound processor called AMY was a planned component for the new ST computer design, but the chip needed more time to complete, so AMY was dropped in favor of an off- the- shelf Yamaha sound chip.[citation needed]It was during this time in late July/early August that Leonard Tramiel discovered the original Amiga contract, which required Amiga Corporation to deliver the Lorraine chipset to Atari on June 3. Amiga Corp. had sought more monetary support from investors in spring 1. Tramel Technology, which wished to replace nearly everyone at Amiga). Commodore and Amiga[edit]Having heard rumors that Tramiel was negotiating to buy Atari, Amiga Corp. Commodore. The discussions led to Commodore wanting to purchase Amiga Corporation outright, which Commodore believed would cancel any outstanding contracts, including Atari's. Instead of Amiga Corp. Lorraine to Atari, Commodore delivered a check of $5. Atari on Amiga's behalf, in effect returning the funds Atari invested into Amiga for the chipset. Tramiel countersued Amiga Corp. August 1. 3, 1. 98. He sought damages and an injunction to bar Amiga (and effectively Commodore) from producing anything with its technology. At Commodore, the Amiga team was in limbo during the summer of 1. No word on the status of the chipset, the Lorraine computer, or the team's fate was known. In the fall of 1. Commodore informed the team that the Lorraine project was active again, the chipset was to be improved, the operating system (OS) developed, and the hardware design completed. While Commodore announced the Amiga 1. Lorraine chipset in July 1. Atari, with its many former Commodore engineers, time to deliver the first Atari ST units in June 1. In March 1. 98. 7, the two companies settled the dispute out of court in a closed decision.[9][1. Operating system[edit]With the hardware design nearing completion, the Atari team started looking at solutions for the operating system. Soon after the Atari buyout, Microsoft approached Tramiel with the suggestion that they port Windows to the platform, but the delivery date was out by two years, far too long for their needs. Another possibility was Digital Research, who was working on a new GUI- based system then known as Crystal, soon to become GEM. Another option was to write a new operating system in- house, but this was rejected as Atari management was unsure whether the company had the required expertise to do so.[9]Digital Research was fully committed to the Intel platform, so a team from Atari was sent to the Digital Research headquarters to work with the "Monterey Team" which comprised a mixture of Atari and Digital Research engineers. Atari's Leonard Tramiel was the Atari person overseeing "Project Jason" (a. The Operating System) for the Atari ST line of computers. The name came from the original designer and developer, Jason Loveman.[1. GEM was based on CP/M- 6. K, essentially a direct port of CP/M to the 6. By 1. 98. 5, CP/M was becoming increasingly outdated; it did not support sub- directories, for example. Digital Research was also in the process of building a new DOS- like operating system specifically for GEM, GEMDOS, and there was some discussion of whether or not a port of GEMDOS 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 (The Operating System and colloquially known as the Tramiel Operating System). This gave the ST a fast, hierarchical file system, essential for hard drives, plus programmers had function calls similar to IBM PC DOS. The character set is based on codepage 4. Besides the original TOS operating system, a number of third- party OSes were developed or ported to the Atari ST. Among Unix clones, Idris, Minix had an Atari ST port and the Mint OS was developed specifically for the Atari ST. Debut and release[edit]After six months of intensive effort following Tramiel's takeover, Atari announced the 5. ST at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 1. Info. World described prototypes shown at computer shows as a "typical Commodore- 6. Jack Tramiel product",[1. Atari unexpectedly displayed the ST at Atlanta COMDEX in May.[1. Due to its similarities to the original Apple Macintosh and Tramiel's role in its development, it was quickly nicknamed the Jackintosh.[1. Atari's rapid development of the ST amazed many,[9][1. ST's "cheap" appearance, Atari's uncertain financial health, and the poor relations the Tramiel- led Commodore had with software developers.[1. As early as 1. 98.
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