Atari 8-bit family

Atari built a series of 8-bit home computers based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU, starting in 1979. Over the next decade several versions of the same basic design would be released, but the models remained largely identical internally. They were, for their era, one of the most technically advanced machines on the market, but a combination of factors, largely business related, meant they did not have a major market when the Commodore 64 shipped a few years later and took over most of the market.

Software

Built-in and disk operating systems

The Atari 8-bit computers came with an operating system built into the ROM. The Atari 400/800 had the following:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• OS Rev. A - 10K ROM (3 chips) early machines.
• OS Rev. B - 10K ROM (3 chips) bug fixes. Most common for 400/800.

The XL/XE Atari 8-bit models all had OS revisions due to added hardware features and changes. But this created compatibility issues with older software. Atari responded with the Translator Disk, a floppy disk which loaded the older 400/800 Rev. B or Rev. A OS into the XL/XE computers.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• OS Rev. 10 - 16K ROM (2 chips) for 1200XL Rev A
• OS Rev. 11 - 16K ROM (2 chips) for 1200XL Rev B (bug fixes)
• OS Rev. 1 - 16K ROM for 600XL
• OS Rev. 2 - 16K ROM for 800XL
• OS Rev. 3 - 16K ROM for 800XE/130XE
• OS Rev. 4 - 16K ROM + 8K BASIC + 8K Missile Command for XEGS

Several third-party replacement OSes were also available. See Atari DOS under Third-party DOS Programs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The standard Atari OS only contained very low-level routines for accessing floppy disk drives. An extra layer, a disk operating system, was added to assist in organizing file system-level disk access. Enter Atari DOS, which, like most home computer DOSes of the era, had to be booted from floppy disk at every power-on or reset. Unlike most others, Atari DOS was entirely menu driven.

Related Topics:
Floppy disk - Disk operating system - File system - Atari DOS

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• DOS 1.0 - Initial DOS for Atari.
• DOS 2.0S, 2.0D - Improved over DOS 1.0, became the standard for the 810 disk drive. 2.0D was for never-released 815 drive.
• DOS 3.0 - Came with 1050 drive, not compatible with DOS 2.0.
• DOS 2.5 - Replaced DOS 3.0 due to complaints.
• DOS 4.0 - Designed for 1450XLD, cancelled, rights given back to the author.
• DOS XE - Designed for the XF551 drive.

(Only a very few comparable DOSes were stored elsewhere than floppy disks; among these exceptions were the British BBC Micro's optional Disc Filing System, DFS, offered as a kit with a disk controller chip, a ROM chip, and a handful of logic chips, to be installed inside the computer; and Commodore's CBM DOS, located in a ROM chip in each disk drive.)

Related Topics:
BBC Micro - Disc Filing System - Commodore - CBM DOS

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For more info, see Atari DOS.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Available programming languages

• Action! – A product of Optimized Systems Software. A high performance language that compiled to machine code, with good support for Atari's hardware. While it was popular with hobbyists, it never attained widespread acceptance, particularly since it was limited to the Atari 8-bit platform.
• Assembly language
• Atari Assembler Editor – A 6502 assembler editor and compiler was released by Atari in a ROM cartridge.
• Atari Macro Assembler (AMAC) – A macro assembler released by Atari Program Exchange (APX) in disk form. Copy protected.
• MAC/65 – 6502 macro assembler/editor developed by Optimized Systems Software. Released in disk and cartridge forms.
• Synassembler – Assembler from Synapse Software. Written by Steve Hales. Not compatible with XL/XE computers without patching.
• Macro Assembler/Text Editor (MAE) – Assembler from Eastern House Software. Written by John Harris.
• BASIC dialects.
• Atari BASIC – This was the original BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family. Came as a ROM cartridge with the Atari 400/800 models, but was built into the computer's ROM in later models. In the XL/XE models, BASIC could be disabled by holding down the OPTION key while booting.
• Atari Microsoft BASIC – A version of BASIC for the Atari 8-bit family released by Atari that was more like the industry standard Microsoft BASIC. This did not catch on.
• Atari Microsoft BASIC II – Microsoft BASIC in a ROM cartridge plus extension disk.
• Turbo Basic XL – An improved version of Atari BASIC released by a third party that is not only faster, but offers many more commands. There is also a compiler that makes Turbo-BASIC XL programs even faster by compiling them into machine-language binaries.
• BASIC A Plus — An extended BASIC from Optimized Systems Software
• BASIC XL — An improved BASIC from Optimized Systems Software http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/05/10/0018.php
• BASIC XE — An enhanced version of BASIC XL from Optimized Systems Software http://www.atariarchives.org/cfn/05/10/0018.php
• Atari-LOGO
• LISP
• INTER-LISP/65
• PILOT
• Pascal
• Atari Pascal – Required two drives.
• Draper Pascal
• Kyan Pascal
• Forth
• Deep Blue C – A C compiler. Written by John Palevich, APX.

After Atari's 8-bit machines entered the realm of retrocomputing in the late 1990s, cross platform development tools such as XASM, TASM, and cc65, most commonly run on PCs, have been much used by enthusiasts to do programming intended for the machines.

Related Topics:
Retrocomputing - Cc65 - PC

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Applications

See :Category:Atari 8-bit family software.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Games

See :Category:Atari 8-bit family games.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~