For its time, it was an interesting 68000-based computer. It was cheaper than the Amiga and there were no color Macintoshes. 2.1 million units sold (USA only?) according to wikipedia, other sources claim up to 6 million units sold worldwide.
For == Atari ST == The [[Atari ST]] was released in 1985. The case looks a lot like the 8bit Atari XE. It originally had an external PSU and an external single-sided (360KB) 3.5inch floppy drive. That resulted in games using single-sided 3.5inch floppies for a long time, even supplying two 360KB floppies instead of a single double-sided one. Also, the TOS had to be booted up from floppy disk. In 1986, the Atari STF put the TOS in ROM and integrated the PSU and a double-sided floppy drive inside the machine itself. It was sold in 512KB and 1024KB RAM configurations. A version intended for business users was also created in 1987 and named the Mega ST. It featured more details RAM, a real time clock, a blitter chip for faster rendering and a detached keyboard. These machines were famous for being: *The first affordable modern computer: 16-bit CPU, linear memory, GUI, mouse, high resolution 640x400. At much lower price than the Amiga 1000 or the Apple Macintosh. *Inferior to the [[Amiga]] yet still better (the war still rages on nowadays). It was easier to do work on Atari, while on Amiga a guru meditation (machine crash) was never far away. Also the TOS was in ROM which means it could be used immediately and it didn't consume valuable RAM. And as the OS was immutable, less time was spent customizing it, freeing up more time to do productive work. The hardware was also simpler to develop for compared to the baroque Amiga architecture. *A hardware [[MIDI|Midi Port]] : this spawned a generation of Musician Geeks. And some Atari STgames did use Midi sound as an option. [https://forums.atariage.com/topic/301647-midi-games/ Source] *used widely in Amstrad CPC software developments (mostly games ?). Its use in CPC development (Cross Development) had many advantages : *Quite similar Video Resolutions : 320x200x16.*Possibility of a good [[Graphical User Interface|GUI]] : easier, head over really.*Same Sound Chip : almost.*Quite powerfull to the calculate sweet [http[Data Compression]] (used in [[Xyphoes Fantasy]]) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST| official WikipaediaAtari ST on the other WIKI] page where you will find <br> == Atari STE == The Atari STE followed up in 1989. It was a lot closer to the Amiga 500 in performance, but still less powerful. It added these new features:* 4096 instead of 512 colour palette* Fine Horizontal and Vertical hardware scrolling* Blitter chip, same as in the Mega ST* Stereo 8-bit PCM sound using DMA, with variable rate (50, 25, 12.5 and 6.25kHz). The Atari STE can play Amiga MODs with higher quality than the Amiga's 28kHz rate limit. However, at 50kHz, it uses 60% of the CPU for software mixing. Source: [https://youtu.be/ZYDQW7WbESs High fidelity dreams (Atari STE demo)]* 256KB ROM instead of 192KB, containing the TOS* Four 30-pin SIMM-slots, for up to 4 MB RAM* Extended and analogue capable joystick ports The Atari STE failed to meet the expectations and was seen as a "too little, too late" effort. It showed Atari in a bad light, running after the Amiga and falling short. The Mega STE was released in 1991 in 2MB and 4MB configuration. It provided:* a 16MHz 68000 CPU (software-switchable to 8MHz)* an optional FPU chip* a VMEbus slot* two extra RS232 ports (all 9-pin rather than 25-pin as previous models had)* a LocalTalk-compatible LAN port* a separate keyboard* a 1.44 MB HD floppy drive <br> == Atari Falcon == The Atari Falcon, released in 1992, is the contact details final personal computer from Atari Corporation. The machine is based on a Motorola 68030 CPU @ 16MHz (4 MIPS), a Motorola 56001 digital signal processor @ 32MHz (16 MIPS) and links you need a socket for an optional FPU. It also includes a new VIDEL graphics chip which greatly improves its graphics capabilities, offering up to get you started 768x480 in your investigations!16-bit truecolor graphics mode. And like the Amstrad CRTC chip, the characteristics of the display can now be defined precisely. The sound system consists of four stereo 16-bit DMA playback and record channels. It sports a realtime clock, a LAN port, a 1.44MB HD floppy drive and an optional internal hard drive. Atari adopted the IDE bus in addition to the SCSI bus for connecting hard drives and CD-ROM drives. It was sold in 1, 4 and 14MB RAM configurations. While the Atari ST was less powerful than an Amiga 500, the Atari Falcon was more powerful than an Amiga 1200. A Falcon040 model was in the works, with a 68040 CPU and a case similar to the PlayStation 2. But Atari cancelled the project. <br> == Links == === 16-bit ===*[https://youtu.be/jyBLZmZhXRY Atari ST Commercials]*[https://youtu.be/yK7p2FkyLd8 Over 100 Atari ST games in under 1 hour] [https://youtu.be/aUHtpNFZV38 All Atari ST games]*https://www.atari-wiki.com Atari ST Wiki*[https://www.synacktiv.com/ressources/Atari-ST-Internals.pdf Atari ST Internals]*[https://www.atarimuseum.de/archiv/tech/sm_ste.pdf Atari STE Service Manual]*[https://bus-error.nokturnal.pl/atari_compendium/html/toc.htm The Atari Compendium]*[https://docs.dev-docs.org/ Atari Documentation Archive]*[https://info-coach.fr/atari/documents/myDoc.php Atari image file formats documented]*[[Media:MC68000 User's Manual.pdf|Motorola MC68000 CPU User's Manual]]*[http://os9projects.com/CD_Archive/TUTORIAL/REF/CARD/68000_Ref_Card.pdf 68000 - Programmer's Instant Reference Card]*[https://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2925 Full list of 68k patents]*[https://wiki.neogeodev.org/index.php?title=68k_instructions_timings 68k instructions timings]*[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/larsbrinkhoff/m68k-microcode/master/doc/Yacht.txt Yet Another Cycle Hunting Table]*[https://pasti.fxatari.com/68kdocs/68kPrefetch.html Instruction Prefetch documentation]*[[Media:WD1772-JLG.pdf|Western Digital WD1772 FDC datasheet]]*[[Media:MK68901 MFP datasheet.pdf|Motorola MK68901 MFP datasheet]]*[[Media:HD6301V1 datasheet.pdf|Hitachi HD6301 IKBD datasheet]]*[[PSG|Yamaha YM2149 SSG chip]]*[[6850 ACIA chip|Motorola MC6850 ACIA chip]]*[https://www.atari-forum.com/ Atari ST forum]*[https://youtu.be/A2pX6bU7-pU The Atari ST Story] by [[Nostalgia Nerd]] ===32-bit=== *[[Media:Motorola DSP56001 datasheet.PDF|Motorola DSP56001 datasheet]]*[http://www.bitsavers.org/components/motorola/56000/56000/1990_DSP56000_DSP56001_Users_Manual.pdf Motorola DSP56001 Digital Signal Processor - User's Manual]*[https://youtu.be/cBTXGgb__y4 Atari Falcon 030] by [[Nostalgia Nerd]]
