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Atari 8-bit family software

March 04, 2023

Many pieces of software were available for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers (the 400/800, XL, and XE series). Software was sold both by Atari, Inc. (then Atari Corporation starting in mid-1984) and third parties. Atari also distributed software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984. After APX folded, many titles were picked up by Antic Software.

Atari's packaging style from the 400/800 era

Programming languages

Assembly language

Atari, Inc. published two assemblers. The Atari Assembler Editor cartridge is a friendlier, integrated development environment using line numbers for editing source code similar to Atari BASIC. The professionally targeted Atari Macro Assembler shipped at a higher price on a copy protected disk without editor or debugger. Third-party assemblers include SynAssembler from Synapse Software and MAE (Macro Assembler Editor) from Eastern House.

Optimized Systems Software published an enhanced disk-based assembler mimicking the structure of Atari's Assembler Editor as EASMD (Editor/Assembler/Debug). It followed that with MAC/65 first on disk with BUG/65 as a companion product, then as a 16KB bank-switched cartridge. MAC/65 tokenizes lines of code as they are entered and has much faster assembly times than Atari's products.

Dunion's Debugging Tool (or DDT) by Jim Dunion is a machine language debugger originally sold through the Atari Program Exchange. A reduced version is included in the cartridge version of MAC/65. Atari magazine ANALOG Computing published the machine language monitor H:BUG as a type-in listing,[1] followed by BBK Monitor.[2]

BASIC

Atari shipped Atari BASIC with all their machines either as a cartridge or in ROM. It also sold Atari Microsoft BASIC on disk. Optimized Systems Software created a series of enhanced BASIC interpreters: BASIC A+, BASIC XL, BASIC XE. Commercial BASIC compilers for Atari BASIC were available: ABC (Monarch Data Systems, 1982),[3] MMG BASIC Compiler (1984),[4] Advan BASIC (1985),[5] The freeware Turbo-BASIC XL compiler, released in 1985, was popular in the later years of the Atari 8-bit line.

In 1984, ANALOG Computing published Minicomp, a compiler that generates machine code from a very limited subset of Atari BASIC statements.[6]

Pascal

Atari's own Atari Pascal requires two disk drives and was relegated to the Atari Program Exchange instead of the official product line. Later options were Draper Pascal and Kyan Pascal.

Forth

Atari 8-bit Forths include fig-Forth, Extended fig-Forth (Atari Program Exchange), ES-Forth, QS Forth, and ValFORTH. The animated in-store demo to promote the 400/800 line was written with Atari's internal "Coin-Op Forth" implementation.[7]

Other

Action! is an ALGOL 68-like procedural programming language on cartridge with an integrated compiler and full-screen text editor. The language is designed for quick compile times and to generate efficient 6502 machine code.

Deep Blue C is a port of Ron Cain's Small-C compiler. It was sold through the Atari Program Exchange.

Atari, Inc. published the highly regarded Atari Logo as well as Atari PILOT, both on cartridge.

Other Atari 8-bit family languages include Extended WSFN[8] and Inter-LISP/65.[9]

Applications

See Category:Atari 8-bit family software.

Word processors

Atari, Inc. published the Atari Word Processor in 1981, followed by the more popular AtariWriter cartridge in 1983. Third party options include PaperClip, Letter Perfect, Word Magic, Superscript, Bank Street Writer, COMPUTE! magazine's type-in SpeedScript, The Writer's Tool cartridge from OSS,[10] Muse Software's Super-Text,[11] KISS,[12] Wordman, and relative latecomer The First XLEnt Word Processor in 1986. Cut & Paste from Electronic Arts and Homeword from Sierra On-Line[11] were designed to be simpler to use than other programs.

Two integrated software packages that include word processing are HomePak and Mini Office II. Antic compared seven word processors in the February 1987 issue of the magazine.[13]

Graphics

Movie Maker, originally from Reston Publishing then later Electronic Arts, allows creating full-screen animations with synchronized audio that can be saved in a standalone playback format.

Music

Atari's Music Composer cartridge (1979), the first music composition software for the Atari 8-bit family, was later joined by Advanced MusicSystem from the Atari Program Exchange (1982), Music Construction Set (1983), and Bank Street Music Writer (1985). Antic published the Antic Music Processor in 1988 as a disk bonus.[14]

Games

See Category:Atari 8-bit family games.

Because of graphics superior to that of the Apple II[15] and Atari's home-oriented marketing,[16] the Atari 8-bit computers gained a good reputation for games. BYTE in 1981 stated that "for sound and video graphics [they] are hard to beat".[17] Jerry Pournelle wrote in the magazine in 1982, when trying to decide what computer to buy his sons, that "if you're only interested in games, that's the machine to get. It's not all that expensive, either".[15] A 1984 compendium of reviews used 198 pages for games compared to 167 for all other software. It noted the existence of a distinct "graphics look" to native Atari software: "Multiple graphics modes, four directional fine scrolling, colorful modified character-set backgrounds, and, of course, player missile graphics".[16]

Star Raiders was Atari's killer app, akin to VisiCalc for the Apple II in its ability to persuade customers to buy the computer.[18] Antic in 1986 stated that "it was the first program that showed all of the Atari computer's audio and visual capabilities. It was just a game, yes, but it revolutionized the idea of what a personal computer could be made to do."[19] When Electronic Arts started publishing games in 1983, the Atari 8-bit line was a key platform. EA's M.U.L.E takes advantage of the four joystick ports on the original Atari 400/800 models, as does the cooperative dungeon crawl Dandy. Dandy was the direct inspiration for the 1985 Gauntlet arcade game, which also allows four players.

References

  1. ^ Hudson, Tom (April 1984). "HBUG: Hudson's Debugging Utility". ANALOG Computing (18): 78.
  2. ^ "Atari 8-bit – BBK Monitor". RTS Software.
  3. ^ "ABC (A BASIC Compiler)". Atari Mania.
  4. ^ "MMG BASIC Compiler". Atari Mania.
  5. ^ "Advan BASIC Compiler". Atari Mania.
  6. ^ Bohlke, David (October 1984). "Minicomp". ANALOG Computing (23): 29.
  7. ^ "Coin-Op Forth". Atari Mania.
  8. ^ "Extended WSFN manual". archive.org. Atari Program Exchange. March 1982.
  9. ^ Dearner, James (July 1984). "Product Reviews: INTER-LISP/65". Antic. 3 (3): 89–90.
  10. ^ "The Writer's Tool". Atari Mania.
  11. ^ a b Curtin, Bob (March 1985). "A Word Processing Trilogy". ANALOG Computing (28): 57–64.
  12. ^ "Eastern House advertisement". ANALOG Computing. No. 30. May 1985. p. 25.
  13. ^ Pearlman, Gregg (February 1987). "Word Processors: 7 For The 8-Bit". Antic. 5 (10).
  14. ^ Lashower, Stephen (December 1985). "Antic Music Processor". Antic. Vol. 7, no. 8.
  15. ^ a b Pournelle, Jerry (July 1982). "Computers for Humanity". BYTE. p. 392. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  16. ^ a b Stanton, Jeffrey; Wells, Robert P.; Rochowansky, Sandra; Mellid, Michael, eds. (1984). The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software. Addison-Wesley. pp. TOC, 12, 210. ISBN 0-201-16454-X.
  17. ^ Williams, Gregg (December 1981). "New Games New Directions". BYTE. pp. 6–10. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  18. ^ Williams, Gregg (May 1981). "Star Raiders". BYTE. p. 106. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
  19. ^ Bisson, Gigi (May 1986). "Antic Then & Now". Antic. Vol. 5, no. 1. pp. 16–23. Retrieved 28 January 2015.

March 04, 2023
atari, family, software, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, au. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Atari 8 bit family software news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2014 Learn how and when to remove this template message Many pieces of software were available for the Atari 8 bit family of home computers the 400 800 XL and XE series Software was sold both by Atari Inc then Atari Corporation starting in mid 1984 and third parties Atari also distributed software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984 After APX folded many titles were picked up by Antic Software Atari s packaging style from the 400 800 era Contents 1 Programming languages 1 1 Assembly language 1 2 BASIC 1 3 Pascal 1 4 Forth 1 5 Other 2 Applications 2 1 Word processors 2 2 Graphics 2 3 Music 3 Games 4 ReferencesProgramming languages EditAssembly language Edit Atari Inc published two assemblers The Atari Assembler Editor cartridge is a friendlier integrated development environment using line numbers for editing source code similar to Atari BASIC The professionally targeted Atari Macro Assembler shipped at a higher price on a copy protected disk without editor or debugger Third party assemblers include SynAssembler from Synapse Software and MAE Macro Assembler Editor from Eastern House Optimized Systems Software published an enhanced disk based assembler mimicking the structure of Atari s Assembler Editor as EASMD Editor Assembler Debug It followed that with MAC 65 first on disk with BUG 65 as a companion product then as a 16KB bank switched cartridge MAC 65 tokenizes lines of code as they are entered and has much faster assembly times than Atari s products Dunion s Debugging Tool or DDT by Jim Dunion is a machine language debugger originally sold through the Atari Program Exchange A reduced version is included in the cartridge version of MAC 65 Atari magazine ANALOG Computing published the machine language monitor H BUG as a type in listing 1 followed by BBK Monitor 2 BASIC Edit Atari shipped Atari BASIC with all their machines either as a cartridge or in ROM It also sold Atari Microsoft BASIC on disk Optimized Systems Software created a series of enhanced BASIC interpreters BASIC A BASIC XL BASIC XE Commercial BASIC compilers for Atari BASIC were available ABC Monarch Data Systems 1982 3 MMG BASIC Compiler 1984 4 Advan BASIC 1985 5 The freeware Turbo BASIC XL compiler released in 1985 was popular in the later years of the Atari 8 bit line In 1984 ANALOG Computing published Minicomp a compiler that generates machine code from a very limited subset of Atari BASIC statements 6 Pascal Edit Atari s own Atari Pascal requires two disk drives and was relegated to the Atari Program Exchange instead of the official product line Later options were Draper Pascal and Kyan Pascal Forth Edit Atari 8 bit Forths include fig Forth Extended fig Forth Atari Program Exchange ES Forth QS Forth and ValFORTH The animated in store demo to promote the 400 800 line was written with Atari s internal Coin Op Forth implementation 7 Other Edit Action is an ALGOL 68 like procedural programming language on cartridge with an integrated compiler and full screen text editor The language is designed for quick compile times and to generate efficient 6502 machine code Deep Blue C is a port of Ron Cain s Small C compiler It was sold through the Atari Program Exchange Atari Inc published the highly regarded Atari Logo as well as Atari PILOT both on cartridge Other Atari 8 bit family languages include Extended WSFN 8 and Inter LISP 65 9 Applications EditSee Category Atari 8 bit family software Word processors Edit Atari Inc published the Atari Word Processor in 1981 followed by the more popular AtariWriter cartridge in 1983 Third party options include PaperClip Letter Perfect Word Magic Superscript Bank Street Writer COMPUTE magazine s type in SpeedScript The Writer s Tool cartridge from OSS 10 Muse Software s Super Text 11 KISS 12 Wordman and relative latecomer The First XLEnt Word Processor in 1986 Cut amp Paste from Electronic Arts and Homeword from Sierra On Line 11 were designed to be simpler to use than other programs Two integrated software packages that include word processing are HomePak and Mini Office II Antic compared seven word processors in the February 1987 issue of the magazine 13 Graphics Edit Movie Maker originally from Reston Publishing then later Electronic Arts allows creating full screen animations with synchronized audio that can be saved in a standalone playback format Music Edit Atari s Music Composer cartridge 1979 the first music composition software for the Atari 8 bit family was later joined by Advanced MusicSystem from the Atari Program Exchange 1982 Music Construction Set 1983 and Bank Street Music Writer 1985 Antic published the Antic Music Processor in 1988 as a disk bonus 14 Games EditSee Category Atari 8 bit family games Because of graphics superior to that of the Apple II 15 and Atari s home oriented marketing 16 the Atari 8 bit computers gained a good reputation for games BYTE in 1981 stated that for sound and video graphics they are hard to beat 17 Jerry Pournelle wrote in the magazine in 1982 when trying to decide what computer to buy his sons that if you re only interested in games that s the machine to get It s not all that expensive either 15 A 1984 compendium of reviews used 198 pages for games compared to 167 for all other software It noted the existence of a distinct graphics look to native Atari software Multiple graphics modes four directional fine scrolling colorful modified character set backgrounds and of course player missile graphics 16 Star Raiders was Atari s killer app akin to VisiCalc for the Apple II in its ability to persuade customers to buy the computer 18 Antic in 1986 stated that it was the first program that showed all of the Atari computer s audio and visual capabilities It was just a game yes but it revolutionized the idea of what a personal computer could be made to do 19 When Electronic Arts started publishing games in 1983 the Atari 8 bit line was a key platform EA s M U L E takes advantage of the four joystick ports on the original Atari 400 800 models as does the cooperative dungeon crawl Dandy Dandy was the direct inspiration for the 1985 Gauntlet arcade game which also allows four players References Edit Hudson Tom April 1984 HBUG Hudson s Debugging Utility ANALOG Computing 18 78 Atari 8 bit BBK Monitor RTS Software ABC A BASIC Compiler Atari Mania MMG BASIC Compiler Atari Mania Advan BASIC Compiler Atari Mania Bohlke David October 1984 Minicomp ANALOG Computing 23 29 Coin Op Forth Atari Mania Extended WSFN manual archive org Atari Program Exchange March 1982 Dearner James July 1984 Product Reviews INTER LISP 65 Antic 3 3 89 90 The Writer s Tool Atari Mania a b Curtin Bob March 1985 A Word Processing Trilogy ANALOG Computing 28 57 64 Eastern House advertisement ANALOG Computing No 30 May 1985 p 25 Pearlman Gregg February 1987 Word Processors 7 For The 8 Bit Antic 5 10 Lashower Stephen December 1985 Antic Music Processor Antic Vol 7 no 8 a b Pournelle Jerry July 1982 Computers for Humanity BYTE p 392 Retrieved 19 October 2013 a b Stanton Jeffrey Wells Robert P Rochowansky Sandra Mellid Michael eds 1984 The Addison Wesley Book of Atari Software Addison Wesley pp TOC 12 210 ISBN 0 201 16454 X Williams Gregg December 1981 New Games New Directions BYTE pp 6 10 Retrieved 19 October 2016 Williams Gregg May 1981 Star Raiders BYTE p 106 Retrieved 18 October 2013 Bisson Gigi May 1986 Antic Then amp Now Antic Vol 5 no 1 pp 16 23 Retrieved 28 January 2015 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Atari 8 bit family software amp oldid 1132782931, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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