Atari Computer Memories for Modern Systems and Devices

Badging from the Atari 1200XL Home Computer

Atari’s 8-bit computer family was launched in November 1979, with the Atari 400 and Atari 800 models. Featuring coprocessors for graphics and sound, for the first time in a personal/home computer, the Atari 8-bit computers were some of the most advanced of the time. Building on the success of benefits of his TIA chip in the Atari 2600, Jay Miner developed a more advanced version, CTIA. CTIA handled color and sprites, or “Player/Missile Graphics” in Atari parlance. Beyond CTIA, Miner and his team created two new chips – POKEY handled sound, keyboard input and serial communications (disk drives, modems, printers, etc.), while ANTIC paired with CTIA to manage text and the playfield/main-screen.

Topping the advanced architecture off was the Atari Serial Input/Output system, or SIO. SIO was a lightweight protocol, design to interface with a wide variety of expansion hardware, such as printers, disk drives and modems, through a single plug. Although this required computing power in the expansion devices, making Atari expansion devices a bit more expensive than the competition, it was also user-friendly and forward-looking. The developers of SIO went on to create the USB standard.

Famously, or infamously, the architecture of the Atari 8-bit computers was originally meant to be a video game console, released as a replacement for the Atari 2600. The 2600’s surprising longevity, coupled with the growing market for personal/home/micro computers, spurred Atari’s management to mandate that the design be converted to become the 400 and 800 computers. The design did eventually made its way into a video game system, as the Atari 5200.

Although only marginally successful through the 400/800 generation through the Atari 1200XL, Atari’s 600XL and 800XL were much more popular, allowing the company to outlast all of their “home computer” competitors, other than Commodore. The rivalry between Atari and Commodore would rage throughout the 1980s and into the 16-bit computer era, with the Atari ST family and Commodore’s Amiga lineup. Eventually the founder of Commodore, Jack Tramiel, left the company and bought Atari, which only deepened the competition between the two even further.

An Atari 8-bit machine was my first computer and I have incredibly fond memories of the fun and discovery it enabled. Eventually I upgraded to an Atari ST and had fantastic time with it as well! Relive those times with these throwback Atari computer wallpapers and backgrounds for your modern Windows, Mac or Linux system, and for your phones and tablets as well!