Information AboutAtari St |
The Atari ST is a Home / Personal Computer that was commercially popular from 1985 to the early 1990s. It was released by Atari in 1985. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two",1 which referred to the Motorola 68000 's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals. OVERVIEW The Atari ST was a notable Home Computer , based on the Motorola 68000 CPU , with 512 KB of RAM or more, and 3½" Floppy Disk s as storage. It was similar to other contemporary machines which used the Motorola 68000, the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga . Although the Macintosh was the first widely available computer with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), it was limited to a monochromatic display on a smaller built-in monitor. The Atari ST was the first computer with a fully bit-mapped color GUI. It had an innovative single-chip graphics subsystem (designed by Shiraz Shivji ) which shared the full amount of system memory, in alternating clock cycles, with the processor, similar to the earlier BBC Micro and the Unified Memory systems that have become common today. It was also the first home computer with integral MIDI support. The ST was primarily a competitor to the Apple Macintosh and the Commodore Amiga systems. This platform rivalry was often reflected by the owners and was most prominent in the Demo Scene . Where the Amiga had custom processors which gave it the edge in the Games and video market, the ST was generally cheaper, had a slightly faster CPU, and had a high-resolution monochrome display, ideal for business and CAD. Thanks to its built-in software for MIDI sequencing and two STFMs were connected to video projectors to provide a visual accompaniment to the live set. The visuals were programmed using Jeff Minter 's Colourspace and Tom Hudson's CAD 3D software suite by keyboard player Brian Cosgrove. In some markets, particularly Germany , the machine gained a strong foothold as a Small Business machine for CAD and Desktop Publishing work. The ST was later superseded by the Atari TT and Falcon computers. Since Atari pulled out of the computer market there has been a market for powerful TOS -based machines (clones). Like most "retro" computers the Atari enjoys support in the Emulator scene. ORIGINS Tramel Technologies At Commodore International an argument involving Commodore's chairman (and largest shareholder) Irving Gould and Commodore founder Jack Tramiel ensued over Tramiel's desire for his sons to take more active executive roles within Commodore. The argument resulted in Tramiel's immediate departure from Commodore in January of 1984. Tramiel immediately formed a Holding Company , Tramel Technologies, Ltd., and began to visit various US computer companies with the intention of purchasing a company. Tramiel visited Mindset (run by Roger Badersher, former head of Atari's Computer Division) and Amiga where Tramiel told Amiga staff that he was very interested in the chipset, but not the staff. Tramiel set his chief engineer - Shiraz Shivji the task of developing a new low-cost, high-end computer system. The original design considered using the NS32032 , but in talks, National Semiconductor could not supply the chip in the numbers or price that the project required. In retrospect this proved to be fortunate as a prototype built on the NS32032 benchmarked slower than the 16/32-bit 68000. The project, codenamed "RBP" for 'Rock Bottom Price', began to form between April and July 1984 into a design that was almost identical to the ST that eventually shipped. The design was a combination of custom chips and commonly available parts in a highly integrated single-board design, fully equipped with standard and custom ports. Amiga contract Prior to the introduction of the ST, Atari's computer division developed and sold a line of home computers based on the 6502 CPU with a set of custom VLSI processors - ANTIC (DMA), CTIA/GTIA (Graphics), POKEY (AUDIO) and PIA (I/O)from 1979 through 1982 as the Atari 400 (16K) and Atari 800 (48k), in 1982 Atari introduced the 1200XL which was too closed a design and was replaced with the 600XL/800XL series. Atari prepared several high-end computers for introduction in 1984, but these were cancelled when the Tramiels took over Atari. Several months prior to the release of the ST line, Atari released its 65XE (64K) and 130XE(128k) computers to replace the XL series 6502 8bit computers. Jay Miner , one of the original designers for the custom chips found in the Atari 2600 and Atari 8-bit of machines, tried to convince Atari management to invest big money into creating a new chipset and console/computer idea. When his idea was rejected, Miner left Atari to form a small Think Tank called Hi-Toro in 1982 and set about designing this new chipset. The company which was later renamed Amiga started selling various video game controllers and games while it developed its "Lorraine" computer system. During development, Amiga had run out of capital to complete the development of its Lorraine chipset, and the "Warner owned" Atari had paid Amiga to continue development work.2 In return Atari was to get one-year exclusive use of the design. Atari had plans for a 68000 based machine, code named "Mickey", that would have used custom chips, but details are sparse. The following year, Tramiel discovered that Warner Communications wanted to sell Atari, which at that point was losing about $10,000 a day. Interested in Atari's overseas manufacturing and world wide distribution network for his new computer, he approached Atari and entered talks. After on again/off again negotiations with Atari in May and June of 1984, Tramiel had secured his funding and bought Atari's Consumer Division (which included the console and home computer departments) that July. As more executives and researchers left Commodore to join Tramiel's new company Atari Corp. after the announcement, Commodore followed by filing lawsuits against four former engineers for theft of trade secrets. This was intented to in effect, bar Tramiel from releasing his new computer. One of Tramiel's first acts after forming Atari Corp. was to fire most of Atari's remaining staff and cancel almost all ongoing projects in order to review their continued viability. It was during this time in late July/early August that Tramiel representatives discovered the original Amiga contract. It turned out that Amiga was supposed to deliver the Amiga chipset to Atari on June 30 , 1984. The Amiga crew, having continuing serious financial problems, had sought more monetary support from investors that Spring (one of which had been Tramiel and his TTL , which ended quickly given his desire to replace nearly everyone at Amiga). Having heard rumors that Tramiel was in closed negotiations to complete the purchase of Atari in several days -- at around the same time that Tramiel was in negotiations with Atari - Amiga entered in to discussions with Commodore. The discussions ultimately led to Commodore wanting to purchase Amiga outright, which would (from Commodore's viewpoint) cancel any outstanding contracts - including Atari Inc.'s. So instead of Amiga delivering the chipset, Commodore delivered a check of $500,000 to Atari on Amiga's behalf, in effect returning the funds invested into Amiga for completion of the Lorraine chipset. Seeing a chance to gain some leverage Tramiel immediately used the situation to countersue Commodore through its new (pending) subsidiary, Amiga, which was done on August 13 , 1984. He sought damages and an injunction to bar Amiga (and effectively Commodore) from producing anything with that technology. The suit tried to render Commodore's new acquisition (and the source for its next generation of computers) useless and do to Commodore what they were trying to do to him. Meanwhile at Commodore, the Amiga team (according to conversations by Curt Vendel of Atarimuseum.com directly with Dave Needles of Amiga and also with Joe Decuir of Amiga) was sitting in limbo for nearly the entire summer because of the lawsuit. No word on the status of the chipset, the Lorraine computer system or the team's fate was known. Finally in the fall of 1984 Commodore informed the team that the Lorraine project was active again, the chipset to be improved, the OS developed and the hardware design completed. This delay bought Atari several additional months in 1985 to release Atari STs to Atari User Groups in June 1985 and to go into full retail sales of the Atari 520ST in September of 1985. In March 1987, the two companies settled the dispute out of court in a closed decision. This chapter is used on Wikipedia with permission from http://www.atarimuseum.com The operating system With the hardware design nearing completion, the team started looking at solutions for the Operating System . Soon after the buyout, Microsoft approached Tramiel with the suggestion that they port Windows to the platform, but the delivery date was out by about two years, far too long for their needs. Another possibility was Digital Research , who were 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 eventually rejected due to the risk. 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 Jim Tittsler was Atari key OS engineer overseeing "Project Jason" (aka - The Operating System) for the Atari ST line of computers. The name came from the original designer and developer, Jason Loveman. Tim Oren has a an article describing the history of the project, from his series "Professional GEM." CP/M-68K was essentially a direct port of CP/M 's original, mature operating system. By 1985, it was becoming increasingly outdated in comparison to MS-DOS 2.0; for instance, CP/M did not support sub-directories and did not have a hierarchical file system. 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 TOS ('''The Operating System'''). This was beneficial as it gave the ST a fast, hierarchical file system, essential for hard drive storage disks, plus programmers had function calls similar to the IBM PC DOS. Debut of the ST The design shipped in June 1985 to Atari User Groups and then in September 1985 for general retail sales as the 520ST. The machine had gone from concept to store shelves in a little under a year. Atari had originally intended to release versions with 128 KB and 256 KB of RAM as the '''130ST''' and '''260ST''' respectively. However, with the OS loaded from floppy into RAM, there would be little or no room left over for applications to run. The 260ST did make its way into Europe on a limited basis. Early models shipped with ''TOS'' on disk, but were designed with ROM sockets to make for easy upgrading to the future ROM based ''TOS''. These became available only a few months later, and were included in all new machines, as well as being available to upgrade older machines. By late 1985 the machines were also upgraded with the addition of an RF Modulator (for TV display), a version known as the 520STM. Atari had originally intended to include GEM's GDOS (Graphical Device Operating System), which allowed programs to send GEM VDI (Virtual Device Interface) commands to drivers loaded by GDOS. This allowed developers to send VDI instructions to other Devices simply by pointing to it. However, GDOS was not ready at the time the ST started shipping, and was included in software packages and later ST machines. Later versions of GDOS supported vector fonts. A limited set of GEM fonts were also included within the ROMs. These fonts also featured two additions:
On the plus side, the ST was less expensive than most machines, including the software was much cheaper than a Digital VT220 terminal, which was commonly needed by offices with central computers. DESCRIPTION Housing The 520ST was an all-in-one unit, similar to earlier home computers like the Commodore 64 . By the time the 520ST reached the market, however, consumers demanded a keyboard with cursor keys and a numeric keypad. For this reason, the 520ST was a fairly large and awkward computer console. Adding to this problem was the number of large cables needed to connect to the peripherals. This problem was addressed to some degree in the follow-on models which included a built-in floppy disk, though this addition resulted in the awkward placement of the mouse and joystick ports to a cramped niche ''underneath'' the keyboard. Early 520ST owners became accustomed to the "Atari Twist" and the "Atari Drop" service procedures. "Atari Twist" seemed to help discharge built-up static electricity (Atari soldered-down the metal shielding to fix the problem) while the "Atari Drop" appeared to help re-seat chips which may have become partially unseated over time. The case design was created by Ira Valenski - Atari's chief Industrial Designer. |
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