Sep 16, 2018 a drive modified with a happy board was called a happy drive. Happy drives are series of disk drive enhancements for the atari 8 bit and atari st computer families produced by a small company happy computers. Making an atari 8bit boot disk and getting other atari 8bit software from disk images. Inside the atari 800 its the 30th anniversary of this 8bit pc classic. The book pays a huge tribute to this incredible home computer, its a product design and its amazing catalogue of thirdparty software associated with this iconic 8bit system. Nov 23, 2008 this is a video of the 8 bit atari self test. Applications for the atari 8 bit family of computers.
There were a huge amount of peripherals released for the atari 8bit computers including cassette tape drives, 5. Install the happy board for the 1050 disk drive 4560 mins. Highspeed disk drive upgrades like us doubler, speedy and happy are supported in either regular or high speed. Org mirror, hosted by atarimax nir darys atari 8 bit software archive, an archive of 8 bit games and utilities nearly 100gb in size. As the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips, ataris machines were able to offer graphics and sound capabilities beyond what contemporary computers like the apple ii could produce. If youve got an atari 8bit computer or emulator, this is the best spot to find software fast news. The internet archive software library is a large collection of viewable and executable software titles, ranging from commercially released products to public domain and hobbyist programs. Overall, the atari 8 bit computer line was a commercial success, selling two million units during its major production run between late 1979 and mid1985,2 putting its sales on par with machines like the sinclair zx spectrum and ti994a. Diamond gos went some way to addressing this deficiency, and since then there have been several creditable attempts at implementing a gui os on the a8. And the ataris custom hardware has made some other really nice things possible, such as the calculation of processor usage on a processbyprocess basis, as well as the. Xformer runs your atari 400800, atari 800xl, and atari xe software on your pc the original xformer project began in 1986 as an effort to run atari 800 basic on the atari st desktop computer using emulation to translate the 6502 machine code of the atari 800 to the 68000 machine code of the atari st. Atari 8bit software because of graphics superior to that of the apple ii and ataris homeoriented marketing, the computers gained a good reputation for games. Its release was a defining moment for the atari 8bit systems it was originally designed for, wowing gamers on their first exposure to its amazing realtime landscape.
Happy computers is most noted for the addin boards for the atari 810 and atari 1050 disk drives, which achieved a tremendous speed improvement for reading and writing, and for the ability to back up floppies. All are based on the mos technology 6502 cpu running at 1. Today, most atari software andor hardware purchases are made from ebay or other online auction sites. Separate topics pc software, atari native games and tools. Org mirror, hosted by atarimax nir darys atari 8bit software archive, an archive of 8bit games and utilities nearly 100gb in size. This article is an overview of programs available for the atari 8 bit family of home computers the 400800, xl, and xe series. Nov 04, 2009 inside the atari 800 its the 30th anniversary of this 8 bit pc classic.
Alibpc is used to make atr archives from atari 8 bit computer disks, and to create real atari 8 bit disks from atr archives. Install the happy board for the 1050 disk drive 4560 mins atari. Here is my recollection of the happy backup software i started with rev 3. Early atari computers could store their programs on compact cassettes. Atari 8bit hardware and software need help finding your 8. Xl search is a search engine, similar to cnets, which lets you find files software programs, images, documents, etc. The atari 800 is the porsche of home computers, and runs dropzone 2. For addresses and phone numbers of any of the companies listed, consult the vendors and developers list, posted to comp. Ape is an astounding new product that unleashes the power of your atari 8 bit computer, by making all the resources of your pc available for its use. Lots of commercial software was also sold on tapes. Atari 8 bit computer languages, books, books with software. Jerry pournelle wrote in 1982, when trying to decide what computer to buy his sons, thatif youre only interested in games, thats the machine to get. It was also possible on some revisions to install 64k and 128k mac roms allowing the emulation of certain macintosh software too.
Atari was created by nolan bushnell and ted dabney in 1972 and became a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles and home computers. The happy 1050 upgrade board adds true double density, high speed backup, copy protected disks, and much more to atari 1050 disk drives. When atari released its xl line of 8 bit computers, they introduced a diagnostic tool built into the systems rom. The atari 8bit ethernet project is now open source and any help with the project is welcome and greatly appreciated. Happy software atari 8bit computers atariage forums. The good news is you can buy newly made happy boards and install them in a 1050 drive with no soldering. Xl search the atari 8bit file archive search engine. The atari 8bit ethernet project is now open source and any help with the. It also exists to describe the many wild, woolley and wonderful products that have been produced for the atari 8 bit. I had access to a number of 8bit computers in my childhood, but my most favorite was the atari 800, a 1. A drive modified with a happy board was called a happy drive. They ship you the board and floppy disk with the software although my disk was.
The current software is based on ip65 and has a very small footprint, runs. The atari 800xl, together with the 600xl, were successors of the atari. Atari 8bit productivity software, hardware repairs and upgrades. How atari 8bit computers defined a generation looks back at how the atari 8bit lineup came to be, how it was designed, and its entire. Atari 8bit productivity software, hardware repairs and. The most common peripherals were disk drives and cassette drives, and as a result most software for these computers are on disk and tape. Ready to relive the exitement of playing those good old games on your atari 8bit computer. Does anyone have the latest software for the happy drives, also any diag software for any drive. When the disk drive is first turned on the fast reading is enabled and fast writing is disabled all special happy functions are allowed whereby the drive is said to be in happy mode. The atari 8bit hardware upgrade, modification and addon faq.
How atari 8 bit computers defined a generation looks back at how the atari 8 bit lineup came to be, how it was designed, and its entire year production run, from the original 400800. Atari disk explorer installer atari disk explorer source license atari disk explorer is free software. There were a huge amount of peripherals released for the atari 8 bit computers including cassette tape drives, 5. We celebrate the occasion as we always do, by tearing the product apart and showing you the pieces. The discovery cartridges main use was for software duplication and was capable enough to make copies of protected disks for the st, mac and atari 8 bit requires st compatible 5 14 inch drive computers. What you see on this page is a listing some of what we currently have in stock. Dis6502, the interactive 6502 disassembler for windows from eric bacher.
Dallas atari computer enthusiasts newsletter club entry updates. Happy drives are series of disk drive enhancements for the atari 8bit and atari st computer families produced by a small company happy computers. It also exists to describe the many wild, woolley and wonderful products that have been produced for the atari 8bit. Did you know that the happy backup software can write to three drives. Applications for the atari 8bit family of computers. Homesofts disk images of atari 8bit games metafilter. Atari 8bit fans have long hankered after a gui similar to geos on the commodore 64. Some of the tapes employed different tricks to prevent creating illegal copies. In unhappy mode, the drive can do none of these things. Free windows game remakes of atari 8bit games classic. This article is an overview of programs available for the atari 8bit family of home computers the 400800, xl, and xe series. Using only an inexpensive pc to atari interface cable, ape provides super enhanced disk drive, modem, printer apeloader interactive menu, pc mirror services, and more. Here you will find a variety of atari 8bit software tools and projects, firmware for several of the most popular hardware addons and devices, repair and. Happy 1050 upgrade for atari 1050 disk drive 8bit classics.
Atari user magazine the worlds only atari magazine. They could use almost the same software, just so long as the program was written correctly, because of. Although atari is more closely associated with video game consoles, their 8bit line of computers was on the market for over a decade. The ataris faster processor means that this is the definitive version of the game, running around oneanda. Over the years hundreds of games software was released for the atari 8bit computer range, along with various hardware including printers, a modem, a touch tablet, a light gun, joysticks and more. The atari 8 bit family is a series of 8 bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. Over the following decade several versions of the same basic design were released, including the original atari 400 and 800 and their successors, the xl and xe series of computers.
Atari computer the atari 8bit family is a series of 8bit home computers introduced by atari, inc. You win the game by having one of your units on each of the five powerpoint squares, by remo. Ready to relive the exitement of playing those good old games on your atari 8 bit computer. Install the happy board for the 1050 disk drive 4560. Defence moj mikro asteroids mouse mervin site update. Atarimax home page ape atari peripheral emulator for dos. I loved my amiga, but there was a hint of sadness about its arrival into the household as my beloved atari 800xl died that same day. This was suppose to be the last starfighter it is a crap game. Physical media for the atari 8bit range of computers and consoles, including games and software in the retrocomputers. All are based on the mos technology 6502 cpu and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips. After reading danny majors recollections of owning a commodore amiga, i was taken back to my own memories of owning an amiga 500. Atarimax home page ape atari peripheral emulator for. We are hoping with some help from the awesome atari 8bit community, we can make the 8bit ethernet interface a reality. Also, i am happy to announce that the stock ip65 library has been ported to the atari.
Because of graphics superior to that of the apple ii and ataris homeoriented marketing, the computers gained a good reputation for games. You have to know what youre looking for or be willing to sort through a lot of cruft to get something good, however. Atari also distributed software through the atari program exchange from 1981 to 1984, then many apx titles were picked up by antic software. Two sides, a light one and a dark one, consisting of 18 pieces each compete on a board divided into 9 by 9 squares. Beloved and worldrenowned atari games including pong, asteroids, missile command and many others helped define the gaming industry. What is especially heartening at this stage is that the 8bit atari can actually run a preemptive scheduler, and run it well in spite of the 6502s fixed stack. Dropzone is best and first actually on atari 8bit as mentioned by the programmer himself.
Software for the atari 8 bit line of computers 400, 800 and xlxe series. Dgs atari 8bit software pack commercial software collection, containing. A visual history hardback book early bird pledge, get a copy of the book at a special discount to the first 50 backers of the project, featuring a colossal 420 pages of atari 8bit content in full colour, with interviews and system profiles that all atari 8bit fans should own. Atari 8bit forever site dedicated to atari 8bit home.
Jun 28, 2017 the happy backup software would copy even the copy protection, use highspeed sio for the data transfer, and use a proprietary sio command set to broadcast the writes to the other three drives. The ataris faster processor means that this is the definitive version of the game, running around oneandahalf times faster than the c64 conversion. Enemy bridges, triggerhappy jets, battleships, lethal land tanks and hot air balloons. Below is our full list of retro game remakes of atari 8 bit games now available for windows pc. The aim of the a8cas project is to create software to read, save and archive tapes for atari 8bit computers. Below is our full list of retro game remakes of atari 8bit games now available for windows pc. A visual history hardback book early bird pledge, get a copy of the book at a special discount to the first 50 backers of the project, featuring a colossal 420 pages of atari 8 bit content in full colour, with interviews and system profiles that all atari 8 bit fans should own. The light and the dark is a strategic board game with some similarities to chess. Atari also distributed software through the atari program exchange from 1981 to 1984, then many apx titles were picked up by antic. Many thousands of titles were released for the atari on cartridges, diskettes and cassettes.
Atari 8bit memories atari 8bit retro games collector. That have the happy enhancement installed with atari 8 bit personal computers copyright 1986 all rights reserved happy computers inc. Alibpc is the recommended software for atari8warez sio2pc10502pc dualusb interfaces. Overall, the atari 8bit computer line was a commercial success, selling two million units during its major production run between late 1979 and mid1985,2 putting its sales on par with machines like the sinclair zx spectrum and ti994a. Ataris 8bit computers were initially intended to serve as a replacement for the newlyminted atari 2600. When atari released its xl line of 8bit computers, they introduced a diagnostic tool built into the systems rom. The aim of the a8cas project is to create software to read, save and archive tapes for atari 8 bit computers.
Software for the atari 8bit line of computers 400, 800 and xlxe series. Site dedicated to atari 8bit home computers by bostjan gorisek gury. The happy backup software would copy even the copy protection, use highspeed sio for the data transfer, and use a proprietary sio command set. They ship you the board and floppy disk with the software although my disk was doa. Here you will find a variety of atari 8 bit software tools and projects, firmware for several of the most popular hardware addons and devices, repair and upgrade services, and instructional videos. This torrent looks jampacked as well, though i cant vouch for its contents.
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