What is an Atari 8-bit computer?
Based in Silicon Valley in the U.S.A., the company known as Atari produced a line of home computers from 1979 to 1992 often referred to collectively as the “Atari 8-bits,” the “8-bit Ataris,” the “400/800/XL/XE series,” etc. The computers included the 400, 800, 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE, 130XE, 800XE, and the XE Game System. These machines competed in the marketplace most directly with the likes of the Commodore 64 series, the Apple II series, the Texas Instruments TI99/4A, and the Radio Shack Color Computer, among others. Of these, the 8-bit Atari is most similar to the Commodore 64. In marketing their computers to the public, Atari always had to contend with their company history and reputation as a maker of video games. While the 8-bit Atari computers in their heyday were technically quite comparable if not superior in the worlds of home and business personal computing, they also live up to the name “Atari” with a huge library of video games which were often outstanding for their t
