The history of Atari Computers

It’s a name that’s legendary in the world of video games: Atari.

But few people today remember that the former video game giant once made computers, too. For 15 years (1978 to 1993), Atari designed and produced four distinct lines of PCs: the 8-bit “Atari 800” line, the 16-bit ST line, the PC compatibles, and the 32-bit series.

Although Atari started off strong in the U.S. PC market, the company soon faltered in the face of shake-ups in the game industry (its core business) and stiff competition from IBM PC compatibles. In Europe, Atari held on to a niche of dedicated fans for years until finally shutting down its PC division in 1993. Here’s a look at just about every production computer model that Atari ever released over that 15-year period.

Click here for the slideshow.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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