InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari

Atari has produced many different kinds of computers, from game machines to advanced personal computers. InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers covers the entire range of Atari products; it will be indispensable to the millions of current owners, and to anyone thinking of buying an Atari.

After illuminating the history of Atari and its development from video-game giant to producer of some of the most popular home computers, Scott Mace takes you on a guided tour of the world of Atari hardware and software. Examining the capabilities of the various machines, Mace provides instructions and tips for putting a system together, and explains what to consider when you purchase an Atari system, including where and how to buy your Atari, and how to choose between cartridge and disk drive.

The author examines many uses of Atari computers — familiar uses, such as BASIC and Logo programming, graphics, word processing, games, speech and music, and more advanced uses, such as data-base management, accounting, PILOT, FORTH, and machine language. The book includes extensive chapters on expanding your system; maintenance, service, and troubleshooting; free software and bulletin boards for user interaction. A discussion of Atari's future is followed by thorough reviews of hardware, software, and peripherals for Atari systems. Several appendices, including a directory of books and magazines for Atari users, and a glossary, complete the guide.

Just about everything you need to know about Atari computers is contained in this comprehensive, essential guide.

Scott Mace is a senior writer at InfoWorld, for which he writes a weekly column on entertainment software for home computers.