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37 lines
2 KiB
Text
37 lines
2 KiB
Text
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The Atari 8-bit computer's operating system is stored on a ROM chip inside
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the Atari. Without the OS, the Atari isn't capable of doing anything
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useful. Also, many Atari programs are written in the Atari BASIC language,
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which was an optional ROM cartridge on the 400/800 and 1200XL, but was
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included as a built-in ROM in the 600XL, 800XL, and all XE machines.
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To use the Atari800 emulator, you'll need suitable ROM images/dumps. You
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can either use the original OS and BASIC from Atari, or an open source
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OS replacement called OS++.
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The original ROMs of course provide the best compatibility with software
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for the Atari, but they are still copyrighted by Atari. In practice,
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this doesn't cause a problem: the ROM images have been widely available
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on the 'net for many years, and there has never been any legal action
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taken regarding their use.
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If you'd prefer to use Open Source code, there is a replacement ROM called
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OS++, written from scratch by Thomas Richter (author of the Atari++
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emulator) and released under the TPL (a variant of the Mozilla Public
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License). Be aware that OS++ isn't 100% compatible with all software for
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the Atari: it contains no support for the BASIC language or floating point
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math. However, if your main purpose is to play games, you'll find that
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(almost) all game cartridge ROMs work perfectly well with OS++. Many boot
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disk games and XEX (binary load file) games work as well. OS++ runs on
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XL/XE machines only, so you won't be able to emulate the original 400/800.
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To use the original proprietary Atari ROMs, install the atari800_roms
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package from slackbuilds.org
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To use OS++ (a version slightly modified for use with Atari800 rather
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than Atari++), install the atari800_os++ package instead.
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If you like, you can install both packages and choose between them at
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runtime by altering the symlink at /usr/share/atari800/roms/atarixl.rom, by
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running atari800 with the -xlxe_rom switch, or by editing the config file
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(~/.atari800.cfg, created the first time you run the emulator).
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