What the ST almost was?

[+Sauron]

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/comput....asp?st=1&c=986

 

Looks like the ST was heavily modeled after the little-known Mindset Graphics computer. What's interesting is that the case is completely different from anything Atari utilized, the system was based on the 80186 processer, and that the graphics were almost directly copied by the ST. Pretty interesting to see this, I had never heard of it before...

[A2600]

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=986

 

Looks like the ST was heavily modeled after the little-known Mindset Graphics computer. What's interesting is that the case is completely different from anything Atari utilized, the system was based on the 80186 processer, and that the graphics were almost directly copied by the ST. Pretty interesting to see this, I had never heard of it before...

 

Wow, Sauron ive been on that site millions of times browsing machines and I never spotted that one but by the way that you say it an the info in the article it might be the ST's big brother!!

[A2600]

Sorry Double Post

[Atari_Owl]

http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?st=1&c=986

 

Looks like the ST was heavily modeled after the little-known Mindset Graphics computer. What's interesting is that the case is completely different from anything Atari utilized, the system was based on the 80186 processer, and that the graphics were almost directly copied by the ST. Pretty interesting to see this, I had never heard of it before...

 

I'm not sure i buy this.

 

Its 'heavily based on...'

 

Yet has a different CPU, OS, architecture, case, and a few similar resolutions

 

320x200/640x400 are pretty standard resolutions.

 

I suspect the similarities are pretty coincidental, 320x200x16 colours is a pretty obvious resolution to have, and 640x200x4 & 640x400x2 fit in the exact same memory, so i don't think there's anything unusual about the selection of those modes.

[Justin42]

I remember when those came out-- although I use the term lightly, it was so heavily hyped because it was the first computer to land in a museum. (I could've sworn at the time it was the Smithsonian, but that article said a Museum of Modern Art?)

 

I have a feeling the people at the museum were the only ones to ever see one in action. Weren't these advertised as running GEM and with a picture of a tiger in grass? (Which looked really nice at the time, despite it undoubtedly being 320x200x16 color..)

[Curt Vendel]

The Tramiels did appraoch Mindset in the spring of 84' about buying the firm. However the ST really had little to do with the Mindset.

 

The ST would later have a Blitter chip, similar with the chip designed by Chris Berg (former Atari engineer) for Mindset.

 

Mindset was actually formed almost entirely from former Atari management and Atari engineers.

 

Its been believed that within inside Atari Home Computer Division circles that Roger Baderscher, the former head of Atari's HCD had actually sabotaged many projects like the 815 dual disk drive, the 256K Memory Expander, a Mouse for the 800 and a new modular computer system codenamed A-300 which had a main cpu box and modules stacked ontop of it.... all the while designing a new computer system within, picking up and leaving, then a few months later Mindset was born.

 

I've spoken with Roger many times, he denies such things, but many former engineers and a few marketing people believe otherwise. One Industrial designer who worked with Regan Cheng and helped to design the new Modular A-300 system and Atari 900 modular computer concepts says the Mindset is a direct rip-off of his 82' designs.

 

 

 

Curt