Atari 520 ST

[Vin107]

The Atari 520ST, launched in 1985, was a groundbreaking home computer notable for its affordable price, built-in MIDI ports, and a graphical user interface, making it especially popular among musicians and graphic designers. Its “claim to fame” was being one of the first widely accessible computers with MIDI support out of the box, helping to revolutionize electronic music production and desktop publishing. The 520ST achieved significant popularity in Europe and established Atari as a major player in the mid-1980s home computing market.

• Manufacturer: Atari Corporation
• Type: Personal computer
• Release Date: 1985
• Cost at release: USD $600 (~$2,000 adjusted for inflation)
• Cost with peripherals and color monitor: USD $1,000 (~$3,500 adjusted for inflation)
• MIPS: 1 (1,000 KIPS)

Hardware Specifications

• CPU: Motorola 68000 @ 8MHz
• RAM: 512KB
• Display Modes:
  • 320×200 pixels, 16 colors
  • 640×200 pixels, 4 colors
  • 640×400 pixels, monochrome
• Storage: External 3.5″ 360KB single-sided floppy drive
• Ports: RGB video, cartridge, parallel, serial, external floppy, 2x MIDI, joystick, mouse
• Weight: ~2.7kg (6 lbs)

Operating System & Programming Languages 

• Operating System: TOS (The Operating System), often referred to as the “Tramiel Operating System,” which included Digital Research’s GEM graphical interface layered on top of a DOS-like core. At launch, very early 520STs loaded TOS from a floppy disk, but most production models soon ran TOS from ROM chips for faster booting.

• Supported Languages: BASIC (such as ST BASIC, GFA BASIC, and other implementations), C, Pascal, FORTH, Assembler (Motorola 68000 assembly), LOGO, LISP, Modula-2. Other languages like Prolog and custom environments designed for CP/M-68K, since TOS’s GEMDOS shared much compatibility with CP/M systems.

Notables

• It was nicknamed the “Jackintosh” due to its graphical interface similar to the Macintosh and its association with Jack Tramiel, who led Atari after acquiring it from Commodore.
• The Atari 520ST was one of the first personal computers to include built-in MIDI ports, making it extremely popular in the music industry for sequencing and instrument control.
• The original 520ST was announced after only about six months of development, an impressively rapid turnaround led by a small team.
• It was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color graphical user interface using Digital Research’s GEM environment, released in early 1985 before the Commodore Amiga.
• The 520ST helped save Atari Corporation financially when it was released amid uncertain company prospects.
• Its wedge-shaped design with a large keyboard was created by Atari’s chief industrial designer Ira Velinsky, giving it a distinctive look.
• Early models initially loaded the OS from floppy disks as the OS was not yet in ROM, a transitional oddity at launch.
• One unusual fact is that the Atari ST character set included not only extended ASCII but also a small picture of a man smoking a pipe, speculated to resemble Jack Tramiel or Hugh Hefner.
• By November 1985, just months after launch, over 50,000 units had been sold, proving significant market success.

Donated by: Arlen Michaels