In 1984 when the Atari ST hardware was being finalized, there was a need to get an operating system on it. Atari realized that with their short timefr

Goto 10 Retro: The Newsletter for Atari Enthusiasts

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2025-01-06 11:30:05

In 1984 when the Atari ST hardware was being finalized, there was a need to get an operating system on it. Atari realized that with their short timeframe they could not possibly create an OS for it on their own 1 , so they looked around for other vendors to see what was available for an OS with a graphic user interface (GUI).

Atari actually talked with Microsoft about Windows, but those talks ended quickly when Microsoft revealed that Windows was nowhere near completion.

That’s probably for the best, because Atari ended up going with Digital Research and their GEM software. Although not yet released, it was nearly complete and (I think) had a much better look and feel than Windows would have had at that time.

Although the x86 version of GEM was “almost complete”, Atari needed a version for the 68000 CPU. In the fall of 1984, Atari programmers working with Digital Research ported GEM from x86 code to 68000. This was mostly C, but some parts were written in assembly.

GEM also released for PCs in 1985, but mostly went nowhere. GUIs on PCs did not get traction until Windows 3 around 1990. But just imagine if GEM had been the winner on PCs instead…