 | |
| Developer(s) | Atari, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1981 |
| Stable release | 1.0
|
| Written in | Assembly |
| Platform | Atari 8-bit computers |
| Size | 48 kB |
| Type | Word processor |
| License | Proprietary software |
Atari Word Processor is a word processor program for the Atari 8-bit computers, announced by Atari, Inc. in January 1981 and shipped that summer. The program was powerful for its era, including numerous features like superscripts and two-column layouts. It was also quite complex, with a long list of control keys for basic operations and text-based menus for more complex ones. It left little memory free after loading, so longer documents had to be stored as separate files of about a page each and printing demanded a long re-formatting process as they were stitched together.
Technical requirements were demanding; it required 48 kB of RAM, required at least one floppy disk drive, and required an external parallel port adaptor to connect to a dot-matrix printer. The limited machine support and demanding requirements led Atari to release AtariWriter the next year with the launch of the XL series machines. AtariWriter offered most of the features of Word Processor but was much easier to use and shipped on a single 16 kB ROM cartridge that ran across the entire lineup.