| Original author(s) | Dan Oliver, John Feagans, Bruce Noonan |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Atari Inc. |
| Initial release | 1985 |
| Final release | 4.8
/ 1992 |
| Written in | Assembly, C |
| Operating system | Atari TOS |
| Platform | Atari ST |
| Type | Word processor |
| License | Proprietary software |
ST Writer is a word processor program for the Atari ST series of personal computers. It was introduced by Atari Corporation in 1985 along with the 520ST, the first machine in the ST family. It is a port of Atari's AtariWriter Plus from the earlier Atari 8-bit computers, matching it closely enough to share files across platforms unchanged. Running on the ST allowed it to display a full 80-column layout, create much larger files, and support additional features.
ST Writer did not use a graphical user interface (GUI). Atari said it was intended as a stop-gap until a GUI word processor was available. When this became available at the end of 1985 in the form of 1st Word, ST Writer stopped being distributed with new machines. By this point, it had garnered a faithful following and Atari released the source code to one of its more vocal advocates. It continued to be supported through multiple major updates until 1992, when it was known as ST Writer Elite.