Author: Dark Willow (host81-154-143-222.range81-154.btcentralplus.com)
Date: 06-10-2005 23:51
Commercially yes, and has been for a long time. As a scene/community and an "alternative" computer system, it's doing OK. I dont think the scene is as active, or as well developed both in terms of weight of support and technological advancement as the Amiga platform, but it is doing OK. There are some very promising hardware technolgies being worked on (the ColdFire most notably), and some outstanding software, such as Papyrus, HighWire, AICQ and the likes.
I think the scene has changed over the years. Until the year before last I had more or less left the Atari for the PC, last having had an Atari in the mid 90's. I think the big difference I've noticed in the time between then and now is that hte platform has become smaller, but much more professional. The improvement in the quality of software has been very iumpressive, and hardware development is much better thought out now, with people focusing on what really would bring most benefit to the platform.
Atari isn't going to conquer the world, but in the medium term I think it will continue to develop and evolve, especially as more powerful systems become the norm. With widespread use of hard drives, 4mb+ systems and more 060 systems, the software can be taken further. It'lol be interesting to see what beomes of the ColdFire project, as I think that if sucessful the impact it will have on the scene will be considerable, especially if it is widely used.
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