Amiga

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Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers originally developed by Amiga Corporation and later marketed and sold by Commodore International in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model, the Amiga 1000, was released in 1985 and was notable for its advanced graphics and sound capabilities, which were ahead of its time.

History

The development of the Amiga began in 1982 with the formation of Amiga Corporation by Jay Miner and a group of other engineers. The company initially focused on creating a new gaming console, but the project evolved into a full-fledged personal computer. In 1984, Amiga Corporation was acquired by Commodore International, which provided the necessary funding to complete the project.

The Amiga 1000 was launched in July 1985 and was followed by several other models, including the Amiga 500, Amiga 2000, Amiga 3000, and Amiga 4000. Each new model introduced improvements in performance, graphics, and sound.

Technical Specifications

The Amiga computers were based on the Motorola 68000 series of microprocessors. They featured a custom chipset that included the Agnus, Denise, and Paula chips, which handled graphics, video, and audio processing, respectively.

Graphics

The Amiga's graphics capabilities were one of its most significant selling points. It supported multiple display modes, including HAM (Hold-And-Modify) mode, which allowed for up to 4096 colors on screen simultaneously. The system also supported hardware sprites and a blitter for fast graphics operations.

Sound

The Amiga's sound capabilities were equally impressive, featuring four-channel stereo sound with a sample rate of up to 28 kHz. The Paula chip was responsible for audio processing and could handle complex sound effects and music.

Operating System

The Amiga ran on the AmigaOS, which was a multitasking operating system with a graphical user interface. The OS was known for its efficiency and responsiveness, even on the relatively modest hardware of the time.

Legacy

The Amiga was highly influential in the development of multimedia computing and had a significant impact on the demoscene, a subculture focused on creating audio-visual presentations. Despite its initial success, the Amiga platform struggled in the face of increasing competition from IBM PC compatible systems and Apple Macintosh computers.

After Commodore declared bankruptcy in 1994, the Amiga brand changed hands several times. Various companies attempted to revive the platform, but none achieved significant commercial success.

Related Pages

• Commodore 64
• Atari ST
• Apple Macintosh
• IBM PC
• Jay Miner
• AmigaOS
• Demoscene