The Evolution of Computing: From Assemblers to Multitasking Operating Systems

In the early days of computing, programming was a laborious process. Many programmers would spend hours swapping between assembly languages and writing code, only to give up and buy a hard disk after accumulating enough money. This process was not unique to any one person, but rather a common experience for many who worked with computers in the 1980s.

One such individual was Eric Smith, a Canadian programmer who created the MINT operating system. MINT stood for "Make It Not Too Tiresome," and it marked an important milestone in the development of multitasking operating systems. However, Smith's work on MINT eventually led to his being hired by Atari, which paved the way for more advanced multitasking systems.

The advent of multitasking operating systems revolutionized computing. Programs like Substation, a Doom-like game, showcased the capabilities of these new systems. Despite the limited processing power and memory, games like Substitution were still impressive, with graphics that were texturally rich by today's standards. The slow loading times of these early games are now a nostalgic reminder of the limitations of earlier computing technology.

Another notable innovation was the use of MIDI ports on the Atari. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, and it allowed musicians and composers to create music digitally. The inclusion of MIDI ports on the Atari made it an attractive platform for those working in the music industry. Musicians like Fatboy Slim and those working on film and television soundtracks were able to use the machine to edit their music, record it digitally, and play it back.

The development of programming languages was also a significant aspect of computing in the 1980s. Many programmers used word processing software, which allowed them to write code and create documents with ease. This made it possible for people without extensive computer knowledge to contribute to the development of operating systems.

One notable example is the work of musicians who used the Atari's MIDI ports to create music. Fatboy Slim's music, in particular, has been linked to the Atari, as his team still uses a similar machine today. The integration of MIDI ports into the Atari design made it an ideal platform for musicians and composers, who could use the machine to create and edit their work.

In addition to its musical applications, the Atari was also used for other tasks that require precise timing and control. One notable example is the work of programmers like John Carmack, who developed id Software's Doom engine. While the technical specifications of the original game are impressive by today's standards, it's worth noting that the 8 MHz processor and 1 MB of RAM limited the game to a relatively slow pace.

The Atari's sound chip was also notable for its capabilities. While not as advanced as some other machines like the Commodore 64 or Amiga, it still allowed programmers to create complex sounds and music. However, the inclusion of two MIDI ports on the Atari set it apart from other computers at the time. This feature made it an attractive platform for musicians and composers, who could use the machine to create and edit their work.

The development of multitasking operating systems marked a significant turning point in computing history. From MINT to Magic, various systems emerged that showcased the capabilities of modern computing. While some systems were more advanced than others, they all shared a common goal: to make it easier for people to use computers without sacrificing performance.

In conclusion, the evolution of computing from assemblers to multitasking operating systems was a complex and fascinating process. From Eric Smith's MINT to the Atari's MIDI ports, various innovations emerged that showcased the capabilities of modern computing. While some machines were limited by their technical specifications, they still managed to achieve impressive feats in programming, music composition, and other areas.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enSo it's been a lot of comments on some of the other videosI've done about the computers thatExist in the background of some of the shots and what they are and why I've got them. Well, they areVarious models the Atari, StFamily of Machines which after I'd finished with the zx spectrum in the BBC microwave from about1990 onwards I grew up playing around with and they were a really machine to learn to program onTo do things with but also to do general computing things and even play the odd gameSo what we have here is the initial setup. That was originally created in1985 the Machine was over a period of about a year from about the middle of 1984 after Jack tramel had boughtAtari having left Commodore which he previously started he taken with him, Shiraz ship G fromCommodore who's the creator of the Commodore 64 and they set to work?producing A16-bit machine a sort of Perhaps success you might think the commodore 64Although the way, it works internally was quite differentobviously if you look at the interface on screen you can see that it was also influenced byThe Apple Macintosh it had windows icons mice and pointers, so the machine itself is this box hereIt's got the six eighty thousand processor. Which is the same one as in the Mac over thereit's got the keyboard and on these connections for the mouse on the side and also aJoystick and you could take them and put a second joystick in if you wanted came for the monitorThis is an Atari monitor althoughIt's quite common these machines certainly the second revision could be plugged into a television as wellWhich is how most people probably use them and at this point. They had an external floppy driveWhat would you use if you didn't have that footage olive oil hell?No, no, so the machine couldn't work without a floppy drive. So you had to buy the machine and the floppy driveWas a separate extra until probably about 1987 when they produced machines that looked a bit likeThis which came in what was referred to is the ft air for the sd. Fm although?This is a slightly later revision the ste from about 1990 where they upgraded the graphics and sound?This machine had a floppy drive built into the case as wellBut they also made the mouseJoysticks ports access protectedby placing themUnderneath so you had to pick the machine up every time you wanted to replace them bit of bad design thereI reckon so what I'm going to do is I'm going to swap this machine over for that one so you actually start machine upRun some software and just see what it wasso we've switched over to the more modern machine with the floppy drive built in as I said, this is theEnhanced version the Ste they did some extras with the graphicsBut in general it's for all intensive purposes similar to the original machine one thing that's obviously when you look at itIs it was inspired by the Macintosh the interface is what's called gem. It's developed by digitalresearch you've got your windows icons andpointers so aFloppy and proper Aim with some software in this case Mars 6 eight thousand assemblerAnd we can open up the floppy and we get just like on the Macintosh one immediate differenceIs that whereas the macintosh was black and white?The Atari, StHad two color modes had a low resolution color mode with 16 colors and a slightly higherResolution mode with four colors one of the things that director mel was trying to do you coined the term power without the price inOrder to give people a machine with the same sort of power as the macintosh in fact it was actuallyslightly faster than the original Macintosh with more memory but at a much lower price and in factI think it's safe to say this was the first computer on sale with a megabyte of memory for less thanwhen brought out the one meg versionBut it's useful for various things one of the things that people often use this for was for playing gamesyou've got a variety of games hard disks weren't that common on machines particularly home machines and so you had things on floppy disks andYou would have lots of propertiesSo you get little boxes like these to keep them in the troubleI found with these things is that these things were quite flimsy and you drop them and they would shatter into lots of piecesSo the operators was called toss stood for the operating system although there was someSuggestions it might have been the trommel operating system, and it was cobbled together from Code Written by Digital research forthe interface was also available for the PC as although it didn't takeBecause a small company in Seattle came up with something that they calledIt was single tasking could run one program at a timeso when you finishedAssembling something you would stop that and change something else perhaps to do some graphics or something and then you go back to the assemblerand you end up swapping like crazy to do that until you eventually gave in and saved up enough money and bought aHard disk so the operating system was single tasking people did eventually write multitasking ones as a chap inCanada called Eric Smith who created something called mint. Which stood for mint is not tossUntil he got hired by Atari, and they started using it which chemically cane mint is now tossAnd that was extended into something called multitasks which came out in the early 90sBut there's also one produced by a german called Andreas chrome key called Magic. Which is what I tended to back in the 90sAs I said one of the things people used to use this a lot for was playing games. It's a popular home computer andBy the end of the by the mid-90s the games have become quite sophisticatedThis one. I'm starting here called substation is a sort of doom clone and the graphics aren't quite asTextured as fantastic as you'd go on the PC at the time, but it's still a playable game and still quite impressiveFor what is an 8 Megahertz processor?With when this case it's got 4 meg the game would run with just one megabyte we've been talking the floppy just hasBeen going as it's loading the gaming it's much slowerAnd you saw how long it took the games now loaded and we can startplaying and as I said it's a sort of doom like game andWe can sort of explore this worldthe same thing andThere's no texture mapping but we've got the same sort of exploring thing and the monster just hereYeah, I'm being attacked by Monster II'm terrible at these sort of games, so when you finish making you first let's playYeah, because I can hear sounds and everything as well. Yeah, so there's a to the mulleted volume up there are sounds and thingsone of the things I really liked about this machine is a programmer in80s I'm completely dead now. Is that these machines were complex enough that you could use them as we use machines nowI had word test up publishers and so on and use them for all sort of things up until whileI was at University I was using these things I could log onto the internet connection browse the web and thingsBut they were still simple enough that one person could understand not just the software and how to write programs, but actually how the hardwarewould workNow the sound chip inside it here. It's not bad you can do some really quite cool stuff with itBut it wasn't perhaps as the same with something like the sid chip in the commodore 64 or the sound chips in the amigabut what made the difference with the AtAri was what was on the side onThe side of the Atari unlike pretty much all other machines at the time were two midi ports musical instrument digital interfaceSo the Midi ports is a standard developed in the synthesizer market for musical instrument interface for interconnectingmusical instruments both with each otherBut also with other devices like computers and what this meant was musicians people like fat boy slimsoul2soul seal as well as people writing for film and television could use this machine andEdit their music recorded digitallyNot the sound but the actual notes they were playinginto the computer and edit it on the computer, and then play it back and the software that was developed on here things likeLogic Cubase is still exist today and people are still using them on things like the apple Mac and occasionally a PCYou could get add-ons for other machines that provided Midi, but one nice thing about the way it was implemented on the AtAribasically they duplicated the way the keyboard worked theKeyboard type Tom as opposed to a musical keyboard which meant that the timing of the interrupts and things that controlled the MidiPorts was very very tight and so much more reliable for handling musicBut I think the story goes is that one of the designers?Liked playing music or something or some of them he knew liked playing so they just added them on because they could do it veryvery easilyIt's almost as an afterthought and yet it became the thing the machine was perhapsMost useful you often saw them on top of pops or other things if you look on the extras on the Moulin rougeDVD even probably six or seven years after the machines popular the heydayFatboy Slim's still there using it in the background to create the music for a major motion pictureYou only have this small?Section that you can actually draw into that was until the programmers came alongSo they hacked it not so much that they pushed it beyond. What the designers initially facedAnd for people who hated computers was wonderfulIt clearly loves me\n"