has the most extensive catalog
of
programs
for
Atari-brand home computers.
In fact, Atari markets many unique programs
through
the
Atari
Program Exchange
(APX).
These programs are created
by
Atari users and
are created internally
by
Atari, also. The APX dis-
tributes this user-written software
by
mail order
and through many Atari retailers. The
APX holds
quarterly contests
to
pick the best programs de-
veloped
by
Atari users, then publishes a quar-
terly catalog
that
lists the programs available.
You
can obtain many
good
programs
through
theAPX.
In
addition
to
Atari, other sources
of
programs
are companies
that
make software for
many
kinds
of
computers.
No
single
independent
soft-
ware house,
as
they
are called, has
as
many
titles
exclusively
for Atari computers
as
Atari
itself. But
when
you
count up all
of
these companies and
the
total programs
they
produce
for
Atari com-
puters,
they
comprise a large percent
of
the
commercial programs available for
your
system.
Users' groups and computer magazines are
sometimes
good
sources
of
inexpensive, excel-
lent
programs. Because much
of
this
software
is
not
copyrighted,
it
can easily be copied and/
or
changed
by
anyone
who
uses
it. This
type
of
software
is
called
public
domain
software
.
You
will learn more
about
this type
of
software
in the
next chapter.
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