Atari 800

manipulate
the computer.
These
Atari Came
Car-
tridge
programs produce
full color,
animated
displays
and complex
electronic
decision
making.
Each
ATARI 800
game is designed to
be easy
for
you
to
learn but
diff
icult
to
master.
You select
the
computer's
role...either
as
your
opponent
or
your
playf
ield...for
many hours of
innovative
leisure.
Atari
Application
Cartridges
have
a more
serious
purpose.
They are tools
for
increasing
your
speed
and
accuracy
in
handling
words and
numbers.
Atari
programmers
identify
and
analyze
problems
of
in-
terest
such
as checkbook
balancing
or
mailing
list
sorts
and updates.
They design
a
generalized
solu-
tion
to
each
problem,
then
program
that
solution
in
machine
language
and
record
it
in
the
cartridge.
When
you
insert
the cartridge,
the
ATARI
800
repeats this
preprogrammed solution,
substituting
your
data
from the
keyboard
into
its equations.
Although all cartridges
operate
in the same
general
fashion, each
cartridge
causes
the
ATARI
800 to
respond
in a different
way.
You will
need
to
read
the
'instruction
sheet
which
accompanies
each
car-
tridge
for specif
ic details.
Keep these
instruction
sheets
and
your
personal
notes on the
operation
of
the
ATARI 800
together
with this
manual
in a
3-ring
binder.
USINC
THE
ATARI
BOO
The
ATARI 800 Basic System
is very much
like an
empty
sheet of
paper.
lt has
the
potential
for an
unlimited
number of
applications.
But that
poten-
tial
remains dormant
until
you
add the software.
ATARI 800 software
consists of an
integrated
series
of
coded instructions
called
programs.
The founda-
tion
programs
are
supplied
in
the
Operating
System
ROM Module.
They activate
the
keyboard, con-
trollers
and the screen
display.
These
programs
con-
trol the
flow of all
information within the com-
puter.
To use the
ATARI 800,
you
add
a second
level of
software.
This
can
be done
by inserting a cartridge
into
a cartridge
slot.
The software transforms
the
ATARI
800 into a special
purpose
machine
for
play-
ing a
game,
presenting
educational
material,
manipulating
information or
entering
programs
through the
keyboard.
The
program
recorder and
the
optional
floppy disk
drive
provide
additional
methods for loading
programs
into
the
ATARI 800.
Atari Came Cartridges,
designed
by
Atari's staff of
professional
programmers,
contain
programs
that
are
permanently
recorded
in a
ROM within the car-
tridge.
They control
the computer
in machine
language, the
most
intricate level on
which to