amiga

A semi-popular personal computer, created by (among others) Jay Miner, a systems designer at Atari. It was eventually purchased and released by Commodore in 1985, built around the Motorola 680x0 CPU and several custom co-processors. It sported a 32-bit preemptive multitasking operating system known as "Kickstart"; an intuitive GUI "Workbench"; 4096 color high resolution screens; four channel stereo 8-bit audio, and a host of other high performance multimedia features. Due to mismanagement, lack of marketing/R&D, and the general state of seediness that thrived at the post Jack Tramiel Commodore, the Amiga was never a commercial success in the United States, though it did enjoy fame in Europe as a game system. Popular applications for the Amiga included desktop video (which, as the Macintosh did with desktop publishing, the Amiga practically created), audio production, computer art, scientific research, and, of course, video games. Jurassic Park, Babylon 5, and even The Simpsons and Ren and Stimpy used Amigas for special effects in varying degrees, to name jsut a few of the more well-known entertainment products. The Amiga was at the heart of the world's first 32-bit CD video game console, the CD32.