30+ Years of Computing
Tags: atari, basic, history, mac
Published: 2018-02-09 15:25:39

---
title: 30+ Years of Computing
published: true
description: The various computers I have used over the years
tags: Atari, BASIC, history, mac
---

For fun, here is a list of the computers I've used over the years:

* [Atari 400](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family) (1983): My first computer with 16K of RAM. I learned [BASIC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_BASIC) on it and for several months couldn't save the programs I wrote because I couldn't afford the [cassette drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_computer_peripherals#1010)!
* [Atari 800XL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_family#Newer_XL_machines) (1984): A whopping 64K of RAM and built-in BASIC. I continued programming in BASIC and added [Pascal](https://www.atarimagazines.com/v4n7/kyanpascal.html) and [C](https://www.atarimagazines.com/v7n7/LightspeedC.html). Plus I got a [180K disk drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8-bit_computer_peripherals#1050)!
* [Atari 1040ST](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_ST#STF_and_STFM_models) (1988): I bought this when I started college. It had an incredible 1MB of RAM, a super-sharp 640x480 black and white CRT display, and a 720K disk drive. I primarily programmed it using [GFA BASIC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFA_BASIC), [Personal Pascal](http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-st-personal-pascal_29326.html) and various [C compilers](https://sourceforge.net/projects/sozobon/).
* [Atari Mega STe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_MEGA_STE) (1992): With 4MB RAM, a 16Mhz CPU and a 105MB hard drive this was one tricked-out Atari! This was a great system that I wish I had kept because it would be worth quite a bit today. During this time I made and sold some shareware, distributed on [Delphi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_(online_service)) and [GEnie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEnie).
* Generic AT&T PC (1995): Alas, Atari went out of business so I eventually switched to a PC. I couldn't bring myself to use Windows 3.1 (or Windows 95) at the time so I specifically purchased a machine that was compatible with [OS/2 Warp] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2#1994.E2.80.931996:_The_.22Warp.22_years), which I installed from something like 20 floppy disks. This bad boy had the first Pentium CPU, which ran at around 60Mhz (and had the [infamous floating point bug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug)). At this point I started my professional career, programming in [Advanced Revelation](https://www.revelation.com/index.php/products/advanced-revelation).
* (1996 to 2001) When OS/2 didn't get traction, I eventually built my own PCs to run [Windows NT 4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT). I never used any of the DOS-based versions of Windows. During this time I was primarily programming using [PowerBuilder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBuilder).
* [PowerMac G4 466Mhz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_466.html) (2001): With the release of OS X, I purchased my first Macintosh. I immediately switched it to boot into Mac OS X and never used Mac OS 9. This was quite a departure for me as I had been using Windows for years as a PowerBuilder developer and was now starting as a .NET developer. But I soon found I also wanted to write programs for the Mac. Not wanting to use [CodeWarrior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CodeWarrior), I instead started using [Xojo](http://www.xojo.com) (REALbasic at the time).
* [PowerMac G4 Dual 1Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g4/specs/powermac_g4_1.0_dp_mdd.html) (2002): This was my first dual processor machine. It was incredibly noisy with lots of small, loud fans. Eventually Apple actually did a "recall" of sorts and replaced the power supplies with ones with quieter fans.
* [iMac Core Duo 2.0Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_cd_2.0_20.html) (2006): I bought the original Intel iMac the day that Parallels desktop was announced so that I could easily run Windows XP (for .NET development) on my Mac. This was a refurb and came with a better video card than I ordered, a nice surprise. Because it was a 32-bit Intel CPU it had a limited useful lifespan for me as it only could support a maximum of 2GB RAM.
* [MacBook Pro 15" Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-15-santa-rosa-specs.html) (2008): I bought my first laptop when I started doing full-time consulting. Also a refub, it came with a larger hard drive than I ordered. I primarily used it for coding with [Xojo](http://www.xojo.com)) and .NET. Eventually this was upgraded to its max of 6GB of RAM, a 7200rpm internal HD and an SSD in the ExpressCard slot. It had its Nvidia card die out of warranty, but it was [covered by Apple as part of its Nvidia replacement program](https://www.macworld.com/article/1154456/laptop-computers/nvidiagpu-macbookpro.html).
* [Mac Pro Quad Core 2.93 Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_pro/specs/mac-pro-quad-core-2.93-early-2009-nehalem-specs.html) (2010): This is my current setup which has had many upgrades to SSDs, 32GB RAM, a 3.2Ghz CPU, and an Nvidia GeForce 750ti for 4K video. It remains very fast and powerful. I use it for [Xojo software development](http://developer.xojo.com), video editing, virtual machines and anything else I can throw at it. I am eager to see what Apple eventually releases as the next Mac Pro, hopefully in 2018.
* [MacBook Air 11" 1.4Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/specs/macbook-air-core-2-duo-1.4-11-late-2010-specs.html) (2010): This was the first of the "new model" Air form factor that is still used today. It was pretty slow, with only 2GB RAM and a sluggish Intel CPU.
* [MacBook Air 11" 1.3Ghz](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/specs/macbook-air-core-i5-1.3-11-mid-2013-specs.html) (2014): I purchased this as a refurb to replace the 2010 Air and it ended up coming with 8GB RAM instead of the 4GB I ordered. Since I am not remote often, this still works fine for my purposes, but the screen is pretty bad.


The Atari 400 I had in 1983 had 16K RAM and a 2Mhz CPU. My Mac Pro has 32GB of RAM (33,554,432K) and a 3.2Ghz CPU (3200Mhz). That is amazing progress in 35 years! What will the next 30+ years bring?

I’d love to hear other’s experiences. Share your computing history in the comments.