As many of you know, the lead designer of the Amiga (1985) was also the lead designer of the Atari 8-bit computers (1979).

Here's some more information about the beginnings of the Amiga in 1983 and the relationship between Atari and the Amiga:

http://www.atarimuseum.com/articles/mickey.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_8...omputer_models

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga

As you examine the two architectures, note the numerous similarities, including:
- custom ICs with multiple tasks per chip (including handling ports and drives)
- support for simultaneous display of multiple screen resolutions and palettes
- expanded color palettes through the use of hues derived from core color set
- 'plug-n-play' capabilities
- sprite support
- playfield and scrolling features
- Display list graphics approach
- DMA block diagrams