Returning to Retro Computing

Back to Atari

End of an Era

By 1995 I had been working professionally as a software developer for about a year, mostly doing DOS development, but using Microsoft Windows (and OS/2).

In 1995, my poor Mega STe was showing its age. Although it was maxed out with 4MB RAM, its 16Mhz CPU was falling way behind current computers. At this point I primarily used it with Usenet to sell (manually, auction-style, pre-eBay) retro video game stuff I would buy at local flea markets and pawn shops¹.

Boy, those were the golden ages for that stuff. I was able to get things such as the Vertex, Coleco Adam, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar and much more for dirt cheap. If only I’d kept any of them.

But there was a newer game I really wanted: Doom. So in February 1995, I drove to New Hampshire to State Street Discount and bought myself a PC. Specifically an AT&T PC with the original Pentium processor (60 Mhz)². It came with Windows 3.1, but I made sure the specs supported OS/2 Warp, which I also bought and quickly installed instead³.

I brought my Mega STe to my Dad to sell. I don’t remember the specifics, but I think I got around $500 for it.

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