<s>
The	O
Atari	B-Device
1050	I-Device
was	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
family	I-Device
home	O
computers	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
June	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
compatible	O
with	O
the	O
90kB	O
single-density	O
mode	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Atari	B-Device
810	I-Device
it	O
replaced	O
,	O
and	O
added	O
a	O
new	O
"	O
enhanced	O
"	O
or	O
"	O
dual	O
density	O
"	O
mode	O
that	O
provided	O
130kB	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Based	O
on	O
a	O
half-height	O
Tandon	O
mechanism	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
much	O
smaller	O
than	O
the	O
810	O
and	O
matched	O
the	O
styling	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
600XL	B-Device
and	O
800XL	B-Device
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
launch	O
was	O
further	O
marred	O
by	O
releasing	O
it	O
with	O
the	O
older	O
Atari	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
2.0S	O
,	O
S	O
for	O
"	O
single	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
the	O
130kB	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
not	O
until	O
1987	O
that	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
XF551	I-Device
was	O
introduced	O
,	O
offering	O
both	O
double-density	O
and	O
double-sided	O
capabilities	O
and	O
a	O
double-speed	O
transfer	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
8-bit	O
series	O
was	O
first	O
announced	O
in	O
1978	O
it	O
was	O
often	O
shown	O
with	O
two	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
systems	O
,	O
the	O
810	O
and	O
815	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
810	O
was	O
an	O
entry-level	O
model	O
,	O
supporting	O
only	O
single-density	O
FM	B-Protocol
encoding	I-Protocol
at	O
90kB	O
total	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
815	O
used	O
two	O
double-density	O
MFM	B-Protocol
encoding	I-Protocol
drives	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
large	O
housing	O
,	O
each	O
drive	O
offering	O
180kB	O
of	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
reasons	O
unknown	O
,	O
Atari	O
abandoned	O
these	O
plans	O
and	O
instead	O
introduced	O
only	O
one	O
model	O
,	O
now	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
1200XL	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
it	O
was	O
introduced	O
at	O
the	O
Winter	O
Consumer	O
Electronics	O
Show	O
in	O
December	O
1982	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
shown	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
Atari	B-Device
1010	I-Device
cassette	O
deck	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
1020	B-Device
plotter	B-Operating_System
and	O
1025	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
was	O
no	O
sign	O
of	O
a	O
new	O
floppy	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
and	O
one	O
reviewer	O
noted	O
that	O
when	O
he	O
went	O
looking	O
all	O
he	O
could	O
find	O
was	O
the	O
"	O
old	O
model	O
810	O
clunkers	O
"	O
,	O
speculating	O
that	O
"	O
we	O
will	O
be	O
seeing	O
a	O
new	O
drive	O
from	O
Atari	O
within	O
the	O
next	O
half	O
year	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
prediction	O
came	O
true	O
;	O
when	O
the	O
1200XL	B-Device
finally	O
reached	O
the	O
market	O
in	O
June	O
1983	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
accompanied	O
by	O
the	O
new	O
Atari	B-Device
1050	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
take	O
advantage	O
of	O
the	O
new	O
enhanced	O
density	O
mode	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
Atari	B-Operating_System
DOS	I-Operating_System
was	O
needed	O
,	O
3.0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
1050	O
was	O
described	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
no-frills	O
drive	O
"	O
,	O
especially	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
Rana	O
1000	O
and	O
Indus	B-Device
GT	I-Device
,	O
which	O
offered	O
double-density	O
,	O
various	O
high-speed	O
modes	O
,	O
front-panel	O
displays	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
other	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
added	O
a	O
high-speed	O
mode	O
that	O
had	O
been	O
originally	O
introduced	O
in	O
the	O
Happy	B-Device
810	I-Device
modifications	O
for	O
the	O
810	O
,	O
increasing	O
transfers	O
from	O
19.2kbps	O
to	O
52kbps	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
new	O
XL	O
series	O
machines	O
were	O
launched	O
into	O
the	O
middle	O
of	O
a	O
price	O
war	O
between	O
Commodore	O
International	O
and	O
Texas	O
Instruments	O
,	O
which	O
quickly	O
drove	O
everything	O
but	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
and	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
from	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
1986	O
the	O
new	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
series	O
was	O
doing	O
well	O
in	O
the	O
market	O
and	O
interest	O
in	O
the	O
8-bit	O
platforms	O
waned	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
even	O
further	O
upgraded	O
model	O
,	O
the	O
double-sided	O
,	O
double-density	O
XF551	B-Device
was	O
being	O
teased	O
through	O
this	O
period	O
,	O
but	O
again	O
the	O
drive	O
was	O
not	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
not	O
until	O
1987	O
,	O
six	O
months	O
after	O
1050s	O
had	O
run	O
out	O
,	O
that	O
the	O
XF551	B-Device
finally	O
shipped	O
,	O
and	O
only	O
after	O
the	O
threat	O
of	O
a	O
lawsuit	O
from	O
Nintendo	O
forced	O
their	O
hand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
keeping	O
with	O
most	O
of	O
Tandon	O
's	O
mechanisms	O
,	O
a	O
rotating	O
arm	O
on	O
the	O
front	O
of	O
the	O
drive	O
was	O
used	O
to	O
lock	O
the	O
floppy	B-Device
into	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
a	O
MOS	B-General_Concept
6507	I-General_Concept
as	O
the	O
SIO	O
bus	O
controller	O
,	O
running	O
at	O
1MHz	O
rather	O
than	O
500kHz	O
of	O
the	O
810	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
6507	B-General_Concept
was	O
aided	O
by	O
a	O
MOS	B-Device
6532	I-Device
RIOT/PIA	O
and	O
a	O
6810	O
static	B-Architecture
RAM	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
drive	O
controller	O
was	O
the	O
Western	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
WD2793	I-Device
using	O
MFM	B-Protocol
encoding	I-Protocol
for	O
double-density	O
support	O
,	O
although	O
units	O
built	O
starting	O
in	O
the	O
fall	O
of	O
1985	O
used	O
the	O
WD2797	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
normal	O
FM	B-Protocol
encoded	O
single-density	O
format	O
used	O
by	O
most	O
machines	O
of	O
the	O
late	O
1970s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Normally	O
,	O
when	O
used	O
with	O
MFM	B-Protocol
encoding	I-Protocol
for	O
double-density	O
,	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
bytes	O
per	O
sector	O
was	O
doubled	O
to	O
256	O
and	O
the	O
layout	O
was	O
otherwise	O
unchanged	O
.	O
</s>
