EDITORIAL

What is this special Buyer's Guide issue of START about, anyway?

Products, that's what. Lots and lots of products for your Atari ST.

It's hard to believe how many ST products there really are. Two years ago, the "First Annual ST Shopper's Guide" in the December 1985 Antic was less than three pages long. Last year's "ST Buyer's Guide" took up 26 pages in the Winter 1986 issue of START. This year, the Buyer's Guide gets its own special issue of START. The ST world just keeps growing by leaps and bounds.

If you've owned your Atari ST for a while, you know why that's happened. You've seen Atari rise from its own ashes with the ST computers, and once again become a major force in the personal computer business. The ST is now the bestselling computer in much of Europe, where it's the machine for developing hot software. Here in the U.S., Atari is coming on strong with new machines like the Mega ST computers and the Atari Laser Printer.

If you're a new ST owner, none of that matters to you. What matters is that you now have an exceptionally wide range of software and hardware available to choose from. There's a product for the ST that can handle practically any job you can think of--and a few you haven't thought of, either.

Of course, we can't cover everything. Even taking up an entire magazine, we don't have room to describe every ST program and peripheral. We tried to list the best of the best. If you know about a dynamite product that we missed, let us know--we'll tell our readers about it in the pages of START, the ST Quarterly, and we'll try to include it in next year's special Buyer's Guide issue. In addition, you can read reviews of many of these products in the ST Resource section of our sister magazine Antic.

If you want to get the most out of your ST throughout the year, START is the place to turn. It's the #1 guide to the Atari ST, and each issue is packed with product news, reviews, columns, tricks, tips, and techniques for getting the most out of your ST. Each quarterly issue also offers the START Disk--full of ready-to-run programs, from games and graphics programs to word processors and number crunchers.

A one-year subscription--four quarterly issues including START Disks, plus next year's special Buyer's Guide issue--is only $39.95. That saves you $20 off the newsstand price! Just mail the subscription card you find bound into this magazine, or call toll-free (800) 234-7001, and we'll start your subscription on its way to you.

In the meantime, sit back and explore the world of software and hardware for your ST in the 1987 START ST Buyer's Guide!

--The editors of START

About the cover: The rainbow background was created with the gradient fill and airbrush functions of Spectrum 512. See page 30 for a description of the product and manufacturing information.