Atari800 vs z26

Atari800 emulates Atari 8-bit computer systems and the Atari 5200 game console. It supports cycle-exact emulation of the 6502 processor and the NMI, POKEY, ANTIC and GTIA components. The emulator handles ATR, XFD, DCM, ATR.GZ and XFD.GZ disk images, with up to eight emulated drives. It can load Atari executable files and BASIC programs, emulate cassette tapes, and save files to the host computer through the H: device. Users can connect real joysticks or emulate paddles, light pens, light guns, mice and trackballs. Atari800 can save screen snapshots as PCX or PNG and write sound output to WAV files. It runs on Linux, Windows, macOS and Android; source and binary packages are available through GitHub releases, with Linux package instructions for Debian and Fedora. The project describes Atari800 as freely distributable, with source under GPL version 2. Its release notes describe NetSIO and FujiNet support for network SIO over UDP. Atari800 is written in C, and a BIOS is required.

z26 is a free, open-source Atari 2600 emulator for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The maker lists version 4.07 as the current SDL2 and OpenGL release for those systems, with Windows and Macintosh executables plus source code. A separate DOS release is listed as version 1.58. Input support covers PC and USB joysticks, gamepads, mouse, and keyboard. A mouse or PC trackball can operate trackball and paddle games; mouse input is also documented for light-gun games, while keyboard input supports driving-controller games. z26 handles several cartridge bank-switching schemes, including standard 8K and 16K, Atari Super-Chip, CBS Ram Plus, and Pitfall II. Digital sound processing has low and high settings. Developer tools include trace mode, scanline counting, and controls for disabling individual graphics objects. The project is licensed under GNU General Public License Version 2. Its listed plan costs nothing, and the license states the program comes without warranty to the extent permitted by law.