Atari800MacX vs EMU7800

Atari800MacX is a free macOS application that emulates Atari 8-bit computers and the Atari 5200. It supports the Atari 400/800, 1200XL, XL/XE, XEGS and Atari 5200 systems, with cartridge and machine support, joystick input, full-screen or windowed display and hard-drive emulation. Save states and controller remapping are supported. A native Cocoa interface supplies preferences, menus, file associations and help, while libSDL is bundled in the application package. The emulator needs ROM image files from original Atari systems; those files are not included. Version 6.0.1 is the latest release listed, dated January 22, 2022, and requires OS X 10.12 or newer. Version 6.0.0 added support for ARM-based M1 Macs. Listed updates include synchronized sound, a graphical debugger, VAPI and PRO images, copy and paste, configuration files and a new hard-drive emulation scheme. Downloads include the application and source code. Development is described as sporadic due to work commitments.

EMU7800 is a free emulator for the Atari 7800 ProSystem and the backward-compatible Atari 2600 Video Computer System. It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS and supports saved game states. The maker says it runs on Windows 11, and its Windows installer does not need administrator permission. Windows users can connect Stelladaptor, 2600-daptor, 2600-daptor II, and Xbox 360 controllers. Saved game state is kept in the user profile at %USERPROFILE%\.emu7800savedgames. The project lists Linux ARM and ARM64 targets using SDL3; Linux systems may need SDL3, SDL3 image, and SDL3 TTF installed. Its macOS x64 and ARM64 targets are described as experimental and untested. Building from source requires the .NET 10.0 SDK and Git. The project was originally completed in 2003 as a .NET programming exercise, is licensed under GPL-2.0, and is maintained as a non-commercial endeavor. The current release listed is v5.7.0.0, released December 31, 2025.