Atari800MacX vs Stella

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.

Stella is free, open-source software for playing Atari 2600 VCS games on a computer. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux under the GNU General Public License. It supports A26, BIN, and ROM images, including files in ZIP archives, as well as Supercharger games. Atari and other controllers can be emulated with a keyboard, joystick, or mouse; real Atari controllers can be used through Stelladaptor and 2600-daptor devices. Emulation features include cycle-exact TIA video and sound, stereo support, and dynamic sound resampling. Stella provides save and load for system states, automatic timeline recording, and high-score saving. Display support covers NTSC, PAL, and SECAM, with customizable CRT-style filters and bezels. A debugger offers static analysis using the Distella disassembler and runtime analysis of code, graphics, and data. The project names homebrew developers among its intended users. General requirements include SDL 2.0.14 or later and 256 MB of RAM for emulation; stable downloads include Windows binaries, a macOS disk image, an Ubuntu 22.04 DEB package, and source code for all systems.