This video tries to give a general background of the original idea behind Atari GDOS and how to setup a boot scenario to load the necessary GDOS program, device drivers and fonts. It is the first in a series of videos to bring a little clarity to those people who haven't dealt with GDOS before.

When the Atari ST was released, it didn't have enough space on the OS to include the routines and drivers to use scalable fonts for certain programs. So GDOS (Graphical Device Operating System) came out a bit later in the form of disks.

The disks contained the basic program to run font management, the initial fonts themselves and a few of the device drivers (printers, plotters, screens, etc.). So when you booted the ST, with a particular program, you would have added the necessary GDOS files and they would load first.

Since the initial release of GDOS, there have been a few revision. Some were by Atari themselves, but others by developers who created software and loading systems to improve both appearance and speed.

Rather than creating videos on each of the GDOS variations, I'll be releasing another video about GPLUS, what I consider the best solution for your ST.