A family of personal computers originally produced by Commodore Business Machines. Amigas are powerful personal computers that have extra microprocessors to handle graphics and sound generation. The Amiga operating system has had preemptive multitasking since its inception in 1985, 10 years before this feature found its way into Microsoft Windows.
Like older Apple Macintosh computers, the Amiga line of computers is built around the Motorola 680×0 line of microprocessors. Although the Amiga operating system is not compatible with other PC operating systems, such as DOS and Windows, there are emulationprograms that enable an Amiga to run PC, Macintosh, and even UNIX programs.
Faced with financial hardships, Commodore sold the Amiga to a German company called Escom AG. Escom, in turn, also went bankrupt. In March, 1997, Gateway 2000 purchased the Amiga design.
