65816 origins?

[Liam Busey <liam1@ix.netcom.com>]

Kevin Savetz wrote:
> 
- snip
> 
> AHS "HISTORY-FLASH!!!!" :
> 
> In other breaking news, the Atari Historical Society has unearthed a
> long buried truth regarding the well known Western Design W65C816
> chip. This chip was NOT designed by Western Design, but in fact in
> Atari's very own Advanced Semiconductor Group (ASG).   Western Design
> was brought in as partner to assist Atari with making sure its new
> 16-bit chip was 6502 Opcode compatible.   The chip was codenamed > "Lynda" after the head of Atari's VLSI group Gary Summers and was > intended to be used in future high-end computer systems to allow Atari > to move forward with more powerful computers, while maintaining > backward compatibility with its existing software base. When Atari ran > into difficult times and development had to be stopped, Western Design > bought the rights to the chip from Atari's ASG for a measly $35,000!  > The Atari Historical Society has been in contact with Western Design's > owner, Mr. Mensche and so far he has made no comments regarding our > inquires to his side of the story. So far 3 individuals from Atari > have confirmed Atari's creation and specifications for the "Lynda > 65816" chip.   The Atari Historical Society is also awaiting receipt > of actually hardcopy's of the paperwork behind the project and will > post copies in our archives once available.
> 
> For links to the newest images and news, please go to the "Whats New @
> Atari History Site" link in the Main Menu and read the latest news
> updates which provide links to all these various projects and more.
> 
> Curt Vendel
> The Atari Historical Society
> www.atari-history.com

Hi everyone. I was just browsing through the Atari newgroups when I
found this post on comp.sys.atari.announce. Does anyone know if there's
some truth to this?

Liam Busey