{"id":37112,"date":"2026-06-26T14:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T18:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/?p=37112"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:34:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T02:34:40","slug":"pc-world-october-1985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/pc-world-october-1985\/","title":{"rendered":"PC World (October 1985)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"\/magazines\/index.php?twg_album=Computer_Magazines%2FPC_World%2F1985-10&amp;twg_show=PC_World_1985-10_001.jpg\" class=\"keychainify-checked\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-748x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"748\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-37113\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-748x1024.jpg 748w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-219x300.jpg 219w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-768x1052.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-1121x1536.jpg 1121w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-1495x2048.jpg 1495w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001-88x120.jpg 88w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_001.jpg 1577w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>PC World was one of the first major PC dedicated magazines. Unlike other early magazines like Byte and Compute!, it exclusively covered the PC. The October 1985 issue includes:<\/p>\n<h1>Getting Started<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The Cookie Cutter<\/b> &#8211; Using spreadsheets for manufacturing flow and inventory.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>PBX: The Network Switch<\/b> &#8211; Using an existing PBX as an alternative to a LAN.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Community<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>World Class PC<\/b> &#8211; Readers pick the best PC products. Some of the products covered here include Borland&#8217;s SideKick, Lotus 1-2-3, the IBM PC AT, the Compaq Portable Computer, the Data General\/One, the Iomega Bernoulli Box, the Hayes Smartmodem 1200, WordPerfect, Crosstalk, Turbo Pascal, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Norton Utilities, and much more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Europe: Accent on Competition<\/b> &#8211; A look at the state of personal computing in Europe.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"\/wordpress\/?attachment_id=37114\" class=\"attachment wp-att-37114 keychainify-checked\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-737x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"737\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-37114\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-737x1024.jpg 737w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-216x300.jpg 216w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-768x1067.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-1106x1536.jpg 1106w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-1474x2048.jpg 1474w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004-86x120.jpg 86w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_004.jpg 1555w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Review<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Flipping Over Ability<\/b> &#8211; A look at Xanaro&#8217;s Ability, an integrated suite of applications featuring a word processor, spreadsheet, database, telecommunications, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Maximum Returns<\/b> &#8211; A look at two tax preparation applications including Tax Machine and Micro-Tax.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><i style=\"font-size: revert; color: initial;\"><b>A 1-2-3 Foursome<\/b> &#8211; Template packages for Lotus 1-2-3 including Bottomline V (financial planning), Key II (database functions), CPA+ (accounting), and more.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><b>On the Trail of The Datavue 25<\/b> &#8211; An evaluation of Quadram&#8217;s Datavue 25. This is a portable PC compatible computer featuring a 4.8 MHz 80C88 CPU, 360K disk drive, and 128K of RAM. It also had a non-backlit 25 line by 80 character LCD display and an IR keyboard.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><b>Every Word a Key<\/b> &#8211; A comparison of two file indexing and search applications, ZyIndex and 4-1-1.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><i><b>Present WordPerfect<\/b> &#8211; A review of the latest version of WordPerfect.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>State of the Art<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>MIDI: The Music Interface<\/b> &#8211; An overview of the MIDI standard which was new at the time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"\/wordpress\/?attachment_id=37115\" class=\"attachment wp-att-37115 keychainify-checked\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-737x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"737\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-37115\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-737x1024.jpg 737w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-216x300.jpg 216w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-768x1067.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-1106x1536.jpg 1106w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-1474x2048.jpg 1474w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005-86x120.jpg 86w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_005.jpg 1555w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 737px) 100vw, 737px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h1>Hands On<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Lawyers Online<\/b> &#8211; An online law library from Lexis and Westlaw.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Retrofit Your PC<\/b> &#8211; A guide to upgrading your PC to an XT, AT, and beyond.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>Departments<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><b>David Bunnell<\/b> &#8211; A tribute to Andrew Flugelman, founding editor of both PC World and Macworld among other things.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>REMark<\/b> &#8211; The &#8220;clean&#8221; computer industry in Silicon Valley turns out to be not so clean.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>John C. Dvorak<\/b> &#8211; Comparing the computer industry to the early automobile industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Letters<\/b> &#8211; Readers write in about hard drive problems with the IBM PC AT, CD sound quality, Samna Word III, and more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>PC World View<\/b> &#8211; IBM is predicted to develop its own line of microprocessors that may end PC compatibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>The Help Screen<\/b> &#8211; Questions answered about installing software on an external hard drive and looking at the previous directory with batch files,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>From the Software Shelf<\/b> &#8211; A first look at new software including Squire (a financial planning simulation), The Advertizer (software for creating a text only slide show), SAT Score Improvement System, and Real Estate Models for the Eighties.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>From the Hardware Shelf<\/b> &#8211; A first look at new hardware including PC Turbocharger (an 8086 replacement for 8088 based PCs), the Kaypro 16 (a luggable computer containing a 10MB hard drive, 256K RAM, and built-in 9-inch monochrome monitor for $3295), and PCTurbo-186 (an accelerator board featuring the 80186).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Password: Communicate<\/b> &#8211; Various telecommunications related items including a look at a FidoNet BBS.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-745x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"745\" height=\"1024\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-37116\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-745x1024.jpg 745w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-218x300.jpg 218w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-768x1056.jpg 768w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-1117x1536.jpg 1117w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-1490x2048.jpg 1490w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376-87x120.jpg 87w, http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/PC_World_1985-10_376.jpg 1571w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PC World was one of the first major PC dedicated magazines. Unlike other early magazines like Byte and Compute!, it exclusively covered the PC. The October 1985 issue includes: Getting Started The Cookie Cutter &#8211; Using spreadsheets for manufacturing flow and inventory. PBX: The Network Switch &#8211; Using an existing PBX as an alternative to a LAN. Community World Class PC &#8211; Readers pick the best PC products. Some of the products covered here include Borland&#8217;s SideKick, Lotus 1-2-3, the IBM PC AT, the Compaq Portable Computer, the Data General\/One, the Iomega Bernoulli Box, the Hayes Smartmodem 1200, WordPerfect, Crosstalk, Turbo Pascal, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Norton Utilities, and much more. Europe: Accent on Competition &#8211; A look at the state of personal computing in Europe. Review Flipping Over Ability &#8211; A look at Xanaro&#8217;s Ability, an integrated suite of applications featuring a word processor, spreadsheet, database, telecommunications, and more. Maximum Returns &#8211; A look at two tax preparation applications including Tax Machine and Micro-Tax. A 1-2-3 Foursome &#8211; Template packages for Lotus 1-2-3 including Bottomline V (financial planning), Key II (database functions), CPA+ (accounting), and more. On the Trail of The Datavue 25 &#8211; An evaluation of Quadram&#8217;s Datavue 25. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[61,66,486,600,2835,3947,2362],"class_list":["post-37112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computer-arcana","category-dos","tag-1980s","tag-66","tag-computers","tag-dos","tag-magazine","tag-pc-world","tag-retrocomputing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37112"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37170,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37112\/revisions\/37170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.megalextoria.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}