Compute!’s PC (January 1988)

Source: Compute!’s PC – Issue Number 3 – January 1988

Compute! was a popular multi-format computer magazine that was published throughout much of the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to the main title, they published several other machine specific magazines, some more popular and longer lasting than others. Compute!’s PC Magazine is one such publication. It was dedicated to DOS based PCs and included a disk but this made it relatively expensive.

The January 1988 issue of Compute!’s PC Magazine includes the following:

Software On Disk

The Best of the Boards: PC-Art – A full featured, easy to use drawing program that requires an IBM PC, PCjr, XT, AT or compatible; DOS 2.0+; 256K RAM; CGA or EGA graphics; and a printer (optional). It is written in Quick BASIC and was available on many BBS systems to download in addition to the disk included with this issue.

EZDOS – This program enhances DOS with 50 new commands and additional features. It requires a PC with at least DOS 2.0 and 256K of RAM.

RoboKey – This program allows you to automate DOS operations as well as virtually any DOS application program.

Wrimage – A customizable word guessing game.

Keyboard Lock-Out – A security program that blanks the screen and locks out the keyboard. I guess you could think of this a a predecessor to the screen saver.

Burger Blaster – An arcade style game that’s sort of a cross between Burger Time and Space Invaders.

Features & Columns

The Editor’s View – Details about what is on the disk and the decision to remove the menu program.

PC News & Notes – New products include: Microsoft’s Mach 20 speed-up card (converts XT into a 286 based AT); Microsoft’s Bookshelf on CD-ROM which includes World Almanac, American Heritage Dictionary, Roget’s Thesaurus, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Houghton Mifflin Usage Alert and Spelling Verifier, and more; the Toshiba T1000 laptop featuring 512K of RAM, 3.5″ disk drive, and more; the Toshiba 386 based T5100; and the Compaq Deskpro 368/20 and Portable 386. Plus attempts to ban rental software by Congress, reduced prices on the Inboard 80386 accelerator (now $1,595), Lotus removes disk based copy protection on the latest version of Lotus 1-2-3, and more.

Reader’s Feedback – Letters from readers about the IBM PCjr, DOS in ROM, programming languages, saving BASIC programs and more.

Getting Down to Business: Why Everyone Should Have Keyboard Macros – Creating and using keyboard Macros for WordStar, Lotus 1-2-3 and other applications.