Source: Compute! – Issue Number 102 – November 1988
Compute! covered popular home computers of the day. In the early days it covered exclusively 6502 based computers. By this time, they were covering all popular computers in the home which included The Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS based machines of all types, Commodore 64, Apple II, and maybe others. The November 1988 issue includes:
Features
- Communicate by Design – An introduction to desktop publishing including info on where to get more training.
- Print That Page – An overview of six printers recommended by Compute! including the Epson LQ-850, Star NB24-10, Okidata Microline 390, NEC Pinwriter P5200, Hewlett-Packard DeskJet, and Apple ImageWriter LQ.
- How Are Computers Made? – A photographic tour of the Tandy Business Products Plant in fort Worth, Texas, specifically following the production of a Tandy 4000.
- Conversations – An interview with Tom Clancy focusing on some of the translations of his books to games such as Hunt for Red October and Red Storm Rising.
Reviews
- Fast Looks – A brief look at recent releases including Sports Scheduler (software for organizing sports leagues) for the Apple II and DOS; and Cosmic Relief (an animated puzzle game) for the Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64.
- NewsMaster II – A page layout program from Unison World for DOS.
- Springboard Publisher – A desktop publishing program for the Apple II.
- Street Sports Soccer – Part of Epyx’s Street Sports Series. According to this, Streets Sports Soccer is available for the Commodore 64, DOS, and Apple IIgs with an Apple II version coming in the Fall.
- Wasteland – The classic post-apocalyptic RPG from Electronic Arts for the Apple II and Commodore 64 with a DOS version planned later. This was the predecessor to Fallout.
- Math Blaster Plus – An educational program for the Apple II and DOS with the goal of helping teach math to those in grades 1-6.
- New World Writer – A DOS word processor that includes a spell checker, thesaurus and outliner.
Compute! Specific
- MS-DOS – Extend-a-Name, a memory resident program designed to allow you to use filenames greater than eight character filename plus three letter extension allowed by DOS; Microsoft an IBM announces MS-DOS 4.0; starting programs from batch files and more.
- 64 & 128 – The possible demise of the Commodore 64/128 as software publishers de-emphasize releases for that platform; Bards Tale III by Electronic Arts released for the C64; Reach for the Stars released by SSG/Electronic Arts; Bubble Ghost released by Accolade; Metrocross released by Epyx; and more.
- Apple II – Apple IIgs version of Pirates released by MicroProse; Computer Learning News (a newspaper aimed at kids 8-12) soon to debut as a monthly publication; the Apple IIgs gets a software update (including GS/OS 2.0); and more.
- Amiga – New programming tools released including C.A.P.E. (assembler), MetaScope (debugger), and DSM (disassembler); Commodore introduces high resolution monochrome monitor; V.I.P. anti-virus software released; and more.
- Macintosh – Claris buys FileMaker 4; Disk Tools Plus released by Electronic Arts; Thunder (interactive spell-checker) released; Word Perfect 1.01 released; and more.
- Atari ST – Navarone ST SCAN (video digitizer) released; I.B. drive released (5.25″ disk drive for Atari ST that adds IBM PC compatible disk capabilities); Drive Master released (a cable that allows switching between disk drives); and more.
Columns
- Editorial License – A criticism of personal computer provincialism.
- News & Notes – Apple released the Apple IIc Plus; DOS 4.0 released; Kyodai and Broderbund join forces to release Japanese games in the U.S.; and more.
- Gameplay – Orson Scott Card examines Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
- Impact – Why paper usage continues to rise in the era of the “paperless” office.
- Discoveries – Resources for using older computers such as the TRS 100/200, Plus/4, Timex Sinclair, VIC-20, and others for various purposes such as education.
- Levitations – Finding bargains on old computer hardware that might still fit your needs. CP/M laptops, a TP-10 daisy wheel printer, the HP Portable, and other items are mentioned here.
- Letters – Letters from readers about using U.S. computer equipment in Europe, the NEC V20 CPU, home business possibilities, and more.
- New Products! – A brief look at new products including Zork Zero (the first Zork game with graphic puzzles), an updated version of Tree86 (a DOS enhancement), a keyboard for disabled individuals, new 9-pin dot-matrix printers from Epson (FX-850 and FX-1050), new Viking hi-res monochrome monitor for the Amiga, Warlock (arcade/action game for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, and Apple IIGS), and more.
…and more!
