Byte (November 1985)

Source: Computer & Video Game Magazines – Byte – November 1985 – – Cover

Byte was one of the more successful early computer magazines. It’s popularity faded away as coverage moved away from more technical subjects and computer became more of a commodity item. It was definitely going strong in 1985 though. The November 1985 issue has over 500 pages and includes:

Features

Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: The World’s Smallest 1200-bps Modem – Customizing a modem to include answering service, speech synthesis, and more.

Programming Project: An Assembler For VM2 – Creating an assembler for the VM2 virtual machine presented in the previous issue.

Programming Project: Extending Turbo Pascal – Five libraries to extend Turbo Pascal including routines for input/output, integer handling, string replacement, and more.

CD-ROMs and Their Kin – Some of the latest developments in optical storage.

High and Lows of Parameter Passing – Accessing assembly-language routines from Pascal and FORTRAN programs.

Programming Insight: Game-Paddle Control Linearity Test – Testing paddle controllers by measuring resistance with the Apple II.

Themes

The Amiga’s Custom Graphics Chips – An interview with Jay Miner, designer of the Amiga’s custom graphics chips.

Raster Operations – Methods for combining text and graphics, specifically using the PMR 96016 chip.

Moving Pictures – System design for rea-time graphics performance using double buffering.

High-Resolution Printer Graphics – Creating high-res printer output by addressing the individual dots used to generate characters.

The PD7281 Processor – A detailed look at a chip designed for high-speed parallel processing of images.

Reviews

The Data GeneralOne – A portable computer featuring a 80C88 CPU, 256KB of RAM (expandable to 512K), one or two 720K 3.5″ disk drives, MS-DOS 2.11 and more starting at $2995.

Sanyo MBC-775 – A portable PC compatible computer featuring a 8 MHz 8088 CPU, 256K (expandable to 640K) RAM, two 360K 5.25″ disk drives, and more for $2599.

Five C Compilers for the Macintosh – An overview of C Compilers for the Macintosh including Aztec C, Hippo-C, Mac C, Megamax C, and Software Macintosh C.

Magic/L – A review of this development system that is a descendant of FORTH.

IBM’s Professional Graphics System – A high-resolution 12-inch color monitor (640×480) and matched graphics controller card capable of 256 colors, and various software for the low price of $1295 (display) + $2995 (graphics card).

Juki’s 6300 Daisy-Wheel Printer – Daisy wheel printers worked like typewriters so they produced high quality output but they were slow and couldn’t really do graphics. This one would cost you $995.

Kernel

Computing at Chaos Manor: Old Favorites and New Ones – Discussion of the ARPANET, BIX, Zeke, SideKick, SuperKey, the Kaypro 286i, and more.

According to Webster: Memories – Discussion of Megamax C, future Macintosh computers, the Amiga, the Atari ST, optical disks, and more.

BYTE U.K.: Living C-Personal – A look at this real-time C debugging environment.

BYTE Japan: Comparing Fujitsus – A look at the Fujitsu FM-16B, a sort of update to the Fujitsu FM-11BS, as well as the NEC PC-9801M2.

Editorial: A Tale of Four Covers – This issue was available with four covers meant to emphasize computer graphics capabilities.

Microbytes – Apple introduces a RAM expansion card for the Apple II, 3.5″ disk drive for the Apple II, ImageWriter II printer, Hard Disk 20 for the Mac, and Apple Personal Modem and more; Intel starts selling samples of 80386 processors; and more.

Letters – Letters from readers about computing probabilities, parallel computing, star maps, Dvorak keyboards, and more.

What’s New – A look at new products including new tools for building expert systems, A FORTH development system for the Atari ST, Paradox database, a 256K expansion for the TRS-80 Color Computer, SideKick for the Macintosh, a bubble memory subsystem from Intel, and more.

Ask BYTE – Questions answered about monitor problems, books on business systems, PC-DOS on the Zenith Z-150, XT compatibility on the IBM PC, upgrading RAM on a Macintosh, and more.

Book Reviews – Books reviewed here include Macintosh Revealed Volume One: Unlocking The Toolbox, Advanced Programmer’s Guide Featuring dBASE III, 16-Bit Modern Microcomputers: The Intel i8086 Family, and Statistical Programs in BASIC.