• Tag Archives 1980s

  • PC World (November 1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    PC World was probably the best general PC specific magazine (though I preferred Boot/Maximum PC when it came along much later). The late 1980s and early 1990s were probably peak for PC World, at least in terms of page count. The November 1988 issue of PC World includes:

    Review

    • LAN E-Mail: Power to the Work Group – A look at four LAN e-mail packages including cc:Mail 1.2, The Network Courier 1.0, InBox/PC 1.24, and Da Vinci eMail 1.2.
    • In Search of Forgotten Text – A look at four programs for searching for text on your hard drive including ZyIndex Professional 3.0, Memory Lane 2.0, SearchExpress 2.30, Gofer 1.0, and The Text Collector 1.5.
    • Project Management – For Professional Only – A comparison of five project management packages including SuperProject Expert 1.1, Time Line 3.0, Micro Planner 6, Harvard Total Project 2.0, and Microsoft Project 4.0.
    • Multitasking Without OS/2 – A look at four operating environments that are alternatives to OS/2 for multitasking. They use the virtual 8086 mode of the 80386. These operating environments include Windows/386 2.1, Desqview 2.01, VM/386 1.1, and PC-MOS/386 2.10.
    • The Hardware Shelf – Reviews of: The Micro 1 Tower 386-20MHz featuring a 20 MHz 386 CPU, 2 MB RAM, and 110 MB hard drive for $4424; SnapShot, an “image processing system” capable of capturing images from video sources such as video cameras, VCRs, live TV broadcasts, etc.; HP PaintJet (a color inkjet printer), Zoom HC 2400 (internal 2400bps modem), and Panasonic KX-P4450 Laser Printer.
    • The Software Shelf – Reviews of: Sprint 1.0 (word processor), VP-Planner Plus 2.0 (spreadsheet), PFS: First Publisher 2.0 (desktop publishing), GrandView 1.0 (personal information manager), EasyCAD 2 2.05, and HB-Browser (utility for previewing spreadsheet and word processor files).

    News

    • Top of the News – Clone makers challenge IBM’s micro channel architecture with EISA; IBM introduces 386 based PS/2 Model 30; postscript capabilities to be added to HP’s LaserJet; Ashton-Tate releases dBASE compiler; Compaq introduces laptop and the smaller footprint Deskpro 386/20E; and more.
    • Preview – A first look at new 386 and 286 based laptops including the NEC ProSpeed 80386, ProSpeed 80286, and UltraLite, Compaq SLT 286. Plus an early looks at the Compaq 386/20E.
    • Industry Outlook – Oracle’s SQL; more PS/2 clones unlikely; Peachtree reintroduces accounting software; and more.
    • Product Outlook – A look at new products including SuperCalc (spreadsheet), Fast Talk (communications program), The Picture File (art program), SmallTalk/V 286 (programming), Paragon 286V (PC), 386 Motherboard/AT (386 motherboard upgrade from Hauppage for PC ATs) and more.
    • Briefly Noted – A brief look at new machines from Tandy including the 3000 NL, 1000 TL, and 1000 SL.

    Feature

    • Beyond E-Mail: The Groupware Potential – A new type of network software includes features such as conference calls, electronic meetings, and more.
    • OS/2 Extends Its Reach – OS/2 Extended Edition adds additional networking and communications features.
    • Buyers’ Guide: Accounting Tools of the Trades – A round-up of a ton of accounting software packages including one specialized for point-of-sale, construction, medical, and more.

    How To

    • How Hard Is Your Money Working? – A guide to determining your return on investment and if your investments are performing sufficiently.

    Perspectives

    • Richard Landry – The industry standard EISA bus strikes back against IBM’s proprietary MCA architecture.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about IBM’s licensing, shareware, the future of computers, PagePerfect problems, Epson dot-matrix printers, and more.
    • David Bunnell – The customers’ relationship to software companies.
    • Stewart Alsop – A look at the various GUIs available with an emphasis on Microsoft’s Presentation Manager.
    • On IBM – A look at what IBM can learn from its “successes”, including the PS/2.
    • Another Angle – Cutting through the jargon of the PC industry.

    Departments

    • Consumer Watch – Even back in the day, unscrupulous vendors would misleadingly overclock systems. For example, it was not uncommon for a vendor to sell 25 MHz 386 that was really an overclock 20 MHz part.
    • The Upgrade Path – A look at a device called the Chargecard that plugs into the CPU socket between the CPU and motherboard of a 286 based system to allow it to address up to 16MB of RAM.
    • The Help Screen – Answers to questions about tape backup drives, twisted pair cables, keyboards and the cent symbol, .BAK files, cleaning floppy drives, and more.
    • Tech Notes – A guide to how multitasking works in OS/2.
    • Sourcebooks – Reviews of Alfred Glossbrenner’s Master Guide to CompuServe and Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • Byte (April 1986)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    I’m not sure exactly when Byte peaked in terms of page count but at nearly 500 pages, this issue from April 1986 has to be among the largest. Contents form this issue includes:

    Features

    • Ciarcia’s circuit Cellar: Computer On Guard! – An amusing tale of security taken a bit too far.
    • Programming Project: A Simple Windowing System, Part 2: Implementation – The second and final part of a programming project implementing a windowing system. This part includes pseudocode and code samples.
    • Build The Emulo-8 – This project guides you through building a device that will let you develop EPROM programs in RAM.
    • Making UNIX Secure – A guide to securing UNIX against known methods of attack.
    • Data Design – A guide to designing data files.
    • Programming Insight: DRAGON – A FORTH program to recursively draw a dragon curve on the Macintosh.

    Theme: Number Crunching

    • A Micro-Based Supercomputer – An article about a distributed computer system being build at Columbia University that is made with microcomputer like nodes and special math coprocessing chips.
    • Computer Approximations – Techniques for quickly and accurately approximating mathematical functions.
    • The Inversion of Large Matrices – A solution for inverting matrices on a computer.
    • The Runge-Kutta Methods – Approximating ordinary differential equations.
    • The ATOMCC Toolbox – Using the Taylor series to solve ordinary differential equations.

    Reviews

    • The Panasonic Exec Partner – A “transportable” computer featuring a gas-plasma display and built-in thermal transfer printer. Specs include a 4.77/7.16 MHz 8086-2 CPU, 256K RAM, and two 360K floppy drives for $2595 or $3795 with optional 10-megabyte hard drive.
    • KAMAS – An outline processor and programming language for Z80 based CP/M computers.
    • Professional Debug Facility and Advanced Fullscreen Debug – Two DOS based debuggers.
    • MicroTSP – A PC conversion of a mainframe program used for time series statistical regression.
    • PCTeX and MicroTeX – Two typesetting programs for DOS.

    Kernel

    • Computing at Chaos Manor: Jerry’s Best of 1985 Awards – Some items in the awards list include Excel, FTL Modula-2, the Kaypro 286i, the Hardcard, the OmniTel 1200-Baud Internal Modem, Ancient Art of War, and Wizardry. Also mentioned are the Amiga, Atari ST, and more.
    • BYTE U.K.: Xenophilia – Apricot announces the XEN, their answer to IBM’s 286 based AT. While it shipped with Windows it was not 100% PC compatible and required a BIOS emulator which ran more slowly to run a lot of PC software.
    • According to Webster: Clearing the Backlog – A look at a variety of software products including TML Pascal, Max C, M-Disk, Soft Spool, MichTron Utilities, Mudpies, Flip Side, Mirage, DEGAS, and Deluxe Paint.
    • Applications Only: A Couple of Winners – A look at two software packages including Mirror (a Crosstalk XVI clone) and Framework II.
    • Microbytes – New version of Visi On on the way; UNIX V port coming to 80286/80386 based computers; Modula-2 for the Apple II; Turbo Pascal for the Mac; and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about visual copyrights, robots, ZBasic benchmarks, conferencing systems, and more.
    • What’s New – A brief look at new products including Apollo’s Domain Series 3000 Personal Workstation, CD-ROM based encyclopedias, PCBoard Designer for the Atari ST, Harvard Presentation Graphics, MacMovies animation system for the Macintosh, Drafix I CAD software for the PC, Synthestra MIDI sequencer and controller for the Apple II, and more.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about EERPROMs, light sabers, home control systems and occupancy detection, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of The FFT: Fundamentals and Concepts, Designing Digital Filters, Macintosh Revealed Volume Two: Programming With the Toolbox, and Exploring The Pick Operating System.

    …and more!


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  • Byte (February 1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Among the mainstream computer magazines at the time, Byte tended to be the most technical. Unlike PC specific magazines such as PC Magazine and PC World, Byte also covered non-PC systems, at least for as long as they were viable. The February 1988 issue includes:

    Products in Perspective

    • What’s New – The MPP 286 line of computers, The Toshiba T3200 portable, the CompuPro Mp 200 series of parallel processing multiuser systems, 2400bps laptop modems, the CDR-3500 Hitachi CD-ROM drive, Commodious 20 MB hard drive for PS/2 Model 25, WM-S500 WORM drive (can store 2 GB on each side of a 12-inch disc), GigaStore storage device that uses VHS to store up to 2.5 GB, and lots more.
    • Short Takes – Short reviews of the QuickShare (PC card designed to share a Mac hard drive), Lotus Agenda, Word 4.0, Tax Preparer, Ask Dan About Taxes, and more.

    Cover Story

    • Multiscan Color Monitors – An overview of fourteen monitors including the Conrac 7250, Electrohome ECM 1310, 1312, and 1910, Logitech Autosync, Magnavox MultiMode, Mitsubishi Diamond Scan, Nanao Flexscan, NEC MultiSync Plus, NEC MultiSync XL, Princeton Graphic Ultrasync, Sony Multiscan, Taxan Multivision, and Thompson Ultrascan.

    Reviews

    • Compaq Flexes Its Muscles – A look at Compaq’s 386/20. It included a 20 MHz 386 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, 1.2 MB 5.25″ floppy drive, and a 60 MB hard drive (or larger). It was the fastest PC you could get at the time but expensive starting at $7499.
    • The Tandy 4000 – This was Tandy’s 386 based system. While not quite as advanced as Compaq’s overall, it was a solid machine for less money. It included a 3.5″ 1.44 MB disk drive and 1 MB of RAM for $2599. For $5977 you could get an EGA monitor, 40 MB hard drive and some other additions.
    • Datavue’s Spark and Snap 1 + 1 – A look at two laptops. The Snap 1 + 1 features an NEC V20 CPU, 640K RAM, and two 720K disk drives. The Spark features an NEC V20 CPU, 384K RAM, and one 720K drive. There are also various screen, hard drive, and other expansion options.
    • Micro Channel Memory Boards – A look at three memory expansion boards for the PS/2 Models 50 and 60 that add up to 8 MB of RAM. Prices range from $840 to $4170 depending on the board and RAM amount.
    • A Quintet of WORMs – A look at some early optical drives with prices ranging from $2500 to over $4000.
    • Turbo Pascal 4.0 – The latest version of Borland’s Pascal compiler.
    • MPW C for the Mac – A C compiler for The Macintosh Programmers’ Workshop.
    • dBASE Mac vs. McMax – A comparison of these two database managers for the Macintosh.
    • MathCAD 2.0 – MathCAD combines number-crunching and documentation into one tool.
    • RS/1 Research System – A statistical package with versions for the PC, XT, and AT.

    Columns

    • Computing at Chaos Manor: Life after Las Vegas – A discussion of various products including Time Bandits, Cyber Studio, Donald Duck’s Playground (I remember playing this game on the Commodore 64), Earl Weaver Baseball, HiSoft BASIC, Atari ST Mega 2 and Mega 4, Sota MotherCard 5.0, 386-to-the-Max, VM/386, Wizard’s Crown, and more.
    • Applications Only: Shortucts for Simplicity – The potential for OS/2 to fragment the PC standard, plus discussion of MacinTax, TaxView, TopDOS, PowerStation and more.

    In Depth: Lisp

    • Lisp: A language for Stratified Design – Creating abstraction with Lisp.
    • Semantics of Scheme – Lisp was one of the first languages used for artificial intelligence. Scheme is a particular implementation of Lisp and one that I used in my very first computer science class in college.
    • How Lisp Has Changed – Lisp was already 30 years old at this point. It had been almost abandoned but was experiencing somewhat of a resurgence. This looks at how it has changed over the years.

    Features

    • LIM/EMS – The Lotus/Intel/Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification adds a variety of improvements in version 4.0.
    • The DSI Transputer Development System – A card for parallel computing on the PC.
    • Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: The BCC180 Multitasking Controller Part 2: EPROMs an Compilers – A project for building a single-board computer/controller with multitasking capabilities based on the Hitachi HD64180 CPU.

    Departments

    • Editorial: News and Technology – Some notes on changes to the magazine starting with this issue.
    • Microbytes – HP’s NewWave application environment, the Matrix I supercomputer based on older hardware, and lots more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about creating CRCs, High C 386 compiler, Fibonacci numbers with APL on a 286, and more.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about Turbo Pascal 3, PC security, building an analog-to-digital converter, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Reviews of A Programmer’s Guide to Common Lisp, The Scheme Programming Language, The Little Lisper, and The Third Apple: Personal Computers and the Cultural Revolution.

    …and lots more!


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