• Tag Archives Byte

  • Byte (May 1988)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Byte tended to be the most technical of mainstream computer magazines though it became less so over time. It was not PC specific (after all, it was being published long before IBM’s PC was released) but by the late 1980s, the majority of its coverage was oriented towards the PC. The May 1988 issue includes:

    Products in Perspective

    • What’s New – A brief look at new products including the Datacomputer 3.0, faster 386 systems from ALR, A 286 system from Golden Arche, a 1.44MB floppy drive kit from Toshiba, the DEC DF212 and DF242 modems, RamQuest II RAM expansion board for PS/2s, Ethernet for the Mac II, the Bondwell-8 Turbo laptop with 1MB RAM, and more.
    • Short Takes – A hands-on look at new products including the TurboPort 386 Model 40 laptop from Zenith (includes 386 processor at 12 MHz, 2 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive, and a fluorescently backlit supertwist liquid crystal display for $7599), external 3.5″ and 5.25″ disk drives for the PS/2 from Sysgen, WordPerfect for the Mac, and more.

    Reviews

    • Word Processors for Desktop Publishing – An overview of word processors with desktop publishing features. Products looked at here include DisplayWrite 4, MASS-11, Microsoft Word, MultiMate Advantage II, OfficeWriter, Senna Word IV, SmartWord, WordPerfect, Wordstar 2000 Plus, and XyWrite III Plus.
    • Upscaled Power in a Downscaled Box – A look at Amdek’s System/386 PC. It includes a 16-MHz 80386 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, a 1.2MB 5.25″ floppy drive, 40 MB hard drive, and more for $5949.
    • Dynamac’s Portable Mac – A Dynamac EL laptop was basically a repackaged Mac Plus in laptop format. As reviewed here it would set you back well over $8k.
    • Remaking a Classic – A look at a new series of LaserWriter IIs including the IISC, IINT, and IINTX.
    • PCs and Macs Working Together – A look at three products for sharing files between a PC and a Mac including QuickShare, DaynaFile, and MatchMaker.
    • Microsoft Windows 2.03 and Windows/386 – A look at what was then the latest versions of Windows. Windows didn’t really catch on until 3.0/3.1.
    • Improved Command Processor – A look at Command Plus 2.01, an improved command processor for DOS.
    • So Many Options – So Little Room – An inexpensive multitasking, multiuser, windowing, MS-DOS compatible operating system called Wendin-DOS.
    • Database Management via 1-2-3 – a look at two add-on products for Lotus 1-2-3 (Silverado and @BASE) that add more database management features.
    • Byline – A lightweight desktop publishing package from Ashton-Tate.
    • A New-Wave Spreadsheet – A new spreadsheet program called NexView.

    Columns

    • Computing at Chaos Manor: Shifting into High Gear – Installing a US Robotics Courier HST modem plus hands-on with other products including Business Class (Activision), Cyber Studio (Antic Publishing), DeskLink and LapLink Mac (Traveling Software), MathCAD (MathSoft), Physics (Broderbund), Geometery (Broderbund), TK! Solver Plus (Universal Technical Systems), and more.
    • Applications Only: Pin-Money Programs – A look at useful inexpensive software including Electronic Call Screening, LaserSpeed, The Worksheet Utilities, and Celerity.

    In Depth: CPU Architectures

    • The CPU Wars – A look at different CPU architectures and the design philosophies behind them. CPUs such as the 8086, 68000, 6502, SPARC, and others are discussed.
    • What They Did Wrong – A look at the shortcomings of various CPUs including the 6502, 8080, Z80, 8086, and others.
    • Modeling Chaos – A look at a parallel CPU architectures.
    • Real-World RISCs – A look at the AMD Am29000 and how this CPU speeds up memory access.

    Features

    • Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: The SmartSpooler Part 2: Software and Operation – The second part in a series on building a remote data-processing computer.
    • POP Goes the Macintosh – A look at POP-11, a powerful AI programming language now available for the Mac.
    • Searching for Text? Send an N-Gram! – A method of fingerprinting a document to make it easier to find.
    • Juggling Multiple Processes – Concurrent programming with Pascal-S.

    Departments

    • Editorial: Graphics, DTP, and Price Wars – A look at increasing competition in the Desktop Publishing industry.
    • Microbytes – Engineers put print head on a chip; Intel introduces a new C Compiler for embedded applications; the rise of Ada; an ISDN demo; and more.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about Lisp, the Heath HV-2000 speech card, speech software, MathCAD, AI, WORM drives, and more.
    • Ask BYTE – Questions answered about the IBM Proprinter XL, call forwarding, Turbo Pascal, exceeding 64K in FORTRAN, and more.
    • Book Reviews – Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick, Programming Secrets for the Macintosh by Scott Kramer, Programming The Intel 80386 by Bud E. Smith, Computers In Battle: Will They Work? by David Bellin and Gary Chapman, and Programmer’s Guide to PC & PS/2 Video Systems by Richard Wilson.

    …and more!


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  • 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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