Byte (November 1988)

[darth-azrael]

_{Cover of the November 1988 issue of Byte}

Byte was one of the first computer magazines published in the U.S. It covered a wide variety of 'small systems' including both home computers and machines made for businesses. However, it seemed the popularity of Byte faded the more the popularity of the PC grew. Nevertheless, for much of its life it was extremely popular and issues were huge including this one from November 1988. Contents includes:

Products In Perspective

• What's New - Yamaha introduces DOS based laptop with MIDI capability for musicians; Apple introduces 68030 based Mac IIX; new DISCUS Rewriteable magneto-optical drive for $5000...650MB cartridges are $250 each; MAC/DOS SE add-in cards for Macintosh SE and II to add DOS compatibility; Above Board Plus EMS board; Microsoft offers manuals on CD-ROM; and much more.


• Short Takes - Brief looks at the NEC Ultralite (NEC V-30 CPU, 640K RAM, 1 or 2 megabyte "silicon drive" (NVRAM), DOS 3.3), NEC ProSpeed 386 (portable computer with 16-MHz 80386 CPU, 2 megabytes RAM, 1.44MB disk drive, and 40 MB hard drive for $7699), Compaq Deskpro 386/20E (Compaq's latest slimmer desktop featuring a 20-MHz 386SX CPU, 1.2MB floppy drive, 1MB RAM for $5199), and more.

First Impressions

• The NeXT Computer - NeXT was never much more than a niche product but with it, Steve Jobs laid the groundwork for what would become Apple's future. The original NeXT cube featured a 68030 CPU, 8 MB of RAM, a Unix based OS, a DSP, and the first production erasable optical drive. It wasn't cheap though at $8500.

_{Table of Contents from the November 1988 issue of Byte}

Reviews

• Product Focus: The Promise of Project Management - A comparison of ten project management software packages including InstaPlan, MicroTrak, Pertmaster Advance, PMS-II, Pro Path Plus, SuperProject, Time Line, Timepiece, Topdown Project Planner, and ViewPoint.


• SX Appeal - An in-depth look at the Compaq 386s, the first PC based on Intel's new "low cost" 386-SX CPU. It includes a 16-MHz 80386SX CPU, 1 MB of RAM, a 1.2-megabyte 5.25-inch floppy drive, a 40-megabyte ESDI hard drive, an onboard VGA adapter, and more for $5199.


• ALR Improves on a Winner - A review of the ALR FlexCache 25386. This machine includes a 25-MHz 80386 CPU, 2-megabytes of RAM, 1.2-megabyte 5.25-inch floppy drive, 1.44-megabyte 3.5-inch floppy drive, and a 150 or 300 megabyte hard drive starting at $9499.


• Parallel Processing Comes to PCs - A look at Transputer coprocessing cards for the PC.


• A C++ Toolkit - A C++ compiler and other tools from Zortech.


• Lint for the PC - A review of PC-Lint 2.15, a port of the Unix version of this C error checker.


• SpinRite - A review of this hard drive tool that can do things like recover bad sectors, change the interleave ration, and much more.


• Features vs. Speed - A look at FullWrite, a feature-rich word processor.


• Remote-Control Communications - A look at software from Crosstalk that lets you control another computer via your modem.

Expert Advice

• Computing at Chaos Manor: The Revenge of the File Formats - Discussio of a variety of products including the Courier HST modem from USRobotics, Locus Merge 386, PC Pillow, SpinRite, Supra MegaDrive, SupraModem 2400, Vopt, and Word Exchange.


• Applications Plus: Portable Software - A look at the advantages of software in ROM format.


• Down to Business: Do Productivity Tools Help Productivity? - An examination of a variety of productivity tools including Condor Editor, Day-Timer, Excelerator, GrandView, Prodex, SideKick, Take Charge!, and more.


• Macinations: Hot Stuff - A look at some of the best products from MacWorld Expo including Acknowledge from SuperMac Software, DaynaMail and DaynaTalk from Dayna Communications, DirectPrint and DirectTape from Jasmine, and 1stAid Kit 2.5 from 1stAid Software.


• OS/2 Notebook: OS/2's Multitasking Dashboard - Optimizing OS/2 via CONFIG.SYS.


• COM1: You Can't Get There from Here - Or Can You? - Building gateways between online networks.

_{Table of Contents from the November 1988 issue of Byte (continued)}

In Depth

• Side by Side - An introduction to parallel processing.


• T800 and Counting - A look at the T800 Transputer and the software that supports it.


• Getting the Job Done - A look at the Linda language, a language designed to help you parallelize existing software.


• The Third Dimension - A look at the SIMD and MIMD approaches to parallel processing.


• Boards and Boxes - An overview of the currently available transputer boards and desktops.

Features

• Recursiv: An Object-Oriented CPU - A look at a CPU designed specifically to run object-oriented code.


• PC Power, Part 2: Backup Power - A guide to providing reliable backup power to your PC.


• Multiple Regression with Excel - A guide to performing regression analysis with Excel.


• It's APT to Write - A detailed look at the Abstract Planning Tool, an intelligent outliner.


• Parallelizing Prolog - A look at three approaches to taking advantage of multiprocessor machines with Prolog.

Hands On

• Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: A Supercomputer, Part 2 - A look at approaches to the Mandelbrot Set.


• Some Assembly Required: Embedded Languages - An examination of ExTalk, an Algol-like procedural language for extending application capabilities.


• Programming Insight: Adding Dimension - The fastest technique for accessing elements of an array in C.

Departments

• Editorial: BYTEweek, BYTE on Disk, and Best of BIX - New tools from Byte.


• Microbytes - Increasing software complexity; Zenith implements multiprocessing in AT-Compatible Unix System (Z-1000); new "floptical" drives; lower cost 3D graphics from Silicon Graphics; and more.


• Letters - Letters from readers about the Freedom of Information Act, Fast Fourier Transforms, IBM licensing, YAPL, and more.


• Ask BYTE - Questions answered about UPS costs, Acer, GWBASIC, writing games in QuickBASIC, and more.

_{Back cover of the November 1988 issue of Byte}

...and more!

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Check out some of my other recent posts:

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (329-332)
https://ecency.com/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-6-329

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – DEPRESS.DOC
https://ecency.com/@darth-azrael/digital-archaeology-floppy-disk-14-9cefcd6a4dc9a

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (325-328)
https://ecency.com/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-6-325

PC World (October 1985)
https://ecency.com/@darth-azrael/pc-world-october-1985

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Books I am reading or have recently read:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Eruption by Michael Crichton and James Patterson.

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Comments

[jza]

I remember watching videos of the infamous NeXT computer for professionals that cost like 7,000 USD or something along those lines. It was incredibly hard to run or emulate.

[jlinaresp]

!discovery

THANKS for sharing!

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