Source: Byte – March 1987
While Byte would basically become just another PC magazine towards the end of its life, in the mid to late 1980s it was still covering a variety of systems. The March 1987 issue includes:
Features
- Product Preview: The Commodore A2000 – A detailed preview of Commodore’s Amiga 2000. This machine offered much greater expandability over the original Amiga 1000 and also optional PC compatibility.
- Product Preview: Turbo BASIC – A preview of this compiled version of BASIC.
- Ciarcia’s Circuit Cellar: Build a Trainable Infrared Master Controller – Instructions for building a programmable universal remote.
- Programming Insight: Building a Random-Number Generator – A Pascal version of a random number generator.
- Programming Project: Installing Memory-Resident Programs with C – A tutorial for writing DOS memory resident programs in C. The example used is a calculator.
THEME: Image Processing
- Probing Space by Camera – A history of image processing at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- Digital Image Processing in Art Conservation – Various photographic and image processing techniques can help preserve art and even discover previous versions of paintings.
- Introduction to Image Processing Algorithms – This image processing tutorial includes code examples.
- Low-Cost Image Processing – Building an inexpensive image processing workstation using an Amiga.
- PreScript – A proposed standard for capturing and digitally manipulating images.
Review
- A Trio of 8-MHz PC AT Compatibles – A review of three PC AT clones including the NCR PC8 (starting at $3895), The Victor V286 (starting at $2195), and the QIC AT-Plus 1800 (starting at $1295).
- AT&T’s TrueVision Image Processing Systems – TruVision is a software package for digitizing and manipulating video images.
- Four Laser Printers – A review of four laser printers (really five) including the Canon LBP-8 A1 and A2 ($3000 and $4300), BDS Model 630/8-E ($3495), QMS Kiss ($1995), and Quadram QuadLaser ($4495).
- PC Scheme: A Lexical LISP – Scheme was what they used to teach my intro to Computer Science class long ago, though I’m sure it wasn’t PC Scheme version 2.0 reviewed here. It wasn’t THAT long ago.
- Concurrent PC DOS – Version 5.0 of a multitasking DOS system that lets you run more than one DOS program at a time.
- Wendin’s Operating System Toolbox – A variety of mostly C and some assembly source files that you can compile (and modify if you wish) to create your own operating system.
- PFS: First Choice – An integrated software package for the PC that includes word processing, spreadsheet, and file management capabilities among others.
- WriteNow – A word processing package for the Macintosh and Macintosh Plus.
Kernel
- Applications Only: Status Report – The author reviews Ragtime for the Mac (a combination of spreadsheet, word processor and page layout application), and Write Now (a word processor for DOS). He also discusses which apps he uses most.
- BYTE U.K.: Taking Control – Devices which allow computers to be used as controllers are discussed including the Scorpion single board computer, RTX Robot Arm, and Martello which is a FORTH development system.
- According to Webster: Amiga Developer’s Conference – A look at some of the upcoming and new released products seen at the Amiga Developers Conference including the StarBoard II (memory expansion), Marauder II (disk backup program), ProWrite (word processor), and more.
Best of BIX
- Amiga – Printer driver problems (and some solutions) plus slow circle/ellipse routines in Aztec C.
- Atari ST – A discussion of the Atari ST disk format and determining the status of shift/control/alt keys.
- IBM PC and Compatibles – Techniques to prevent accidentally formatting your hard drive and more.
- Apple II/Macintosh – Speeding up compile times on the Mac, BLOADing a text file in DOS 3.3, accessing a clock through ProDOS on the Apple IIgs, and booting from a RAM disk on the IIgs.
- BASIC – Windows and mouse devices in QuickBASIC 2.0 and Turbo BASIC, and more.
- Pascal – Data file integrity and security in Turbo Pascal and more.
Departments
- Editorial: The Enigma of the Amiga 2000 – An intro to the Amiga 2000; the BYTE Information Exchange exceeds 12,000 users prompting an upgrade to the existing 1986 era Arete supermicrocomputer that runs it; and more.
- Microbytes – University of California uses Ped-Pak genetic management software to help endangered animals; Synaptics Inc. plans neural net chips; Atari plans 32-bit Atari ST workstations; Common LISP evolving to support object-oriented features; and much more.
- Letters – Letters from readers about text editing standards, CRT safety, type of sorts, text compression, ZBasic, and more.
- What’s New – Adobe Illustrator, the Atari PC, Metro memory resident tools, 80386 CPUs, HP symbolic math calculator, WordStar 4.0, Jet 386 upgrade for 286 machines, TecTran’s 98064 RS232 interface for the Commodore 64, and much more.
- Ask BYTE – Questions answered about defining screens of 132 columns in Turbo Pascal, using the Amiga for bio feedback, using multiple hard drives on the IBM PC AT, SB180 user groups, CP/M on the Commodore 128, and more.
…and more!
