Source: Compute! – Issue Number 118 – March 1990
Compute! Covered many computers over its long life. At one point, it specialized in 6502 based computers. By 1990, Compute! was becoming more PC centric but it was still covering other popular computers including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Macintosh.
Contents
- Buy Low, Sell High – An article on using your PC for investing. It covers dedicated software like Market Manger Plus 2.0 as well as subscription services like Value/Screen II which included software and monthly data disks. This data wasn’t cheap though. $396 for a year. There are 15 software packages and online services examined here.
- My View – A guide to the kind of equipment and software you would need for financial planning type activities. These include a fast 8088 based to 80286 PC preferably with a hard drive, a 2400-baud modem, dot matrix printer, and various software.
- Smart Money – An overview of six personal finance software packages to help you balance your checkbook.
- Buyer’s Guide: Tax Preparation Software – A look at the then available tax preparation software including Andrew Tobias’ Tax Cut, DivorceTax, EasyForm W-4, EasyTax, Estate Tax Planner, J.K. Lasser’s Your Income Tax 1990, MacInTax 1040, 1990 Personal Tax Preparer, Swiftax, Tax Advantage, Tax Command, Tax Command Planner, Tax Ease Individual, Tax-Magic Personal, Tax-Magic Plus, Tax Preparer, Tax Shop 1040 Personal, TaxSmith: Family, TaxSmith: Full, and TaxSmith: Quick. I think today there are like two practical choices so there has definitely been a lot of consolidation.
- Resources – Resources for increasing your investment knowledge, including lists of TV programs, periodicals, books, and more.
Departments
- News & Notes – Toolworks and Mindscape merge, Xerox sues Apple, Spectrum Holobyte sues Accolade over Tetris clone, Atari and other third parties sue Nintendo over marketing and licensing practices, new TurboTax/Quicken bundle, IBM cuts 10,000 jobs, Hot Circuits video arcade museum opens in Astoria New York, and more.
- Letters – Letters from readers about a QuickWrite review, a Zip code database, Game Blaster and Killer Kard (which became Sound Blaster before its release and was released at $239.95), and more.
- MS-DOS – Organizing files on disk, PC-Kwik Power Disk disk optimizer, Vq2 search retrieval tool, the OmniKey/102 keyboard, and more.
- Commodore 64/128 – The 1989 world of Commodore Show, RAMLink from CMD, GEORAM 512K memory expansion for GEOS, and more.
- Apple II – The Oregon Trailer on sale from MECC for $39.95 (I had this for the Commodore 64), Dino Days graphics and word processing software for kids, and more
- Amiga – VoRecOne voice recognition add-on, F-16 Combat Pilot from Electronic Arts, Jet Instrument Trainer, and more.
- Macintosh – The Grappler and JetWriter printer interfaces, Broderbund’s Playmaker Football, and more.
- Reviews – Fiendish Freddy’s Big Top O’ Fun (Amiga, Atari ST, DOS), Tandy WP-2 notebook sized word processor, The Cycles (Commodore 64, DOS), Laser PC3 PDA, If It Moves, Shoot It! (Amiga, DOS), Broderbund’s Bannermania (DOS), Spectrum Holobyte’s Tank (DOS), Algebra I First Semester and Algebra I Second Semester (Apple II, DOS), Activision’s DeathTrack (DOS), QuickLook (DOS), Starglider II (DOS, Macintosh), Serra’s On-Line terminal software (DOS), Broderbund’s Joan of Arc: Siege and the Sword (Amiga, Atari ST, DOS), Electronic Art’s John Madden Football (DOS), Broderbund’s The New Print Shop (DOS), Fire Brigade (DOS), Dolphin Boating Simulator (DOS), Data East’s Robocop (DOS), Eye of Horus (DOS), Toshiba ExpressWriter 301 laptop printer, and more.
- New Products – hDC Card Designer (Windows), PowerBasic from Borland (DOS), CheckIt 2.1 diagnostic utility, Sierra’s Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectoral (DOS), Decisive Battles of the American Civil War Volume III: Wilderness to Nashville (DOS), Canon’s Navigator PC/Fax Machine/Phone/Answering Machine combo, The Norton Backup (DOS), SSI’s Dragons of Flame (DOS, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64), and more.
- Hotware – Top ten software titles in a variety of categories. Taking the top spots are Quicken (Home Productivity), Flight Simulator (Home Entertainment), and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (Home Learning).
Productivity
- Compute! Choice – A comparison of Lotus Spreadsheet for DeskMate and Lotus 1-2-3.
- Mail-Order Smart – The advantages and common issues with purchasing computer software and hardware via mail order. I was buying stuff for my Commodore 64 via mail order around this time. Items I know I got that way include a new power supply, modem, printer, monitor, and a couple of games.
- PC Primer – PC hints and tips including getting cheap composite output, patching early versions of DOS to work with a mouse, and sorting.
Learning
- Compute! Choice – A review of Super Solvers Midnight Rescue! from The Learning Company.
- Preschool Precepts – A guide to selecting good preschool software including an overview of various titles.
- Homework – Creating a kid friendly keyboard with an old XT keyboard, creating note cards via the PC, and more.
Entertainment
- Compute! Choice – A review of Lucasfilm Games’ The Battle of Britain: Their Finest hour for DOS.
- Take Off! – An overview of the latest flight simulators including Flight Simulator 4.0, F-15 Strike Eagle II, A-10 Tank Killer, Blue Angels, and UFO.
- Gamescope – Gaming hints and tips for Empire and John Elway’s Quarterback.
Columns
- Editorial License – The results of a reader survey six months into the latest Compute! redesign.
- Conversations – Choosing the right home educational software.
- Impact – Using AppleLink to bring the world closer together.
- Discoveries – Useful multimedia in education. From Print Shop to generating screen dumps to using video cameras and digitizers, and more.
- Gameplay – Orson Scott Cards writes about what makes a good gaming sequel.
- Off Line – Computer gremlins, phantoms, and monsters…
…and more!
