• Tag Archives CP/M

  • Pro/Files (September/October 1983)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Pro/Files – Volume 1, Number 2 – September/October 1983

    Pro/Files was an official Kaypro publication that covered their computers. Kaypro initially built portable CP/M based computers designed to compete with Osbourne. Later they built PC compatibles but they didn’t survive long after that. The September/October 1983 issue includes:

    Departments

    • Letters – Lots of praise for the previous issue which was the first. Also, questions about the Kaypro 4 and Kaypro 10, and more.
    • Q & A – Questions answered about moving stuff over from Apple II computers, diagnosing hardware problems, using a tape punch with the Kaypro, heat related problems, CRT problems, S-BASIC, and more.
    • Intro – Creating a Kaypro user group in Portland.
    • Take Off – An article about creating your own software to fill a need. And maybe you can even sell it.
    • Satire – All about Anthroperipheral Interface Errors (A.I.E.). Sounds related to problems that occur between the chair and the keyboard or ID10T errors…
    • Groups – A bit about User Groups plust a listing of several Kaypro related groups around the country.

    Features

    • Business – Technophobia and introducing a computer into the workplace for the first time.
    • CP/M – An article about PIP which stands for Peripheral Interchange Program. Basically, this was a standard CP/M utility for piping data and could be use to print, copy stuff to disk, etc.
    • Help – Perfect Writer and WordStar and how to move files between them.
    • Care – Cleaning disk drives. Why you may need to clean the heads plus what to use and how to do so.
    • Novice – Part two of a series on programming languages. This part discusses structured programming languages and techniques. Examples are given in BASIC, Pascal, and C.
    • Women and Computers – In 1983 95% of the buyers of computers were men. However, there were a far greater share of women actually using computers in the workplace.

    …and more!


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  • TRS-80 Model II

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    State of Technology, 1982

    TRS-80 Model II Computer with 8-Inch Floppy Disk

    http://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/163456332127/thegikitiki-state-of-technology-1982-trs-80

    The TRS-80 Model II was not a successor to the original TRS-80 as the name might suggest (that privilege would go to the Model III). I don’t know why they named their computers in this manner but I can certainly imagine that it was potentially confusing to prospective customers.

    The Model II, unlike the Model I, was designed from the ground up to be a business oriented machine. It was introduced a couple of years after the Model I (but before the Model III so at least the sequencing was consistent) and in many regards is a much more high end machine that either the Model I or Model III which came a year later.

    It featured a faster processor (4.00 MHz Z-80A as opposed to the < 2 MHz Model I), an 8-inch 500k floppy (as opposed to a cassette or 5.25-inch 180k floppy if you were lucky), an 80-column screen (as opposed to the 64 columns screen of the Model I/III), and more memory (32-64K vs. 4-48K). It also had a number of ports built-in that were not included on the Model I/III without additional costly expansion (RS-232 and Parallel). One further advantage it had was that it could run CP/M out of the box without additional modification. The mainstream TRS-80 line would eventually get some of these features with the Model 4 and 4D. In general, the Model II, in addition to having more features, was a higher quality machine.

    However, the one big disadvantage of the Model II was that it was not compatible with the mainstream TRS-80 line. As a result, there was far less software available for it natively though there was plenty of CP/M software readily available. Price would have also been a factor, at least for the average person looking for a computer. It cost well over double the most expensive Model I/III starting at $3450.

    The Model II was followed up with the Model 12 (at least they moved the numbering away from the mainstream TRS-80 line) and later the Model 16 and 16B/Tandy 6000 which became the most popular Unix based computer in 1984.





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  • The VersaBusiness Series (Commodore 64)

    Posted on by Azrael 1 Comment

    commodore_microcomputer_issue_40_1986_mar_apr-025


    Source: Commodore MicroComputer – Issue 40 – March April 1986

    The Commodore 64 had a reputation for being a games machine and thus was often not taken very seriously but for at least the first several years of its life there were a number of productivity titles and even professional business software available.

    This particular ad is from the March/April 1986 issue of Commodore MicroComputer and is for the VersaBusiness Series. This includes VersaReceivables, VersaPayables, VeraPayroll, VersaInventory, and VersaLedger II. I can’t claim to know anything about this software or what the difference was between the different versions for different machines but it was available for a lot of them including Apple II, DOS, CP/M, Macintosh, TRS-80, and of course the Commodore 64. It wasn’t cheap, $550 if you wanted it all, but they were running a special 50% discount for the Commodore version in this ad so you could have had them all for the low, low prices of $225.


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