1993 19.02 1995

Vol.19 n°2 february 1994

Vol.19 n°2 february 1994

(byte_1994_02.jpg)

News & Views

News & Views

p.22 Just Like Magic

p.22 Just Like Magic

After more than four years in gestation, a suite of technologies designed by General Magic stands poised to alter today's mishmash of wired and wireless networks

[theme : COMMUNICATIONS]

p.23 Agents on the Loose

p.23 Agents on the Loose

Telescript, General Magic's communications-oriented programming language, lets developers write tools that permit casual users to create intelligent applications that seek out and retrieve important information

[theme : PROGRAMMING]

p.24 Best of Comdex Awards

p.24 Best of Comdex Awards

BYTE editors worked morning, noon, and night picking the best products and technologies at Fall Comdex in Las Vegas

[theme : NEW PRODUCTS]

p.28 High-Performance 3-D Coming to PCs

p.28 High-Performance 3-D Coming to PCs

Applications such as 3-D model animation, stock market visualization, and other high-end programs usually found on expensive workstations should start appearing in 1994 on less expensive 80x86-based PCs

[theme : GRAPHICS/ENTERTAINEMENT]

p.28 Simon Says: Communicate

p.28 Simon Says: Communicate

IBM's new personal communication device combines a cellular phone, fax, E-mail, paging, and personal productivity applications

[theme : PDAS]

p.38 Developers Announce PowerPC Mac Applications

p.38 Developers Announce PowerPC Mac Applications

Apple has distributed the first software development kits for writing applications for the System 7 operating system on the PowerPC. Numerous developers are now announcing support for the Mac PowerPC platform

[theme : APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT]

p.204 What's New

p.204 What's New

A cellular device transmits data; an applications development environment lets you create cross-platform workgroups; virtual reality becomes interactive; and more 204

[theme : NEW PRODUCT]

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

p.56 How Safe Is Data Compression

p.56 How Safe Is Data Compression

On the fly data compression can double your storage space - but not without some hassles and headaches

[theme : DATA COMPRESSION] [author : Tom Halfhill]

p.62 Data Compression on the Macintosh

p.62 Data Compression on the Macintosh

p.64 Data Loss: A Cautionary Tale

p.64 Data Loss: A Cautionary Tale

FEATURE

FEATURE

p.47 The Macintosh at 10

p.47 The Macintosh at 10

On the Mac's tenth birthday, BYTE looks at its profound influence on computing

[theme : DESKTOP SYSTEMS] [author : Tom Thompson]

STATE OF THE ART

STATE OF THE ART

p.76 Today's Compilers

p.76 Today's Compilers

Challenged by multiple new processors, parallel machines, and operating systems, compiler builders must rework their mainline products to produce faster, leaner code.

[theme : THE NEW COMPILERS] [author : Frank Hayes]

p.80 Compiler Benchmarks: How Useful?

p.80 Compiler Benchmarks: How Useful?

p.81 Optimizing for Today's CPUs

p.81 Optimizing for Today's CPUs

Making code run faster and smaller is an important goal of modern compilers.

p.82 Optimizing with Pre- and Post-Compilers

p.82 Optimizing with Pre- and Post-Compilers

p.86 Pentium Optimizations

p.86 Pentium Optimizations

p.91 Developing for Multiple Platforms

p.91 Developing for Multiple Platforms

Writing applications to run on multiple platforms is an art that software engineers are just beginning to master

[author : Douglas K. Olson]

p.92 Porting Adobe Photoshop: A Case Study

p.92 Porting Adobe Photoshop: A Case Study

p.97 Compilers for Parallel CPUs

p.97 Compilers for Parallel CPUs

In converting applications for parallel processing, how much of the job can the compiler do without programmer intervention?

[author : Oliver Sharp]

p.98 Types of Parallel Machines

p.98 Types of Parallel Machines

p.100 Converting an Application for Parallel Processing

p.100 Converting an Application for Parallel Processing

REVIEWS

REVIEWS

p.104 Advancing Communications

p.104 Advancing Communications

Data communications programs with scripting languages can automate your on-line sessions. Testing editor Howard Eglowstein looks at seven popular communications packages from four different environments, testing them with new 28.8-Kbps moderns.

[theme : COMMUNICATIONS SOFTWARE] [author : Howard Eglowstein]

p.106 Life at 28.8

p.106 Life at 28.8

p.108 New and Improved

p.108 New and Improved

p.115 A New Synergy for Windows

p.115 A New Synergy for Windows

With ProdeaSynergy, you can easily automate interapplication Windows tasks. Gilmor builds cross-application projects with off-the-shelf Windows software and the Prodes tools, Doing the same chores without ProdeaSynergy is difficult and sometimes impossible.

[theme : APPLICATION-SOFTWARE INTEGRATION] [author : Steve Gillmor]

p.125 Hoops 4.0: Beyond 3-D

p.125 Hoops 4.0: Beyond 3-D

The common API to most 2-D and 3-D libraries and hardware now offers a real-time mode and a powerful font engine.

[theme : GRAPHICS] [author : Joel Orr]

p.129 Low-Priced Pentium PCs

p.129 Low-Priced Pentium PCs

General Pentium price wars have started. This review examines three Pentium systems, priced between $4000 and $4500, from ALR, Gateway, and Ambra.

[theme : DESKTOP SYSTEMS] [author : Ed Perratore]

p.137 PhotoStyler Fights Back

p.137 PhotoStyler Fights Back

Since Aldus's last release of PhotoStyler, the image-editing market has heated up with the introduction of Photoshop on the Windows platform. PhotoStyler 2.0 represents more than a simple face-lift. Aldus pumped up the performance and the features set and comes away with a serious competitor.

[theme : IMAGE PROCESSING] [author : Howard Eglowstein]

p.141 WinFax Pro Hits the Network

p.141 WinFax Pro Hits the Network

Delrina's WinFax Pro for Networks lets workgroups share fax modems.

[theme : NETWORK SOFTWARE] [author : Stan Miastkowski]

p.146 Lab Report: 76 Cards for Fast Graphics

p.146 Lab Report: 76 Cards for Fast Graphics

Our applications-based tests identify the best PC and Mac accelerator boards for general-purpose and specialized applications.

[theme : ACCELERATED GRAPHICS CARDS]

p.148 Best for VL-Bus Systems

p.148 Best for VL-Bus Systems

p.150 How We Tested

p.150 How We Tested

p.154 Best for ISA-Bus Systems

p.154 Best for ISA-Bus Systems

p.156 Windows NT Drivers: Better Late Then Never?

p.156 Windows NT Drivers: Better Late Then Never?

p.156 How to Buy a Graphics Accelerator

p.156 How to Buy a Graphics Accelerator

p.158 Best for Macintosh NuBus Systems

p.158 Best for Macintosh NuBus Systems

p.162 Best for EISA-Bus Systems

p.162 Best for EISA-Bus Systems

p.162 How Bus Architecture Affects Graphics

p.162 How Bus Architecture Affects Graphics

p.166 Honorable Mentions

p.166 Honorable Mentions

p.166 Dubious Achievements

p.166 Dubious Achievements

HANDS ON

HANDS ON

p.171 Some Assembly Required

p.171 Some Assembly Required

Genetic Programming with C++: With an appropriate algorithmic structure, you can develop programs that are self-modifying and evolving.

[theme : PROGRAMMING] [author : Andy Singleton]

p.177 Under the Hood: Inside the PCI Local Bus

p.177 Under the Hood: Inside the PCI Local Bus

This new PC bus provides high throughput and self-configuring add-in cards.

[theme : BUS ARCHITECTURE] [author : Guy W. Kendall]

p.181 Beyond DOS: Windows for Workgroups

p.181 Beyond DOS: Windows for Workgroups

This is the most advanced version of DOS-based Windows now available.

[theme : NETWORKING] [author : Jon Udell]

OPINIONS

OPINIONS

p.185 Pournelle: Upgrades from Hell

p.185 Pournelle: Upgrades from Hell

One assumes Jerry didn't have a great month

[author : Jerry Pournelle]

p.41 Books and CD-ROMs: The Genesis of the Mac

p.41 Books and CD-ROMs: The Genesis of the Mac

The birth of a computer, an astronomy CD-ROM, legal requirements in business, and laptop repair.

[author : Tom Thompson, Raymond Ga Côté and Michael Nadeau]

p.262 Commentary: Layoff Software

p.262 Commentary: Layoff Software

Let's hope this doesn't become a new growth category.

[author : Steve Evangelou]

p.10 Editorial

p.10 Editorial

[author : Dennis Allen]

p.18 Letters

p.18 Letters

Readers champion their favorite operating systems

READER SERVICE

READER SERVICE

p.260 Editorial Index by Company

p.260 Editorial Index by Company

p.256 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.256 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.258 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

p.258 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: 256A

Inquiry Reply Cards: 256A

p.215 BUYER'S GUIDE

p.215 BUYER'S GUIDE

Mail Order

Hardware/Software Showcase

Buyer's Mart

PROGRAM LISTINGS

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: Join "listings/frombyte94" and select the appropriate subarea (i.e., "feb94").

From the UUNET: ftp to ftp.uu.net, log on as "anonymous," and enter your user ID as your password. Type "cd/published/byte" and type "DIR." Files appear in subdirectories arranged by month.

From the BYTE BBS at 1200-9600 bps: Dial (603) 924-9820 and follow the instructions at the prompt.