Vol.15 n°1 january 1990

p.49 WHAT'S NEW

p.81 SHORT TAKES

Portable Mainframe, Opus Systems introduces the first portable RISC workstation

LapLink Mac III, move files from one Mac to another with this program from Traveling Software

Intelligent Graphics Controller 20, Hewlett-Packard's powerful dedicated graphics processor

Gray F/X, Xerox Imaging Systems offers a gray-scale raster editor

Fax96, simple and low-COST faxing from Fremont Communications

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.94 Apollo Shrinks the Workstation Price Tag

[author Ben Smith]

Apollo introduces the world's most affordable workstation.

COVER STORY

p.285 The BYTE Awards

[author the BYTE Staff]

The best and the brightest of products and technologies in 1989.

REVIEWS

p.152 Product Focus: Just What the Hard Disk Doctor Ordered

[author Stan Wszola, Howard Eglowstein. and Tom Thompson]

The BYTE Lab looks at 14 hard disk utilities that can protect against data loss and optimize your hard disk.

p.169 Sizing Up the Cube

[author Tom Thompson and Ben Smith]

The NeXT Computer-advanced features, fair performance.

p.177 Born to Travel

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

XT-class laptops from GRID and Sharp offer the right mix of features for computing en route.

p.183 Hard Drivin' Mac

[author Rick Grehan]

Utility software distinguishes 300-megabyte Mac hard disk drives from MicroNet, Racet, and Jasmine.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.99 Computing at Chaos Manor: A Matter of Style and Grammar

Jerry Pournelle

Seeking a new word processor, and it's upgrade time at Chaos Manor.

p.115 The Unix /bin: Answers to Some Good Questions

[author David Fiedler]

Our columnist answers the most commonly asked questions, including "Which Unix for you?"

p.123 Down to Business: Cheap and Easy Publishing

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

You may not need all the bells and whistles to look like a pro.

p.129 Macinations: The Big Four for Mac Databases

[author Don Crabb]

A survey of the four top relational database development systems.

p.137 OS/2 Notebook: A First Look at HPFS

[author Mark J. Minasi]

OS/2 1.2's new High Performance File System allows bigger, faster, and safer hard disk drives.

p.145 Net Works: AppleTalk Phase 2 and You

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

How will AppleTalk Phase 2 affect your LAN? The answer depends on what you're using and what your needs are.

p.197 PostScript in the Palm of Your Hand

[author Howard Eglowstein]

Pacific Data's new cartridge gives HP Lasedet II printers easy PostScript compatibility.

p.203 Mac Adapters Embrace Ethernet

[author Stanford Diehl]

Apple, Asante Technologies, and Compatible Systems adapters give Macs an easy entree into swift Ethernet networks.

p.207 Mainframe Math on a PC

[author Peter Wayner]

Macsyma, the grande dame of computer algebra, is finally available for PCs.

p.213 Glockenspiel Puts C++ to Work

[author Andrew Schulman]

CommonView applies C + + to graphical user interface programming.

p.219 Develop Advanced Expert Systems

[author Rodd Halstead]

Gold Hill's new expert-system shell works with Microsoft Windows.

p.225 New Tricks for Your Laser Printer

[author G. Michael Vose]

Dan Bricklin's PageGarden takes laser printing beyond most application programs.

p.229 Reviewer's Notebook

A compilation of brief reviews and updates to previously published evaluations.

IN DEPTH

p.234 Introduction: THE STATE OF CHIPS

p.237 Farewell to Chips?

[author Bob Ryan]

Semiconductor technology is approaching its theoretical and practical limits. Where do we go from here?

p.251 The High-Octane Semiconductor

[author Phillip Robinson]

Chip makers move gallium arsenide from curiosity to practicality.

p.261 A Marriage Made in Silicon

[author Bob Ryan]

BiCMOS proves that good things come in pairs.

p.271 Creating Custom Chips

[author Trevor Marshall]

EPLDs are fast becoming the device of choice for fast turnaround or rapidly changing design tasks.

p.282 Semiconductor Sources

Your guide to the companies with the latest and greatest.

FEATURES

p.298 State of the BBS Nation

[author Lamont Wood and Dana Blankenhorn]

Whatever your electronic appetites, you can feed them on a BBS.

p.-305 The Mac State of Mind

[author Daniel W. Rasmus]

A look at some expert-system shells and AI languages for your Macintosh.

p.317 Expert Systems and HyperCard

[author Ron Evans]

HyperCard can be ideal for creating knowledge-based systems.

p.327 Configuring Parallel Programs, Part 2

[author Dick Pountain]

The Netherlands has a C compiler for parallel processing with the INMOS transputer.

HANDS ON

p.337 Under the Hood: Math Coprocessors

[author L. Brett Glass]

A look at what they do, and how they do it.

p.351 Some Assembly Required: Stroke-Character Graphics

Using stroke characters in PC graphics mode.

DEPARTEMENTS

p.8 Editorial: Project Notify

p.17 Microbytes

p.32 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

p.47 Chaos Manor Mail

p.414 Coming Up in BYTE

p.416 Print Queue

p.420 Stop Bit

READER SERVICE

p.406 Editorial Index by Company

p.408 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.410 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 412

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 232

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card after 272

Vol.15 n°2 february 1990

PRODUCTS IN PERSPECTIVE

p.49 WHAT'S NEW

p.81 SHORT TAKES

Twindows, Mosaic Marketing's spreadsheet for Windows is compatible with Lotus 1-2-3 release 2.01

QMSWriter PM10. QMS brings Presentation Manager to paper

PowerBasic 2.0, an improved Turbo Basic compiler from Spectra Publishing

LANtastic Ethernet Starter Kit, Arlisoft speeds up its network

PC-Write Lite, an inexpensive. speedy word processor from Quicksoft

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.96A Motorola's 68040 Microprocessor

[author Tom Thompson]

This CISC processor for the 1990s offers new features and boosted performance.

COVER STORY

p.92 Zenith's EISA Does It

[author Stan Miastkowski]

Zenith's 33-MHz 80386 EISA system includes a cutting-edge disk drive controller that leaves others in the dust.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.96D Hawk II Soars

[author Howard Eglowstein]

Club AT's 25-MHz 80486 may actually be faster than most people need.

REVIEWS

p.148 Product Focus: Not Just for Numbers Anymore

[author Steve Apiki, Stanford Diehl, and Howard Eglowstein]

The new-generation spreadsheets aid in analysis and graphics presentation.

p.167 Hit the Road, Mac

[author Don Crabb]

The Mac Portable's pluses outweigh its minuses.

p.173 A Good Sport

[author Robert Mitchell]

The Zenith MinisPort is appealing, but not perfect.

p.179 The LaserJet IIP: Inexpensive, not Cheap

[author Alan Josh]

Hewlett-Packard brings affordable laser printers to the desktop.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.99 Computing at Chaos Manor: Optical Disk Daze

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Jerry looks at some new CD-ROMs and educational software.

p.117 Macinations: Is the End Near? Not a Chance

[author Don Crabb]

The U.S. computer industry is not failing.

p.121 OS/2 Notebook: A Letter from a Dissenter

[author Mark J. Minasi]

Mark defends OS/2 and Presentation Manager against a reader's criticisms.

p.127 The Unix /bin: Dealing with Devices

[author David Fiedler]

Answers to readers' questions about floppy disk drives, printers. and upgrades.

p.133 Down to Business: Backing Up the Biggies

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

It takes more than a box of floppy disks to meet today's backup needs.

p.137 NetWorks: NewWare's Missing Links

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

NetWare products connect disparate systems, but pieces don't always fit perfectly.

p.185 Time to Switch

[author Stan Miastkowski]

A look at five application switchers for DOS that let you keep multiple programs in RAM.

p.191 Get the Max from Your 80386

[author Alex Lane]

386Max breaks through MS-DOS's 640K-byte barrier.

p.196 Reviewer's Notebook

Two speedy external hard disk drives for Macs, the unification of Unix, Novell. and DOS, and a pip of a utility program.

IN DEPTH

p.200 Introduction: MULTIMEDIA

p.203 The Four Multimedia Gospels

[author Phillip Robinson]

Multimedia is taking the computer world by storm, and it's more available than you think.

p.215 Beyond Hype

[author Rob Lippincott]

Lotus's multimedia point man tackles the question: How do we get there from here?

p.221 Birth of the BLOB

[author Tim Sheller]

Multimedia databases and "binary large objects" will revise the way you store, access, and manipulate information.

p.229 Desktop Video Studio

[author Rick Cook]

Is desktop video going to be bigger than desktop publishing?

p.236 Multimedia Makers Mentioned

Companies working in multimedia and related fields.

FEATURES

p.238 The Art of Ray Tracing

[author Owen F. Ransen]

The perfect match: complex 3-D image generation and parallel microprocessors.

p.245 Micro Edsels

[author Kenneth M. Sheldon]

Besides winners, we've seen our share of duds in 15 years.

p.251 Drowning in Data

[author Peter Vogelgesang]

The gathering deluge of information calls for new approaches to data storage.

p.257 Object-Oriented Programming

[author Dick Pountain]

You can use Turbo Pascal 5.5 to learn the principles of OOP.

HANDS ON

p.267 Under the Hood: The SCSI Bus, Part 1

[author L. Brett Glass]

The start of a two-part look at the SCSI I/O bus.

p.279 Some Assembly Required: Multitasking for the Masses

[author Rick Grehan]

An analysis of different tools to out multitasking on your desk

DEPARTMENTS

p.8 Editorial: How Do You Crush an 80486?

p.17 Microbytes

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

p.47 Chaos Manor Mail

p.336 Print Queue

p.340 Stop Bit

READER SERVICE

p.330 Editorial Index by Company

p.332 Alphabetical Index to Adsertisers

p.332B Index to Athertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 332D

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 198

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk- See card after 240

Vol.15 n°3 march 1990

COVER STORY

p.126 Product Focus: A VGA on Every Desk

The BYTE Lab tests 26 low-cost color VGA monitors.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.114 SHORT TAKES

DrawPerfect, WordPerfect's graphics companion

Microsoft C 6.0, a comprehensive package for professionals

OkiLaser 400, a low-price compact LED printer from Okidata

SuperScope, GW Instruments makes data acquisition with the Mac easier

PC-File 5.0, a flat-file database pack from Button Ware

p.122 FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Compaq's Reason to Believe in EISA

Compaq's newest high-end system, the Systempro, may be its best yet.

REVIEWS

p.143 Inexpensive SXes by Mail

Two 80386SX systems that provide 80386 power at low prices.

p.151 AppleShare Without a Mac

Jasmine's DirectServe offers AppleShare file service without sacrificing a Mac.

p.160E NetWare 386: Less Pain, Great Gain

Novell's next-generation LAN operating system delivers radically improved performance.

p.167 OS/2 1.2: A Zaftig System

Beauty goes more than skin deep in IBM's newest OS/2 1.2.

p.173 Art in Motion

Autodesk's Animator lets anyone create animated graphics.

p.179 Jack of all Trades

IBM's Current is a personal information manager with desk-accessory-style functionality.

p.185 Fast and Easy CAD on the Mac

Deltasoft's Origins provides fast competition to AutoCAD on the Mac.

p.191 Reviewer's Notebook

An on-board uninterruptible power supply for PCs, a disassembler for the curious, and a flat-screen color monitor for the Mac.

IN DEPTH

p.196 Introduction: LIFE WITHIN 1 MEGABYTE

p.199 The Succession Crisis

Will DOS yield its crown to OS/2 or Unix?

p.205 Expanding the Limits

Unix and OS/2 are not the only solutions to memory problems.

p.219 Mac at the Minimum

Some suggestions and hints for running all you can on your 1-megabyte Mac.

p.227 Easing the RAM-Cram Blues

Take an active role in managing your applications and TSRs and their use of your memory.

p.237 Saving Space

Whatever size hard disk you have, it's probably nearly full. Data compression can help.

p.245 More Bang for Your Buck

Four integrated software packages that won't strain your budget.

p.257 Coping with Diversity

Incompatibility between computers with different architectures doesn't have to be an obstacle.

p.262 1-Megabyte Life Support

Products that help you stretch the resources of a low-cost computer.

p.266 The Spirit of '86s

The competition between PC-compatible CPUs heats up, as faster 80286s, 80386 clones, and the high-powered i486 emerge.

p.273 The BYTE Unix Benchmarks

Before you jump into the Unix pool, see how your favorite system stacks up against the rest of the pack.

p.279 Drawing on the 8514/A

An engineer exposes the inner workings of this graphics processor.

HANDS ON

p.291 UNDER THE HOOD: The SCSI Bus, Part 2

Brett looks at bus facilities, the common command set, the common access method, and SCSI devices.

p.301 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: Foreign File Systems

Using special file systems from within standard file systems.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

p.10 Editorial: Style and Substance

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

RISC comments spark debate.

PERSPECTIVES

p.357 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.360 PRINT QUEUE: Our Man in Berkeley

A real page-turner, The Cuckoo's Egg is a computer book that reads like a classic espionage novel.

p.364 STOP BIT: A Foolish Consistency

A software engineer argues that consistency isn't always the best policy when it comes to user interfaces.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR: Double Your Pleasure

[author Jerry Pournelle]

A hard disk drive saga and a Comdex report.

p.79 THE UNIX /bin: Let Your Fingers Do the Talking

[author David Fiedler]

Unix has the programs to communicate with the outside world.

p.85 DOWN TO BUSINESS: The Family Jewels

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

To make sure your data is secure, choose a strategy and see that it's carried out.

p.97 MACINATIONS: A Mac Mélange

[author Don Crabb]

Apple is suffering from the "not invented here" syndrome.

p.101 OS/2 NOTEBOOK: To HPFS or Not to HPFS

[author Mark J. Minasi]

Can OS/2's HPFS and the DOS file allocation table live together on the same disk?

p.107 NETWORKS: Serving the Power-Hungry

[author Bill Catchings and Mark L. Van Name]

The age of the super server is upon us.

READER SERVICE

p.350 Editorial Index by Company

p.352 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.354 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 304

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card after 144

Vol.15 n°4 april 1990

COVER STORY

p.111 Apple's Special fx

Apple redefines top-of-the-line with the speedy IIfx.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

p.36 WHAT'S NEW

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.102 SHORT TAKES Laserkt III

HP's trailblazing printer

Photoshop, Adobe eases image manipulation

Toshiba T1200XE, impressive notebook computing

R:base 3.0, many new features from Microrim

Lotus 1-2-3/G, three dimensions for PM

p.119 FIRST IMPRESSIONS OS/2 2.0: It's a Family Affair

Microsoft's long-awaited 32-bit OS/2 forges ahead, with DOS and windows in tow.

p.124 FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Sizzling RISC Systems from IBM

IBM's RISC System/6000 family sets a new standard of performance.

REVIEWS

p.130 PRODUCT FOCUS: The Heart and Soul of a PC Compatible

The BYTE Lab examines 23 25-MHz 80386 motherboards.

p.145 Color Hits the Streets

NEC brings color to a laptop, but is it worth it?

p.151 Svelte Scanner Is No Fistful of Dollars

Sharp's low-cost scanner delivers high-quality color images to those who can afford to wait.

p.157 Word Processing in Windows

Ami Professional, Legend, and Word for Windows are the first WYSIWYG word processors for Microsoft Windows, but are they fast enough?

p.163 A Better dBASE

FoxPro may have outdone all other dBASE systems, including dBASE IV.

p.171 Windows Rides a New Wave

With NewWave, Hewlett-Packard expands Windows, but it's not easy.

p.179 C Compilers Have Different Strengths

Apple and Symantec bring object-oriented C compilers to the Mac.

p.193 Reviewer's Notebook

A compilation of brief reviews and updates to previously published evaluations.

STATE OF THE ART

p.196 APPLICATIONS ARCHITECTURES Introduction

p.199 Transparent and Portable

By providing a consistent framework, applications architectures let software run on different machines and operating systems.

p.205 From Try to VUI

Frank Hayes discusses the past, present, and future of user-interface design.

p.215 Behind the Scenes

Understanding your programming interface can help you decide which user interface to support in a heterogeneous environment.

p.225 Bridging Troubled Waters

Thriving in a diverse computing environment is a lot easier if you have the right tools.

p.237 Blueprints for the 1990s

IBM's SAA versus DEC's NAS how do they compare?

p.246 An Open Approach

With its new Distributed Applications Architecture, Data General challenges IBM and DEC.

p.248 Building Blocks

A sampling of products and organizations involved in applications architectures.

FEATURES

p.252 Time and Money

A program called Spawn uses auctions to fairly allocate precious computer time.

p.261 New Objects for Old Structures

Using object-oriented techniques to convert existing applications has its advantages.

p.269 Who Owns the Copyrights?

Who owns the copyrights on independently developed programs? An attorney discusses recent developments.

p.275 Managing the Well-Tempered LAN

ISO standards signal that network management help is on the way.

HANDS ON

p.287 UNDER THE HOOD: Gateways to Protected Mode

DOS extenders deliver 16-bit compatibility and 32-bit performance.

p.297 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: Flirting with Assembly

Armed with a few general concepts, you can make assembly language improvements without knowing assembly.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

p.10 Editorial: Mylex Struts EISA's Stuff

p.32 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

A 286/386SX/386 debate goes on.

PERSPECTIVES

p.349 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.350 1.5 Decades of April Fools

This is a serious business, but it has had its funny side.

p.352 PRINT QUEUE: Advise and Compute

The tortuous evolution of copyright law in the computer world.

p.356 STOP BIT

To Boldly Benchmark New meaning for the term "high-level benchmarks."

READER SERVICE

p.343 Editorial Index by Company

p.344 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.346 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 348

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 284

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

???

EXPERT ADVICE

p.53 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR: Chaos Manor Awards

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Find out if your favorite product has been honored.

p.71 THE UNIX /bin: Getting UUCP Running, and Other Stories

[author David Fiedler]

Our columnist details how to set up UUCP communications.

p.77 DOWN TO BUSINESS: CD-ROM to the Rescue

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

CD-ROM databases can provide your business with valuable information in a hurry.

p.81 MACINATIONS: Two Sides of the Same Coin

[author Don Crabb]

A bright side with education, a darker side with software development.

p.85 OS/2 NOTEBOOK: Living with OS/2 1.2

[author Mark J. Minasi]

Life with OS/2 1.2 is a lot like life with version 1.1, with some welcome changes.

p.97 NETWORKS: Faraway LANs

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

You don't have to be in the office to take advantage of the office LAN.

Vol.15 n°5 may 1990

COVER STORY

p.122 First Impressions: Commodore Sets Course for Multimedia

Commodore's Amiga 3000 has a lot to offer for a modest price.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEV

Product snapshots of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.116 SHORT TAKES

ScanMan Model 32. Logitech's redesigned hand-held Mac scanner

20-MHz 386SX, NCR produces a quick, quiet, and secure computer

dBASE IV 1.1, Ashton-Tate's new incarnation is easier to use

HP 48SX, a calculator for engineering and science applications

Pivot, Radius's full-page Mac monitor with portrait and landscape orientations

p.131 The Fast Keep Getting Faster

New 33-MHz 486 machines from AST and ALR are fast and upgradable.

REVIEWS

p.136 PRODUCT FOCUS Multiuser Databases: The SQL

All SQL servers are not alike. Here's a look at the eight best-known products.

p.155 World's Fastest Lunchbox

Dolch is first to sell an 1486-based portable.

p.161 Four 386SXes to Go, Hold the AC

Low power consumption makes Intel's 386SX ideal for laptops. Here are four models to consider.

p.169 Power and the Single User

Opus weds big-iron performance to PC prices.

p.175 More Than Upside-Down Mice

New trackballs from CH Products, Kensington, Logitech, MicroSpeed, and Mouse Systems.

p.182 New CAD Test Shuffles 34010 Pack

New graphics-board favorites emerge in a Product Focus update.

p.187 Macintosh CAD Comes of Age

Radius's display-list processor makes Macintosh CAD more competitive.

p.193 Help for the C Sick

Microsoft sets its sights on professional developers with BASIC PDS 7.0.

STATE OF THE ART

p.204 DESKTOP SUPERCOMPUTING Introduction

p.207 Separated at Birth

Although they're the same age, PCs and supercomputers are now sharing more than just birthdays.

p.213 Spending Your Free Time

Attached to a network, your existing computers can act as a powerful parallel computer.

p.221 A Fearful Symmetry

Sophisticated multiprocessing machines deserve an operating system to match.

p.231 Supercomputers Get Personal

The i860-based ComputeServer serves up power, not partitions.

p.241 Join the EISA Evolution

Bus mastering lets desktop CPUs spend more of their time processing data rather than dealing with I/O.

p.251 A Calculating RISC

Coprocessors based on RISC engines will soon deliver supercomputer performance to your desktop.

p.258 Super Sources

Who's who in desktop supercomputing.

FEATURES

p.262 Around the World in Text Displays

Computing with nonroman characters presents some formidable obstacles.

p.273 Power to the Portables

With new options coming on strong, the battery battle for portables is heating up.

p.279 Smooth Views

Antialiasing lets you get better effective resolution out of VGA displays.

p.287 Object-Oriented Programming for Windows

Using the Actor OOP environment to develop applications for Microsoft Windows.

HANDS ON

p.299 UNDER THE HOOD Reeling In the Data

Competing technologies are driving down the costs of tape backup units while increasing capacities.

p.311 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED In Any Event

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

p.10 Editorial: Paperless Fax and an Invitation for You

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes Readers defend ASCII.

PERSPECTIVES

p.373 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.376 PRINT QUEUE Does the Walking Do the Fingers?

The worlds of the great mathematicians influenced their discoveries; the ubiquitous telephone virtually rules our lives.

p.380 STOP BIT Return of the Colossal Code

Must we go back to the days of bloated code for every application?

READER SERVICE

p.367 Editorial Index by Company

p.368 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.370 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 372

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 308

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card before 373

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Backups, Fax, and Mac Disasters

[author Jerry Pournelle]

A Mac mishap prompts Jerry to look at archiving software and backup devices.

p.83 THE UNIX /bin Prowling the Networks

[author David Fiedler]

The who, why, and how of Unix network mail systems.

p.89 DOWN TO BUSINESS Do-lt-Yourself CD-ROMs

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

If you need access to vast quantities of your own data, you could make your own CD-ROM

p.97 NETWORKS Microsoft's Network Heavyweight

[author Bill Catchings and Mark L. Van Name]

A look at the new version of OS/2 LAN Manager: smaller, safer, and more secure.

p.103 MACINATIONS The Fruits of Connectivity

[author Don Crabb]

A few innovative companies are showing what you can do with systems and software that can share information.

p.109 OS/2 NOTEBOOK Digging into HPFS

[author Mark J. Minasi]

The more you examine the High Performance File System, the better it looks.

► Lire la revue / Get this issue (archive.org)

Vol.15 n°6 june 1990

COVER STORY

p.122 First Impressions: Three's the One

Will Windows 3.0 be the death or salvation of OS/2?

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

Product snapshots of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.116 SHORT TAKES

Magellan 2.0. Lotus expands as intelligent DOS shell

PageMaker 4.0, a nearly perfect program from Aldus

Ergo Model 1: The Brick, truly transportable computing

Turbo Debugger and Tools 2.0, Borland's beefed-up toolkit

Full Impact 2.0, Ashton-Tate adds features

p.132 Cheetah's Golden Performer

Cheetah's new 33-MHz 486 machine is one fast cat.

p.136 Sun's Low-Cost RISC

A powerful diskless version of Sun's SPARCStation.

REVIEWS

p.142 PRODUCT FOCUS Networks of Peers

Low-cost alternatives to dedicated server LANs.

p.164 Two to Grow On

CPU-upgradable systems from AST and ALL

p.170 Window Wonderland

VideoLogic's multimedia board turns VGA screens into video playgrounds.

p.174 More 16-Million-Color Fireworks

SuperMac Technology's ColorCard/24 and Spectrum/24 Series III video boards.

p.178 Da Vinci Does It Penlessly

Da Vinci's speedy RasterPro 720 delivers design-quality plots, with color printing on the side.

p.184 Fast Fonts: PostScript Gets Turbocharged

HanZon's RISC-based controller turns LaserJet printers into PostScript hot rods.

p.186 Small Footprint, Big Impression

Emerald Computers' LANstation-small size, big price.

p.188 Just Add Water

Rational Systems' I nstant-C 4.0 promises instant software gratification.

STATE OF THE ART

p.190 Thoroughly Totable Tandy

The Tandy 1100 FD offers all the necessities-and then some.

p.193 The Zen of Symbolic Math

Theorist takes the low road to equation solving by leading you to the right answer on your Mac.

STATE OS THE ART

p.200 NETWORKING Introduction

p.203 Growing Pains

Buying a LAN is kid's stuff compared to the problems you can encounter trying to expand it and connect it to other networks.

p.212 The Latest GOSIP

Sooner or later, the federal government's new profile for procurements, called GOSIP, will affect us all.

p.217 Want to Catch Some Z's?

Zero-slot LANs are a proven way to provide file transfer and peripheral- and file-sharing capabilities.

p.224A On the Radio

A wireless LAN can provide a flexible alternative to its earthbound cousins.

p.233 Need More Fiber?

From FDDI to HDTV to broadband ISDN, fiber-optic technology is changing data communications. Are you ready to make the move to fiber?

p.241 Primed for Performance

Balancing the need for resources against a changing environment is a shared problem. Can the solution be a shared one as well?

p.252 Making Connections

Your source to networking products and information.

FEATURES

p.256 Images from the Deep

Using a fiber-optic network and oceanographic vehicles, Woods Hole scientists are probing the wonders of the ocean.

p.269 Consortia: High-Tech Co-ops

Computer and chip consortia are working hard to give the U.S. an edge over foreign technology.

p.281 DOS and Unix: On Speaking Terms

A productive link between DOS and Unix systems begins with an understanding of Unix network basics.

HANDS ON

p.297 UNDER THE HOOD The Evolution of ESDI

One increasingly popular alternative to the ST506 interface is a descendant of ST506, ESDI.

p.311 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Cloak and Data

An explanation of secret codes and a puzzle to test your skill.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

p.10 Editorial: Taiwan, the Soviet Union, and You

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

Why the Micro Craft Dimension was an Edsel.

PERSPECTIVES

p.326 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.380 The Father of Computer Graphics

The roots of graphically oriented computer systems stretch back to World War II, MIT. and a visionary graduate student.

p.382 PRINT QUEUE In Darkest Self-Similarity

Hugh Kenner surveys the literature on fractals.

p.384 STOP BIT The Flight of the Bee Wolf

A bee-hunting fly performs navigational feats that put man's computers to shame.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR A Tale of Three Conventions (and Two Cities)

[author Jerry Pournelle]

A look at CD-ROMs and a report on the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

p.85 DOWN TO BUSINESS Who, What, When, and Why Not?

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

A business scheduling package can restore your sanity.

p.91 MACINATIONS Rising from the Ashes

[author Don Crabb]

Don hauls out his crystal ball and predicts Apple's near future

p.97 THE UNIX /bin Free Software!

[author David Fiedler]

When it comes to user-developed Unix programs, there is such a thing as a free lunch.

p.103 OS/2 NOTEBOOK OS/2 Marries DESQview

[author Mark J. Minasi]

The latest version of OS/2 lets you run multiple DOS sessions, à la DESQview.

p.109 NETWORKS A Natural Match

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

Sharing CD-ROMs over a LAN seems like a natural idea. So why isn't it easier?

READER SERVICE

p.371 Editorial Index by Company

p.372 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.374 Index to Advertisers

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 308

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card before 145

Vol.15 n°7 july 1990

COVER STORY

p.138 Laser Printers Get Personal

The era of the personal laser printer is upon us, with this vanguard of Series II compatibles leading the way.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

Product snapshots of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.110 SHORT TAKES

Turbo C++ another landmark product from Borland

HyperCard 2.0, Apple greatly improves version 1.2

Plus, Spinnaker offers true multiplatform compatibility

DaynaFile, lets the NeXT Computer use floppy disks

FrameMaker 2.0, Frame Technology's version for the Mac

p.116 WINDOWS SHOPPING: 3.0 Applications Take Shape

A look at the first crop of Windows 3.0-compatible applications.

p.133 Notebook Newcomer

The VH-286 from Airis offers features, power, and low cost.

REVIEWS

p.160 The New 486s: Are Faster FPUs Enough?

Spear and Dyna Micro's 25-MHz i486-based systems capitalize on the chip's integrated FPU.

p.167 Power Servers

File servers from Zenith and Storage Dimensions face off.

p.174 Personal Iris: The Dream Maker

A living-color look at the Silicon Graphics Personal Iris 4D/25.

p.186 C++, Plus

Zortech's C++ 2.0 may make an OOP believer of you yet.

p.196 The Personal Network

Organize companywide information into personal views with Lotus Notes.

STATE OF THE ART

p.202 COMPUTING WITHOUT KEYBOARDS Introduction

p.205 Smoke and Mirrors

In an industry as new as ours, it's too early to rest on our collective laurels.

p.215 Living in a Virtual World

Head-mounted devices and stereoscopic viewers help add sound, sight, and touch to your computerized toolkit.

p.225 The Spoken Word

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon report on voice interfaces for computers.

p.237 Telltale Gestures

A look at devices that will change how you manipulate 3-D design applications.

p.238 Coming Soon to a CAD Lab Near You

3-Draw lets you sketch out your ideas in 3-D.

p.243 Sign Here, Please

Interactive tablets enable free-form communication between you and your computer.

p.252 From Hand to Mouth

A sampling of recent developments in user interfaces.

FEATURES

p.256 The World According to Micros

Need to know some exotic geographic facts? Try one of these 24 world atlas packages.

271 3-D Graphics, from Alpha to Z-Buffer

The dedicated memory of graphics workstations speeds up their ability to render in three dimensions.

p.305 The BYTE VIP Awards

BYTE's readers have chosen a host of hardware and software as Very Important Products.

HANDS ON

p.283 UNDER THE HOOD Reach Out and Touch Your Data

Three input devices, ranging from $100 to $15,000, let you "hand it to computers."

p.293 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED PostScript Insider Secrets

Don Lancaster, a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution, reveals PostScript tricks for better output.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

A new source of European computer information, and a "virtual environment" expert.

p.10 Editorial: The Software Story of the Year

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

Of archives and Coke-can comparisons.

PERSPECTIVES

p.356 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.358 PRINT QUEUE Zen and the Art of Assembly

A remarkable series of books argues that assembly programming is easier than learning to play the piano.

p.360 STOP BIT Quest for a Mouseball

One man's journey in search of an elusive IBM mouseball.

READER SERVICE

p.347 Editorial Index by Company

p.348 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.350 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 280

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card before 169

INTERNATIONAL SECTION

begins after page 64

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of CD-ROMs

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Jerry examines new CD-ROMs of classics, including the Bible and Shakespeare's works.

p.81 THE UNIX /bin Go Ahead, Make My Day

[author David Fiedler]

Tips on installing freely available Unix software.

p.87 DOWN TO BUSINESS Up Close and Personal

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

Personal organizers let you calculate, compute, and transfer data on the fly.

p.91 MACINATIONS CAD: The Mac Can Do That?

[author Don Crabb]

With processing power galore and large monitors, Don proves that the Mac can deliver.

p.97 OS/2 NOTEBOOK Free at Last!

[author Mark J. Minasi]

Thanks to OS/2's new memory architecture, you no longer have to squeeze code into 64K-byte segments.

p.105 NETWORKS Networks Shouldn't Be This Hard

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

Getting PCs up and running on a LAN is too much of a hassle.

Vol.15 n°8 august 1990

COVER STORY

p.152 PRODUCT FOCUS 386SX PCs: Heirs to the Low End

386SX systems bring 386 applications to the desktop without emptying your wallet.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

Product snapshots of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.106 SHORT TAKES

A/UX 2.0, Apple's Unix with a friendly face

DR DOS 5.0. Digital Research eliminates many idiosyncrasies of MS-DOS

IQ Scan, an easy-to-use scanner from Pentax

OS/90, GeoWorks introduces an operating system

Private Eye, Reflection Technology's headset-mourned monitor

p.144 No-Muss, No-Fuss, Low-Cost PostScript Printer

QMS's new laser printer offers speed and automatic emulation for under $3000. Plus, two new Apple LaserWriters.

p.114 WINDOWS SHOPPING

Now for Windows: Ventura Publisher; Vellum; Current 1.1: Authorware Professional; and XVision; plus a resource guide.

p.133 INSIDE WINDOWS 3.0 A Long and Winding Road

Why your old Windows application may not work.

REVIEWS

p.158 BYTE's New Benchmarks

The BYTE Lab unveils a new DOS benchmark suite.

p.170 Faster Gets Smaller

Compaq's speediest compact desktop machine yet.

p.174 Voice Recognition for a Song

Covox's Voice Master and Command Corp.'s Bug.

p.187 A Paradox for LANs and C

Borland's Paradox Engine turns the key to better performance.

p.194 DOS on a Pedestal

DOS goes multiuser with Theo+ DOS.

p.198 New Adventures in Graphic Design

Micrografx's Designer 3.0 rivals competitor Corel Draw.

p.204 Eccentric Mouse Tames Complicated GUIs

CalComp's mouse-digitizer hybrid simplifies PC and Mac use.

STATE OF THE ART

p.208 END-USER PROGRAMMING Introduction

p.211 Full Circle

Finally. modern applications are as easy to customize as they are powerful.

p.217 Natural Selection

Natural-language front ends access databases without a formal query language.

p.227 Managing Multimedia

Authoring systems let nonprogrammers create powerful multimedia applications.

p.235 Scripts Unbounded

New, improved graphical scripting languages may make stand-alone applications obsolete.

p.245 Rexx in Charge

Rexx now can control and coordinate all aspects of the OS/2 environment.

p.254 Do It Yourself

Your guide to end-user programming products.

FEATURES

p.258 Opening Doors for the Disabled

How personal computers offer disabled users professional opportunities.

p.269 A Software Developer Looks at OS/2

OS/2 represents a rich arena for developers, but with pitfalls.

p.277 Mix-and-Match Network Adapters

Two specifications-NDIS and ODLI-simplify adapter driver chores.

p.281 Alternative Operating Systems, Part 1: The QNX Operating System

The first installment of a six-part series.

p.286 Museum Quality

A new Smithsonian exhibit marks 15 years of PCs and includes one of Jerry Pournelle's early machines.

HANDS ON

p.289 UNDER THE HOOD

A close look at font formats from Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe.

p.297 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED

Your 300-dpi PostScript printer ???

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

An "electronic bill of rights."

p.10 Editorial: BYTE's New Benchmarks

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

Readers flirt with assembly.

PERSPECTIVES

p.352 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.354 PRINT QUEUE Of Minds and Men

Is the human mind simply a superalgorithm?

p.356 STOP BIT The Tongues of Men and Machines

[author Richard Hans Pettersen]

Do computer languages reflect the language and culture of the people who created them?

READER SERVICE

p.342 Editorial Index by Company

p.344 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.346 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 348

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX See 256

From BYTEnet: call (617) 861-9764

On disk: see card after 64

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Our Man in Moscow

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Glasnost gives Jerry an inside look at Soviet computing.

p.79 DOWN TO BUSINESS Charting the Course

[author Wayne Rash Jr]

Sophisticated presentation software can produce high-quality slides.

p.85 THE UNIX /bin The Free Software Hit Parade

[author David Fiedler]

A quick review of the most popular free Unix software.

p.91 MACINATIONS Multimedia for Everyone

[author Don Crabb]

Descriptions of realistic multimedia work done by students on Mac Pluses and SEs.

p.95 OS/2 NOTEBOOK Managing LAN Manager 2.0

[author Mark J. Minasi]

The latest version of OS/2 LAN Manager offers integrity, security, and somewhat easier administration.

p.101 NETWORKS Space Patrol

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

Managing thousands of files on today's big server hard disks doesn't have to be a nightmare.

► Lire la revue / Get this issue (archive.org)

Vol.15 n°9 september 1990

THE BYTE SUMMIT

p.218 Editorial: BYTE's 15th Anniversary Summit

What it is, why we're doing it.

p.222 Welcome to the BYTE Summit

Sixty-three of the most creative and influential people in the industry discuss their perspectives on the microcomputer industry of the future.

p.369 15 Years of Bits, Bytes, and Other Great Moments

A look at key events in BYTE, the computer industry, and world history during the last 15 years.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

Product snapshots of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.120 SHORT TAKES

RasterOps Accelerator, speeds up Macintosh graphics

Backpack, MicroSolutions lets you add a drive easily

Legacy, a word processor for Windows 3.0 from NBI

Norton Utilities 5.0, a new version with mixed blessings

HardFacts, information on 6000 hardware products

p.128 The NEC ProSpeed SX/20: Take It and Leave It

This 13-pound laptop can double as a powerful desktop system.

REVIEWS

132 Word Processors That Build Character

The BYTE Lab evaluates 15 WYSIWYG word processors for the Mac and the PC.

p.154 DEC's Latest RISC

Digital Equipment makes a play for the serious workstation user with its revved-up DECstation.

p.159 Windows 3.0 Software Tool for End Users

Asymetrix's TooLBook lets you create Windows 3.0 applications without learning C.

p.162 The Mac at 40 MHz

The Mac Ilfx is a powerful number cruncher in the Mac or Unix environment.

p.169 Two Different Approaches to Mac Portability

The Outbound and Dynamac take opposing approaches.

p.176 Open Desktop: Relief for the Unix-Wary

SCO's Open Desktop may be the shrink-wrapped Unix that DOS users have been waiting for.

p.182 G Is for Graphics

Lotus finally gets graphical with 1-2-3/G.

p.185 9600-bps Modem Brings Apple Networks Closer Together

Thanks to its Apple Talk connector, Shiva's NetModem V.32 can serve as a shared network modem and an internetwork router.

p.188 New Floppy Drive Puts 20-MB Disk in Your Pocket

Q/Cor's new floppy disk drive leads the 20-megabyte vanguard.

p.196 Strictly for Personal Information

A roundup of seven personal information managers shows that there is a way to get organized.

p.206 Speaking OS/2's Native Language

Object-1 speaks to OS/2's Presentation Manager in object-oriented terms.

p.212 Dual-Page Duel: Two High-Resolution Monitors Square Off

New high-resolution monitors from Cornerstone and Radius aren't just for desktop publishing.

p.214 Flashdisk: Not Your Father's RAM Disk

Digipro's Flashdisk plugs up to 8 megabytes of nonvolatile memory into any available 16-bit slot.

FEATURES

p.401 Personal Computing in Eastern Europe

Behind the crumbled Iron Curtain lie lands of high-technology disarray-and opportunity.

p.414 The Creation of the IBM PC

Design choices that culminated in the machine that conquered the microcomputer world.

p.423 Alternative Operating Systems, Part 2: From a Tiny Kernel...

When you're building a real-time operating system, it helps to start small.

p.429 Sounds of Success

Professional sound capabilities, once the exclusive domain of high-end recording studios, are now available to PC users.

HANDS ON

p.445 UNDER THE HOOD Of Monitors and Emissions

What's being done about magnetic fields from monitors?

p.455 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Virtually Virtual Memory

A memory management system for MS-DOS that lets you break the 640K-byte barrier.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

A look at the future and a stroll down memory lane.

p.10 Editorial: Happy Anniversary!

We've thrown you a party.

p.34 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

BYTE readers predict the future.

PERSPECTIVES

p.516 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.518 PRINT QUEUE Images Beget Images

Visualization is a volume that challenges our notions of visual reality.

p.520 STOP BIT Litigation vs. Innovation

Mitch Kapor argues against litigation as a business tactic.

READER SERVICE

p.506 Editorial Index by Company

p.508 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.510 Index to Adver tisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 512

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 466

From B)"TEnet: Call (617) 86 1-9764

On disk: See card after 184

REGIONAL SECTION

begins after page 64

EXPERT ADVICE

p.65 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Fifteen Years and Counting

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Jerry looks back at 15 years of BYTE.

p.81 THE UNIX /bin Future History

[author David Fiedler]

Looking at business software from the last 15 years and the next 15.

p.87 MACINATIONS The Place to Be for DTP

[author Don Crabb]

Talking to professional desktop publishers reveals surprising facts about desktop publishing on the Macintosh.

p.93 DOWN TO BUSINESS Moving Down to Micros

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

Powerful decision-support systems, once used only on mainframes, are now migrating to micros.

p.101 OS/2 NOTEBOOK Mastering OS/2 Threads

[author Douglas A. Hamilton]

Mastery of OS/2 threads taxes developers but rewards users.

p.113 NETWORKS Unite or Die

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

Three developing application areas must unite before LANs can become a part of everyday life in the 1990s.

Vol.15 n°10 october 1990

COVER STORY

p.152 PRODUCT FOCUS Is the Typesetter Obsolete?

High-end desktop publishing packages give you professional results and savings in typesetting costs.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Late-breaking technology and industry reports from the BYTE news staff.

p.42 WHAT'S NEW

The best and brightest of recent hardware and software announcements.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.132 SHORT TAKES

Paradox 3.5, new features from Borland

Business VEISA 32CSX, ALR is Yugo engine on a Ferrari chassis

MediaTracks, Farallon lets you demonstrate software on the Mac

Sharp 9624e, a modem built for heavy full-time use

ATS Convertible Classic, new life for old Macs

p.138 Smalltalk-80 Enters the Nineties

Objectworks\Smalltalk from ParcPlace Systems features 24-bit color and cross-platform support.

p.147 What's NeXT After 1-2-3?

Improv is Lotus's successor to the 1-2-3 throne.

REVIEWS

p.172 486 EISA Machines: A Slow Start in the Fast Lane

Three 486 vendors deliver EISA bus machines, but where are the EISA add-ins?

p.178 Director Takes Charge of Mac Multimedia

MacroMind's new Director 2.0 provides interactive control and input from more audio and video sources.

p.186 Object-Oriented C That Goes VROOMM

Borland's Turbo C++ promises to bring object-oriented programming to the masses.

p.192 Pumping Pixels: Hercules Flexes Its Muscles in 24-bit Color

Hercules's economical graphics card offers 24-bit color display on standard VGA monitors.

p.197 The SX Turns 20

Three 20-MHz SX systems push into 386DX territory.

p.201 A Database Developer That's Different from the Rest

The Clarion Professional Developer provides a complete development environment.

STATE OF THE ART

p.206 OBJECT LESSONS Introduction

p.209 There Is a Silver Bullet

The birth of interchangeable, reusable software components will bring software into the information age.

p.223 Migration Patterns

Simulating object-oriented techniques with procedural languages can help you make the transition to tomorrow's software technology today.

p.233 Database Wars Revisited

The relational and object-oriented camps do battle for database honors.

p.245 Objects-Born and Bred

Object Behavior Analysis provides a conceptual model for the first stage in creating an object-oriented application.

p.257 Auld Lang Syne

Ed Yourdon tackles the question of whether you should jump on the object-oriented bandwagon.

p.265 Objects of Note

Just a sample of the object-oriented products available.

p.268 A Knowledge Engineering Toolkit

The first of a two-part series presenting a knowledge-engineering toolkit for building expert systems.

p.289 ES: A Public Domain Expert System

Develop your own expert systems-or experiment with some sample knowledge bases-with this free program.

p.295 Alternative Operating Systems, Part 3: Theos: Serious Business

A unique multiuser operating system for business applications.

HANDS ON

p.301 UNDER THE HOOD Megafloppies

Four new technologies are in the bidding to be the next standard A drive.

p.311 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Just Between Friends: Talking Tasks

The first part of a series on interprocess communications looks at Microsoft Windows and Desqview.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

Artificial intelligence lives!

p.10 Editorial: Taiwan, the Soviet Union, and You, Part 2

p.33 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

Worldly readers comment on text displays.

PERSPECTIVES

p.364 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.366 PRINT QUEUE Interface/Shplinterface

The latest look-and-feel lawsuit coincides with the arrival of a new book on interface design.

p.368 STOP BIT Spare Me the Details

The next generation of computer interfaces should handle details.

READER SERVICE

p.355 Editorial Index by Company

p.356 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.358 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards. after 360

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: See 204

From BYTEnet: Call (617) 861-9764

EXPERT ADVICE

p.81 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR A Lesson in Maintenance

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Jerry remembers the solution for an old problem and examines the prospects for a new DOS.

p.99 MACINATIONS Science Goes Visual on the Mac

[author Don Crabb]

Get a new view of scientific data with graphics tools from Spyglass.

p.105 THE UNIX /bin Sizing It Down

[author David Fiedler]

A look at RISC versus CISC and the Coherent Unix-like operating system.

p.111 DOWN TO BUSINESS Picture This

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

Now you can make professional presentations quickly and easily.

p.115 NETWORKS Welcome to Lilliput, DEC

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

DEC once again visits the land of microcomputers with LanWorks for Macintosh.

p.127 BEYOND DOS: WINDOWS AND OS/2 Through the OS/2 Porthole

Martin Heller OS/2 rolls out the red carpet for Windows applications.

Vol.15 n°11 fall 1990

IBM SPECIAL EDITION

p.8 Editorial: Guideposts

[author Gene Smarte]

p.15 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Casting a Chaotic Network

[author Jerry Pournelle]

p.37 BEYOND DOS: WINDOWS AND OS/2 Money, SQL, and Spreadsheets

[author Mark J. Minasi]

p.41 MACINATIONS Crossing Over

[author Don Crabb]

p.47 DOWN TO BUSINESS Through a Window, Darkly

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

p.51 THE UNIX /bin IBM and Unix: Perfect Together?

[author David Fiedler]

p.57 NETWORKS Network Perestroika

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

p.244 Editorial Index by Company

FEATURES

p.62 IBM in the NinetieS

[author Nick Baran]

p.75 Benchmarks at a Glance: 1990

[author Stanford Diehl]

p.82 PC GUIs Go Head to Head

[author Stan Miastkowski]

p.89 Stranger in a Strange Land

[author Tom Thompson]

p.97 Programming 32-bit OS/2

[author Martin Heller]

p.105 Multimedia: DVI Arrives

[author Greg Loveria and Don Kinstler]

p.113 DPMI: The DOS Protected Mode Interface

[author L. Brett Glass]

p.121 Optical Storage Primer

[author David A. Harvey]

p.133 Continental Computing

[author Colin Barker]

p.137 Creating Virtual PCs on the 386

[author Man Trask]

p.153 Notebook PCs Set the Portable Standard

[author Paul Schmidt]

p.161 Looking at the Graphical User Interface

[author Bill Nicholls]

p.169 Laying Out the Future

[author Matt and Mary Page]

p.175 Color for the Desktop

[author Rick Cook]

p.183 The Migration of the X Window System

[author David Moore]

p.187 SCSI: The I/O Standard Evolves

[author Bruce Van Dyke]

p.193 Data to the Desktop: The SQL Advantage

[author Robert J. Crutchfield]

p.203 Making the Micro-to-Mainframe Connection

[author Sharon Fisher]

p.207 Don't Worry, Use HLLAPI

[author Mike Fichtelman]

p.217 Adding Value to Your Data

[author George Bond]

p.250 DOS Unbound: Uses of Protected Mode

[author Andrew Schulman]

Vol.15 n°12 november 1990

COVER STORY

p.140 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Compaq Notebook Ups the Ante

The LTE 386s/20 is the high-performance notebook PC to beat.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

"MISC," a new minimalist microprocessor architecture, promises faster systems that can emulate other processor architectures.

p.46 WHAT'S NEW

This month's product selections include GRiD's Isopoint laptop, entry-level multimedia software from MacroMind, a Mac scanner from HSD, and more.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.132

Ventura Publisher, Macintosh Edition 1.0, for a mixed-machine environment

ScanMan 256, Logitech's scanner for Windows 3.0

NewWave 3.0, an updated version from Hewlett-Packard

WinSleuth, Dariana's new diagnostics package

WordPerfect Rhymer, for the student of the sound of language

p.146 The New Macs on the Block

At last, lower prices-and a new design.

p.156 A New Status Quo for Quattro

Borland adds 3-D graphics to its spreadsheet.

p.162 The ALR MPS: Modular Micro Channel

ALR gambles that it can take a bite out of the True Blue market.

p.165 Fast New Systems from NeXT

Faster machines with lower prices and the long-sought floppy disk drive have arrived.

REVIEWS

p.172 PRODUCT FOCUS: Massive Storage for Multiple Platforms

The BYTE Lab puts 15 high-capacity hard disk drives to the test across four operating systems: DOS, Unix, NetWare 386, and the Mac OS.

p.190 High-Performance 486 ATs

The great performance of three 33-MHz 486s shows there's still life in the old AT bus.

p.194 FPU Face-Off

Not all FPUs are created equal. The BYTE Lab shows performance differences among FPUs from AMD, Cyrix, IIT, Intel, and Weitek.

p.205 New Controller Makes SCSI Palatable to PCs

Distributed Processing Technology's SmartConnex/ISA hides SCSI's incompatibility from PCs.

p.221 Windows Takes On WingZ

Informix's graphical spreadsheet puts Windows 3.0 through its paces.

p.227 Mac-ish Interfaces for Unix

Looking Glass and X.desktop provide point-and-click ease of use to Unix.

p.235 New Bubble-Jet Outpaces Portable Printers

Canon's new portable printer bubbles over with sharp resolution and flexibility.

p.239 A Poqet Full of Power

It's small. It's innovative. But is it practical? Wayne Rash Jr. takes the Poqet PC on the road.

p.245 One-Size-Fits-All Code with Lattice C

A royalty-free DOS extender is standard with Lattice's new C compiler.

p.251 Document Management on Networked PCs

Imara and ProFound offer two approaches to keeping track of documents.

p.258 Small, Low-Cost UPSes

Small and inexpensive backup power systems make reliable power an individual choice.

p.262 TravelMate 2000 Lives Up to Its Name

Texas Instruments puts AT-class power in a 4-pound package.

p.266 Pricey Hard Disk Drive Portability

The Disctec 20 provides floppy disk convenience with hard disk storage in a very small package.

p.268 Reviewer's Notebook

A new ALR PowerFlex model, and hard disk confusion at Micro Express.

STATE OF THE ART

p.272 MAGNETIC VS. OPTICAL Introduction

p.275 State of the Media

A look at the conflict between traditional magnetic mass storage devices and optical technologies.

p.283 Crystal Clear Storage

The holostore, a new mass storage device with supercomputer performance, could eliminate the I/O bottleneck.

p.289 Entering a New Phase

Optical and magnetic are at opposite ends of the spectrum. Can phase-change technology bridge the gap?

p.301 The Once and Future King

Hard disk technology will be your primary computer storage medium for years to come.

p.304 Side by Side

You can store more data on a floppy disk if you can get the bits to stand up straight.

p.311 Store Data in a Flash

The flash-memory disk offers a fast and rugged replacement for both hard and floppy disk drives.

p.323 DAT's a Solution

Digital-audiotape technology comes of age.

p.331 Getting Your Byte's Worth

Hardware-based data compression gives you more bang for your QIC, DAT, and hard disk buck.

p.338 Masses of Storage

A guide to companies that provide mass storage solutions.

FEATURES

p.342 Chips for the Nineties and Beyond

New chips may make for higherperformance and unconventional ways of computing.

p.353 Modem Business

Confused by modem standards like 212A, V.22, and V.32bis? Here's help.

p.364 A Knowledge Engineering Toolkit, Part 2

The discussion continues, with a look at backward and forward chaining.

p.373 Hot Links to Go

A look at Windows' and OS/2's Dynamic Data Exchange facility.

Alternative Operating Systems, Part 4: Pick: OS or DBMS?

What do you get when you build an operating system around a database?

p.385 Modula-3

An introduction to the OOP language that grew from Pascal and Modula-2.

HANDS ON

p.395 UNDER THE HOOD The Mouse that Roared

The history, anatomy, and physiology of the desktop mouse.

p.403 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED Talking Tasks, Part 2

Introducing the most common methods of interprocess communications for Unix and OS/2.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

Jerry Pournelle: 10 years with BYTE and counting

p.10 Editorial: Laptop Troubles and Triumphs

p.33 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

Readers find self-realization.

PERSPECTIVES

p.465 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.466 PRINT QUEUE Stomping the Nasties

Professor Kenner examines a new volume by computer virus hunter John McAfee.

p.468 STOP BIT Promises, Promises

A lawyer looks at the warranties-real and implied-that come with computer equipment.

EXPERT ADVICE

p.73 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Multimedia Video

[author Jerry Poumelle]

Jerry looks at multimedia video boards, a new Modula-2, and assorted gadgets.

p.89 DOWN TO BUSINESS The Growth of Groupware

[author Wayne Rash Jr.]

Wayne addresses groupware and how to determine what capabilities your company needs.

p.97 NETWORKS Hard Choices for Network Managers

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

You can't always wait for the perfect network management solution.

p.107 MACINATIONS Working with Windows 3.0 and a Mac

[author Don Crabb]

Don presents the Mac/Windows 3.0 user's interoperability survival guide.

p.119 THE UNIX /bin Not Quite Unix

[author David Fiedler]

The tribulations and treats of using a $100 Unix clone.

p.127 BEYOND DOS: WINDOWS AND OS/2 Tales from the Trenches

[author Steve Mastrianni]

An OS/2 device-driver specialist talks shop.

READER SERVICE

p.454 Editorial Index by Company

p.456 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.458 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 460

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BYTEnet: Call (617) 861-9764

► Lire la revue / Get this issue (archive.org)

Vol.15 n°13 december 1990

COVER STORY

p.250 STATE OF THE ART Advanced Graphics

From wire-frame models to photo-realism: Advanced graphics put work station-quality graphics on your desktop.

NEWS

p.19 MICROBYTES

Near-ultrasonic noise produced by some computer monitors can have negative effects on end users.

44 WHAT'S NEW

HP launches the latest LaserJet, the Mac II gets a 386 processor, AutoCAD goes to release 11, and more.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

p.132 SHORT TAKES

Step 486/50, a technological showpiece from Everex and Velox

Muse, Occam's natural-language interface program

ProLine Backup System, Tecmar's tape backup solution for a NetWare LAN

Amiga 3000UX, a Unix graphics workstation from Commodore

Hardcard IIXL, Plus Development provides easy storage

p.140 Son of SPARCstation

Sun Microsystems ups the midrange workstation ante.

p.142 CompuAdd Delivers a Low-Cost SPARCstation

The SS1 is a faithful clone.

p.144 Solbourne S4000 Outguns SPARCstation 1+

The S4000 uses Solbourne's own integrated, 64-bit CPU.

p.151 Suddenly, Everything's Smallerin Texas

TI's 5.7-pound 386SX notebook.

REVIEWS

p.156 When Laser Printers Can't Cut It

A look at 27 alternatives to the popular laser printer.

p.172 Sony NeWS and MIPS Magnum: A Double Shot of RISC

Two RISC workstations join the low-end Unix market.

p.178 The Norton Utilities for System V

p.179 The Norton Utilities for the Mac

More than just warmed-over versions of the Norton Utilities for DOS.

p.182 CAD and Net Ware 386 Join Forces

IsiCAD's CADVance 4.0 makes good on the promise of multiuser CAD applications.

p.191 NCR's S486/MC33 Has Unique Approach to Reliability

NCR's new 33-MHz 486 Micro Channel system is among the fastest.

p.197 DR DOS Offers Hope for the RAM-Crammed

Digital Research's new MS-DOS competitor promises to make more memory available for applications.

p.201 On Becoming a ClockWise Scheduler

Phase II Software's ClockWise helps manage your time.

p.206 Battle for the Best Unix V /386

New releases from Interactive Systems and The Santa Cruz Operation.

p.209 Microsoft Word Brings PC-Style Word Processing to Unix

Unix word processing takes a turn for the better.

p.213 Plug-and-Play Unix Machine

Dell's Intel-based Unix workstation.

p.221 LAN Manager 2.0: A Force to Be Reckoned With

Microsoft's network flagship proves it is a viable alternative to NetWare.

p.229 A Digital "Quill" for Mac Video Displays

Data Translation's VideoQuill combines text, graphics, and video.

p.233 Unix and 1-2-3

Now you can run Lotus 1-2-3 under Unix.

p.237 A "More Filling" Generation of Tape Backup

Tape drives from Colorado Memory Systems and Core International.

p.246 Reviewer's Notebook

Dolch adds a color screen to an impressive luggable, and Ashton-Tate addresses dBASE IV problems.

STATE OF THE ART

p.250 ADVANCED GRAPHICS Introduction

p.253 Graphics Go 3-D

Creating photo-realistic 3-D images is a real challenge.

p.263 Ray Tracing for Realism

Simulating light rays in a 3-D scene.

p.275 Color WYSIWYG Comes of Age

Matching the colors you see on-screen with your printed output.

p.281 True Color for Windows

Windows 3.0 makes 24-bit color a realistic option.

p.289 Putting the Squeeze on Graphics

Compression technologies for fullcolor graphics and full-motion video.

p.297 HDTV Sparks a Digital Revolution

In the 1990s, the shift will be to high-definition and digital pictures.

p.307 Graphics Engines

A manufacturers roundup.

FEATURES

p.312 Portable Chips

When it comes to chips, small can mean powerful.

p.321 Relational Databases: The Real Story

Is that a relational database manager or not?

p.327 Concurrent C

An AT&T language for programming multiprocessor systems.

p.337 Strength (and Safety) in Numbers

RAID systems may boost PC performance and reliability.

p.341 X.400: Standardizing E-Mail

E-mail is ready to live up to its promise.

p.345 Alternative Operating Systems, Part 5: Unix with a Microscope

Minix, a low-cost Unix, runs on ordinary personal computers.

p.349 Easier Strings for the Mac

C++ routines simplify Macintosh string-handling.

HANDS ON

p.355 UNDER THE HOOD VGA to the Max

A new set of extensions breathes life into Super VGA hardware.

p.361 SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED More Than Just Fast

A look at programming SCSI devices on Macs and MS-DOS machines.

DEPARTMENTS

p.6 Spotlight

Our Print Queue columnist has a long history with BYTE and computers.

p.10 Editorial:

A Laptop on a Chip ... Almost

p.33 Letters, Ask BYTE, and Fixes

BYTE readers join in the 15th anniversary commemoration.

PERSPECTIVES

p.417 CHAOS MANOR MAIL

p.418 PRINT QUEUE A Fairy-Tale Future

High-tech prophet Raymond Kurzweil's latest work is a masterful look at the present and future of intelligent machines.

p.420 STOP BIT A Plea for Software That Works

It's time developers started concentrating on software integrity.

READER SERVICE

p.406 Editorial Index by Company

p.408 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers

p.410 Index to Advertisers by Product Category

Inquiry Reply Cards: after 412

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: Call (800) 227-2985

From BYTEnet: Call (617) 861-9764

On disk: See card afteu 344

REGIONAL SECTION

begins after page 72

EXPERT ADVICE

p.73 COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR Working Smart

[author Jerry Pournelle]

Jerry looks at portable computers and an outlining program.

p.93 DOWN TO BUSINESS Getting Bigger Groupware

[author Wayne Rnsh Jr.]

With groupware, you can communicate with almost anyone, almost anywhere.

p.101 BEYOND DOS: WINDOWS AND OS/2 I've Got DIBs

[author Martin Heller]

Martin presents an overview of Windows and OS/2 color capabilities.

p.105 MACINATIONS Inspiration at the Year's End

[author Don Crabb]

A look at what Apple has accomplished over the year, and an inspirational new product.

p.119 THE UNIX /bin Back to the Workstations II

[author David Fiedler]

Unix workstations and personal computers completely merge.

p.125 NETWORKS Kicking and Screaming into the Present

[author Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings]

DEC slowly embraces PC networking standards.