_{Cover of the March 1986 issue of Compute!}

Compute! was an excellent magazine that covered most popular computers of the time. I was partial to the spin-off Gazette because I had a Commodore 64 but this one was excellent as well. It was a little less technical that Byte but all magazines at the time were technical compared to today. The March 1986 issue includes:

Features

• The Future of Mass Storage - The future was bright for mass storage. 3.5" floppies were replacing 5.25" floppies, Hard drives were becoming affordable, and optical storage for the average user was on the horizon.


• The Computerized Home - Computerized home automation was a thing long before Alexa. The X-10 interface was the de-facto standard and X-10 modules were available for pretty much any platform.


• Switchbox - A type-in puzzle game with versions specifically for the Commodore 128, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, PC, and Amiga.

Reviews

• The Works! - A software package for the Commodore 64 and Apple II that includes 13 programs in the categories of tools, organizers, arts, and learning.


• Under Fire - A World War II strategy game for the Apple II.


• M-Disk - Software for creating a RAM Disk on the Atari ST.


• Atari XM301 Modem - A 300bps direct connect modem for Atari 8-bit computers.

_{Table of Contents from the March 1986 issue of Compute!}

Columns and Departments

• The Editor's Notes - A comparison of the new Amiga and Atari ST.


• Readers' Feedback - Letters from readers about code comments, computers for charity, recording music on the Amiga, and more.


• HOTWARE - The top five selling software titles in three different categories. In the top places were F-15 Strike Eagle (Entertainment), Typing Tutor III (Education), and Print Shop (Home Management).


• INSIGHT: Atari - A look at Atari character codes. Atari 8-bit computers used a variant of ASCII called ATASCII.


• The Beginner's Page: Cutting Strings Without Scissors - How to split strings in BASIC.


• Computers and Society: Humanizing the User Interface, Part 1 - Exploring ways to make the user interface easier to use and more intuitive.

The Journal

• IBM Fractal Graphics - Three type-in programs for creating fractals on the IBM PC and PCjr.


• Commodore ML Saver - A type-in program for saving machine language programs directly from memory to disk on the Commodore 64.


• Loading and Linking Commodore Programs, Part 1 - The first in a series of article on loading, chaining, and overlaying programs on Commodore computers.


• Atari P/M Graphics Toolkit - Atari Player/Missile graphics is the Atari 8-bit version of sprites. This type-in toolkit makes it easier to develop and use P/M graphics on the Atari.


• MultiMemory for Commodore 64 and Apple - Short type-in programs for the Commodore 64 and Apple II that allow you to segment memory for loading multiple BASIC programs.


• Experimenting with SID Sound - Some examples for controlling the Commodore 64's SID sound chip.

_{Back cover of the March 1986 issue of Compute!}

Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2025/07/19/compute-march-1986/

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Books I am reading or have recently read:

Red Star Falling by Steve Berry.
A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry
The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson

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