Byte tended to be the most technical of mainstream computer magazines though it became less so over time. It was not PC specific (after all, it was being published long before IBM's PC was released) but by the late 1980s, the majority of its coverage was oriented towards the PC. The May 1988 issue includes:

Products in Perspective

What's New - A brief look at new products including the Datacomputer 3.0, faster 386 systems from ALR, A 286 system from Golden Arche, a 1.44MB floppy drive kit from Toshiba, the DEC DF212 and DF242 modems, RamQuest II RAM expansion board for PS/2s, Ethernet for the Mac II, the Bondwell-8 Turbo laptop with 1MB RAM, and more.

Short Takes - A hands-on look at new products including the TurboPort 386 Model 40 laptop from Zenith (includes 386 processor at 12 MHz, 2 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive, and a fluorescently backlit supertwist liquid crystal display for $7599), external 3.5" and 5.25" disk drives for the PS/2 from Sysgen, WordPerfect for the Mac, and more.

_{Table of Contents from the May 1988 issue of Byte}

Reviews

Word Processors for Desktop Publishing - An overview of word processors with desktop publishing features. Products looked at here include DisplayWrite 4, MASS-11, Microsoft Word, MultiMate Advantage II, OfficeWriter, Senna Word IV, SmartWord, WordPerfect, Wordstar 2000 Plus, and XyWrite III Plus.

Upscaled Power in a Downscaled Box - A look at Amdek's System/386 PC. It includes a 16-MHz 80386 CPU, 1 MB of RAM, a 1.2MB 5.25" floppy drive, 40 MB hard drive, and more for $5949.

Dynamac's Portable Mac - A Dynamac EL laptop was basically a repackaged Mac Plus in laptop format. As reviewed here it would set you back well over $8k.

Remaking a Classic - A look at a new series of LaserWriter IIs including the IISC, IINT, and IINTX.

PCs and Macs Working Together - A look at three products for sharing files between a PC and a Mac including QuickShare, DaynaFile, and MatchMaker.

Microsoft Windows 2.03 and Windows/386 - A look at what was then the latest versions of Windows. Windows didn't really catch on until 3.0/3.1.

_{Table of Contents from the May 1988 issue of Byte (continued)}

Columns

Computing at Chaos Manor: Shifting into High Gear - Installing a US Robotics Courier HST modem plus hands-on with other products including Business Class (Activision), Cyber Studio (Antic Publishing), DeskLink and LapLink Mac (Traveling Software), MathCAD (MathSoft), Physics (Broderbund), Geometery (Broderbund), TK! Solver Plus (Universal Technical Systems), and more.

Applications Only: Pin-Money Programs - A look at useful inexpensive software including Electronic Call Screening, LaserSpeed, The Worksheet Utilities, and Celerity.

In Depth: CPU Architectures

The CPU Wars - A look at different CPU architectures and the design philosophies behind them. CPUs such as the 8086, 68000, 6502, SPARC, and others are discussed.

What They Did Wrong - A look at the shortcomings of various CPUs including the 6502, 8080, Z80, 8086, and others.

Modeling Chaos - A look at a parallel CPU architectures.

Features

Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: The SmartSpooler Part 2: Software and Operation - The second part in a series on building a remote data-processing computer.

POP Goes the Macintosh - A look at POP-11, a powerful AI programming language now available for the Mac.

Searching for Text? Send an N-Gram! - A method of fingerprinting a document to make it easier to find.

Departments

Editorial: Graphics, DTP, and Price Wars - A look at increasing competition in the Desktop Publishing industry.

Microbytes - Engineers put print head on a chip; Intel introduces a new C Compiler for embedded applications; the rise of Ada; an ISDN demo; and more.

Letters - Letters from readers about Lisp, the Heath HV-2000 speech card, speech software, MathCAD, AI, WORM drives, and more.

_{Back cover of the May 1988 issue of Byte}

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Byte (May 1988)