_{Cover of the August 1987 issue of Compute!}

Compute! was a multiformat magazine that covered a variety of popular machines. It was one of the better magazines in this category, especially if you wanted something more home computer oriented and a little less technical than Byte. The August 1987 issue includes:

Features

• Compute!'s Readership Survey - A survey for readers that asks questions like what kind of computer you use, what kind of applications, etc. This was used in part to determine coverage in future issues.


• CES and COMDEX: A Tale of Two Cities - Comparing the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago with COMDEX in Atlanta. Both were big shows for electronics and computer software and hardware.


• >Climber 5 - A type in game for the Commodore 64, Atari, Amiga, Apple II, and PC in which you must climb to the top of a building to retrieve a baseball while avoiding various obstacles.

Reviews

• Bank Street Writer Plus - A word processor for the Apple II line and the IBM PC.


• Might and Magic - The classic fantasy RPG reviewed here for the Apple II.


• Space M+A+X - A simulation in which you must make money operating a space station for the IBM PC.


• Realms of Darkness - Another role-playing game, this one from Strategic Simulations (SSI) for the Apple II and Commodore 64.

_{Table of Contents from the August 1987 issue of Compute!}

Columns and Departments

• The Editor's Note - Recent advancements in superconductivity and its implications for computing.


• Readers' Feedback - Readers write in about the future of 5.25" disks, checking the CAPS key on the Atari 130XE, the importance of saving a typed-in program before running it, upgrading an Amiga CPU, and more.


• Computers and Society: The Next Gutenberg Revolution - Desktop publishing becomes more affordable with the introduction of Atari's laser printer for the ST.


• The World Inside the Computer: Robert Evans Meets the Xerox 4020 - A look at a new printer from Xerox featuring ink jet technology.


• Microscope - A look at IBM's new PS/2 line (an their marketing), and some comparisons with the Atari ST and Amiga.


• Telecomputing Today: A Conversion Experience - Issues converting an old MacWrite disk to a new system with a utility download coming to the rescue.


• The Beginner's Page: Program Loops - A look at GOTO, FOR-NEXT, and WHILE-END loops in BASIC.


• IBM Personal Computing: What to Do About Junior - The merits of upgrading a PCjr (or lack thereof) vs. getting a whole new PC.


• AmigaView: All About Icons - Creating your own icons.


• ST Outlook: Page Flipping - A tutorial for flipping between multiple display screens.


• INSIGHT: Atari - Graphics: From BASIC to ML - A look at how Atari BASIC converts graphics commands to machine language.

The Journal

• 64 Eighty - A type-in program that will give you an 80-column display on the Commodore 64. A similar software trick was used in a terminal program I used back in the day. It's not as high quality as a genuine 80-column displays (the C64s native display is 40 columns) but it was pretty good.


• BASIC Batch Files with Atari DOS - How to execute BASIC commands (or other things) upon startup.


• Math Graphics for Atari ST - A couple of type-in graphics demos for the ST.


• Compress and Decompress - A couple of type-in utilities for compressing and decompressing high-res graphics files on the Apple II.
  
• Fractal Mountains for Amiga - A type-in program that will generate fractal graphics on the Amiga.


• Pop-Up ASCII Table for IBM - A type-in utility that runs in the background and will give you a pop-up ASCII table on a keypress.


• XpressCard Filing System for the Commodore 64 - A type-in database program for the C64.


• ML Relocator - A type-in machine language utility that will let you move ML programs around in memory that normally need to use the same memory space.


• SoftSprite - A type-in machine language routine that adds commands to BASIC that allow you to quickly move shapes around the screen.


• The Power of ON-GOTO and ON-GOSUB - A tutorial for using the conditional ON-GOTO and ON-GOSUB commands in BASIC on the Atari (and most other machines with BASIC).


• Chaining Programs in Applesoft BASIC - A tutorial for calling one program from another.


• The 128's CHAR Statement - A detailed look into the BASIC CHAR statement on the Commodore 128 by Jim Butterfield.


• Comparing BASIC Programs - A type-in BASIC program for the PC that will compare two BASIC programs and report any differences. So basically a diff program for BASIC.


• News and Products - Life Simulation 100 is a sim of possible consequences based on various choices; Diskette Manager Plus 1.1 and Diskette Manager II disk manager for the PC; Time Scrolls for the Mac reports on what happened the day you were born; Up Periscope and Sentry games for the Commodore 64; and much more.

_{Back cover of the August 1987 issue of Compute!}

...and more!

Check out some of my other recent posts:

Vintage Photos - Lot 3 (765-768) https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-3-765

Byte (February 1988) https://ecency.com/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/byte-february-1988

Vintage Photos - Lot 3 (761-764) https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-3-761

Computer Shopper (February 1988) https://ecency.com/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/computer-shopper-february-1988

Vintage Photos - Lot 3 (757-760) https://ecency.com/photography/@darth-azrael/vintage-photos-lot-3-757

Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 530s https://ecency.com/retrocomputing/@darth-azrael/digital-archaeology-dell-inspiron-530s

Check out my other Social Media haunts (though most content is links to stuff I posted on Hive or re-posts of stuff originally posted on Hive):

Wordpress: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/darth-azrael Blogger: https://megalextoria.blogspot.com/ Odyssee: https://odysee.com/@Megalextoria:b Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/c-2385054 Daily Motion: https://www.dailymotion.com/Megalextoria

Books I am reading or have recently read:

The Altar Path by Joseph Lisiewski. Red Star Falling by Steve Berry. A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians by H.G. Parry

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