Compute! (March 1990)

_{Cover of the March 1990 Issue of Compute!}

Compute! Covered many computers over its long life. At one point, it specialized in 6502 based computers. By 1990, Compute! was becoming more PC centric but it was still covering other popular computers including the Apple II, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Macintosh.

Buy Low, Sell High - An article on using your PC for investing. It covers dedicated software like Market Manger Plus 2.0 as well as subscription services like Value/Screen II which included software and monthly data disks. This data wasn't cheap though. $396 for a year. There are 15 software packages and online services examined here.

My View - A guide to the kind of equipment and software you would need for financial planning type activities. These include a fast 8088 based to 80286 PC preferably with a hard drive, a 2400-baud modem, dot matrix printer, and various software.

Smart Money - An overview of six personal finance software packages to help you balance your checkbook.

_{Table of Contents from the March 1990 Issue of Compute!}

Departments

News & Notes - Toolworks and Mindscape merge, Xerox sues Apple, Spectrum Holobyte sues Accolade over Tetris clone, Atari and other third parties sue Nintendo over marketing and licensing practices, new TurboTax/Quicken bundle, IBM cuts 10,000 jobs, Hot Circuits video arcade museum opens in Astoria New York, and more.

Letters - Letters from readers about a QuickWrite review, a Zip code database, Game Blaster and Killer Kard (which became Sound Blaster before its release and was released at $239.95), and more.

MS-DOS - Organizing files on disk, PC-Kwik Power Disk disk optimizer, Vq2 search retrieval tool, the OmniKey/102 keyboard, and more.

Commodore 64/128 - The 1989 world of Commodore Show, RAMLink from CMD, GEORAM 512K memory expansion for GEOS, and more.

Apple II - The Oregon Trailer on sale from MECC for $39.95 (I had this for the Commodore 64), Dino Days graphics and word processing software for kids, and more

Amiga - VoRecOne voice recognition add-on, F-16 Combat Pilot from Electronic Arts, Jet Instrument Trainer, and more.

_{Table of Contents from the March 1990 Issue of Compute! (continued)}

Productivity

Compute! Choice - A comparison of Lotus Spreadsheet for DeskMate and Lotus 1-2-3.

Mail-Order Smart - The advantages and common issues with purchasing computer software and hardware via mail order. I was buying stuff for my Commodore 64 via mail order around this time. Items I know I got that way include a new power supply, modem, printer, monitor, and a couple of games.

Learning

Compute! Choice - A review of Super Solvers Midnight Rescue! from The Learning Company.

Preschool Precepts - A guide to selecting good preschool software including an overview of various titles.

Entertainment

Compute! Choice - A review of Lucasfilm Games' The Battle of Britain: Their Finest hour for DOS.

Take Off! - An overview of the latest flight simulators including Flight Simulator 4.0, F-15 Strike Eagle II, A-10 Tank Killer, Blue Angels, and UFO.