PC World was one of the first major PC dedicated magazines. Unlike other early magazines like Byte and Compute!, it exclusively covered the PC. The October 1985 issue includes:
Getting Started
The Cookie Cutter - Using spreadsheets for manufacturing flow and inventory.
PBX: The Network Switch - Using an existing PBX as an alternative to a LAN.
Community
World Class PC - Readers pick the best PC products. Some of the products covered here include Borland's SideKick, Lotus 1-2-3, the IBM PC AT, the Compaq Portable Computer, the Data General/One, the Iomega Bernoulli Box, the Hayes Smartmodem 1200, WordPerfect, Crosstalk, Turbo Pascal, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Norton Utilities, and much more.
Europe: Accent on Competition - A look at the state of personal computing in Europe.
Flipping Over Ability - A look at Xanaro's Ability, an integrated suite of applications featuring a word processor, spreadsheet, database, telecommunications, and more.
Maximum Returns - A look at two tax preparation applications including Tax Machine and Micro-Tax.
A 1-2-3 Foursome - Template packages for Lotus 1-2-3 including Bottomline V (financial planning), Key II (database functions), CPA+ (accounting), and more.
On the Trail of The Datavue 25 - An evaluation of Quadram's Datavue 25. This is a portable PC compatible computer featuring a 4.8 MHz 80C88 CPU, 360K disk drive, and 128K of RAM. It also had a non-backlit 25 line by 80 character LCD display and an IR keyboard.
Every Word a Key - A comparison of two file indexing and search applications, ZyIndex and 4-1-1.
Present WordPerfect - A review of the latest version of WordPerfect.
State of the Art
MIDI: The Music Interface - An overview of the MIDI standard which was new at the time.
Lawyers Online - An online law library from Lexis and Westlaw.
Retrofit Your PC - A guide to upgrading your PC to an XT, AT, and beyond.
Departments
David Bunnell - A tribute to Andrew Flugelman, founding editor of both PC World and Macworld among other things.
REMark - The "clean" computer industry in Silicon Valley turns out to be not so clean.
John C. Dvorak - Comparing the computer industry to the early automobile industry.
Letters - Readers write in about hard drive problems with the IBM PC AT, CD sound quality, Samna Word III, and more.
PC World View - IBM is predicted to develop its own line of microprocessors that may end PC compatibility.
The Help Screen - Questions answered about installing software on an external hard drive and looking at the previous directory with batch files,
From the Software Shelf - A first look at new software including Squire (a financial planning simulation), The Advertizer (software for creating a text only slide show), SAT Score Improvement System, and Real Estate Models for the Eighties.
From the Hardware Shelf - A first look at new hardware including PC Turbocharger (an 8086 replacement for 8088 based PCs), the Kaypro 16 (a luggable computer containing a 10MB hard drive, 256K RAM, and built-in 9-inch monochrome monitor for $3295), and PCTurbo-186 (an accelerator board featuring the 80186).
Password: Communicate - Various telecommunications related items including a look at a FidoNet BBS.
