_{Cover of the March 1988 of Compute!}

Compute! covered various home computers over the years. It was a little less technical than Byte (for example) at least in terms of hardware coverage. However, it was a great magazine and had numerous spin-off, the most successful of which was Gazette for the Commodore 64/128. The March 1988 issue of Compute! includes:

Features

Computers: The Powerful, New Music Machines - A short history of computers in music and the technology currently available.

Buyer's Guide to Tax Preparation Software - An overview of then curren tax software including DivorceTax (DOS), Estate Tax Planner (DOS), Everything You Need To Do Your Taxes With Lotus 1-2-3 (DOS), EZTax-Prep 1040 (Apple II, DOS, Macintosh), EZTax-Plan Personal Edition (DOS), Future-Tax (Commodore 64, Plus/4), J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 1988 (DOS), MacInTax (Macintosh), PC/TaxCut (DOS), Quick Returns! (Apple II, Macintosh, DOS), Swiftax (Commodore 64/128), Taxaid (Commodore 64, Plus/4), TaxView Planner (DOS), Tax Advantage (Apple II, DOS), The Tax Advantage (DOS, Apple II, Atari, Atari ST, Commodore 64/128), Tax Command Planner (Commodore 64/128, Apple II, DOS), Tax Command Professional (Commodore 64/128, Apple II, DOS), and many more.

Casino Blackjack - A type-in blackjack game for the Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit, DOS, Apple II, and Amiga.

Centerstage: AMIGA! - The World of Commodore Show - While there was plenty of Commodore 64/128 stuff on display and a new XT compatible PC 10-III model from Commodore, the Amiga was the focus at the 1987 World of Commodore show.

The Amiga Virus - Apparently, the World of Commodore show was ground zero for the spread of a virus for the Amiga.

Reviews

Top Fuel Eliminator - A drag racing game from Activision for the Commodore 64 and Apple II.

Thexder - An arcade style game reviewed here for the Apple IIgs and also available for DOS.

ProDrive for the Amiga - A third part 3.5" disk drive for the Amiga that is compatible with the Amiga 1010 drive.

Dark Castle - Dark Castle is a horror themed action game that has beautiful graphics but a very high degree of difficulty. The Amiga version is reviewed here but it was also available for DOS, the Macintosh, Atari ST, and Commodore 64.

Postcards - Software from Activision for creating postcards for the Apple II (reviewed here), Macintosh, Commodore 64, and DOS.

Empire - This strategy game would become a classic. Reviewed here for the Atari ST with DOS, Apple II and Amiga versions available.

_{Table of Contents from the March 1988 of Compute!}

Columns and Departments

The Editor's Notes - A look at the Winter Consumer Electronics Show.

Readers' Feedback - Letters from readers about copying Commodore 64 BASIC from ROM to RAM, the Atari BASIC NEW command, using Commodore 1541 and 1571 disk drives together, and more.

Microscope - IBM celebrates shipping one-millionth IBM PS/2, the Amiga reaches an installed base of 500,000 meanwhile the Commodore 64 is still popular with an installed base of over 10 million, Motorola announces 68030, Apple announces that 200,000 Apple IIgs systems have been sold, and more.

Computers and Society: Computers, Writing, and AI - Some of the limitations of spell checkers in word processors.

The Beginner's Page: Making Music with BASIC - A tutorial for creating music in BASIC with the Amiga, Atari, Atari ST, Commodore 128, and IBM PC.

IBM Personal Computing: Computer Stew - A look at God Speed Bible software and John Sculley's book, Odyssey, about his history at Pepsi and Apple.

The World Inside the Computer: Computers of the Future - Readers describe what they think computers of the future will be like.

Telecomputing Today: The Trojan Wars - This article talks about the risk of Trojans when downloading software. It credits a BASIC statement on Commodore PET computers that could actually damage hardware as being the first. It also talks about a new variant called viruses.

AmigaView: Third-Party Hardware and Software - A look a third party hardware for the Amiga including accelerators, SCSI controllers, memory expansion, and more as well as new software such as Superbase Professional, DeluxeWrite, Publisher 1000, and more.

ST Outlook: Snooping Into Your Disks - A type-in program that will let you examine the content of disks on the Atari ST.

INSIGHT: Atari - More on Structure - A follow-up article on structured programming and structured data types on the Atari 8-bit.

The Journal

Cursor Plus - A type-in program for Atari 8-bit computers that expands the capabilities of the editor.

Math Graphics for the IBM PC - Two type-in programs for creating graphical displays based on math.

The Elementary Amiga, Part 4 - The fourth part in a series on using the Amiga. This part includes information about directories, logical drives, command files, and more.