_{Cover of the October 1986 issue of Byte}

Byte was perhaps the best computer magazine throughout most of its life. It tended to be a bit more technical that most and continued to cover non-IBM compatible systems longer that most multi-format magazines survived. The October 1986 issue includes:

Features

• Product Preview: The Apple II GS - A detailed first look at Apple's 16-bit successor to the Apple II line.


• Ciarcia's Circuit Cellar: Build an Intelligent Serial EPROM Programmer - A hardware project that allows you to program your own EPROMs.


• Programming Project: Safe Storage Allocation - Various methods of safely allocating and de-allocating memory.

_{Table of Contents from the October 1986 issue of Byte}

Theme: Public Domain Powerhouses

• PD Prolog - A look at a public domain Prolog implementation.


• An Icon Tutorial - ICON is a high-level general-purpose programming language that emphasizes nonnumeric computation. Apparently it wasn't very successful...at least I have never heard of it.


• Enhanced Console Driver - A replacement for ANSI.SYS designed for creating a more user-friendly interface for DOS.

Reviews

• The Commodore Amiga - A detailed review of the Commodore Amiga which would later be known as the Amiga 1000.


• The Compaq Portable II - A suitcase style 286 based portable computer with as similar design as the original Compaq Portable.


• Four 1/4-inch Tape Backup Units - Reviews of various tape backup drives including the QIC-60, Smart QIC-File, FT-60, TG-4060, and Videotrax.


• muLISP-86 - A customizable LISP implementation with an optional compiler.

_{Table of Contents from the October 1986 issue of Byte (continued)}

Kernel

• Computing At Chaos Manor: The Show Goes On? - A disappointing National Computer Conference and discussions of various products including Aegis Images, FancyWord, Gator S/20, Geometry, MacSpin, Norton Commander, Ready!, ScenicWriter, Turbo Prolog, Wilderness, Word Finder, Z-181 Portable Computer, and more.


• According to Webster: Bit by Bit: Putting It Together - A look at the product of the month, Advanced Trace86, a tool for 8088 assembly language programming.


• Applications Only: Shareware - A look at some of the latest and greatest shareware including Recall, TSRCOM, Pibterm, ProComm, Qmodem, and PC-Shell.


• BYTE Japan: Taiwan's Computex 1986 - A look at inexpensive Taiwanese PC clones.


• BYTE U.K.: BASIC to C - A project for translating BASIC programs into C.


• Editorial: Signs of Vitality - Some signs of renewed vitality in the desktop market include trends toward open hardware including in the new Apple IIGS, the introduction of the 80386, upcoming 68020 based Macs and Amigas, and more.

_{Back cover of the October 1986 issue of Byte}

Read more: https://www.megalextoria.com/wordpress/index.php/2026/03/15/byte-october-1986/

Books I am reading or have recently read:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

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