FEBRUARY 1989 BVTE PERSONAL WORKSTATIONS • C COMPILERS • MAC SE/30 Volume 14, Number 2

Special Section: Personal Workstations in Depth

FEBRUARY 1989 A McGRAW-HILL PUBLICATION

REVIEWS

Portable ATs from Zenith and Mitsubishi

MASM, Turbo Assembler, and OPTASM

Tandy 5000 MC dBASE IV

PRODUCT FOCUS

The New Mac SE/30

Mac II power with

an SE price

PLUS

Paradox 3 A Contender for “Best DBMS”

Digital Paper Turbo Windowina

o

$3.50 U.S.A./S4.50 IN CANADA 0350-5200

TO ALLAY YOUR SUSPICIONS

Your Total Satisfaction Is Guaranteed.

Dell offers a complete line of systems, peripherals and software.

And whatever you choose, you must be absolutely, totally satisfied with it. If not, simply return it within the first 30 days fora money-back refund. No questions asked. We call this our Total Satisfaction Guarantee.

Support Is

A Free Phone Call Away.

Also included in your system price is our toll-free support

The New 25 MHz 386 System 325.

The Dell 20 MHz 386 System 310.

line. It’s open every business day from 7 AM to 7 PM (CT). Simply dial (800) 624-9896.

On-Site Service Is Included In Your System Price.

For those rare problems that can’t be handled over the phone, we’ll send a service technician to your location by the next business day. At absolutely no charge to you? Because included in system price is a year’s worth of

When you need the highest possible performance of any 386, this is the tech¬ nology of choice. Running at 25 MHz, the System 325 is faster than the Com¬ paq 386/25. Besides unequaled speed, it also offers Intel’s Advanced 82385 Cache Memory Controller and high perfor¬ mance disk drives. As a result, it gives you workstation-level performance for CAD/CAM and desktop publishing applications. It’s also especially effective as a network file server, and more than capable of handling the most complex spreadsheets and databases.

For business users who need a 386 sys¬ tem, this is the best combination of per¬ formance and value available. Running at 20 MHz, this 32-bit system is faster than the IBM PS/2 Model 70 and the Compaq 386/20e. Since it has the same high performance disk drives and Intel Advanced 82385 Cache Memory Con¬ troller as our System 325, it brings a new level of performance to complex spread¬ sheets and databases. As you might expect, it runs windowed software at extremely high speed. It’s also well-suited for desk¬ top publishing applications, or as a net¬ work file server.

on-site service.

One-Year Warranty.

Dell offers a one-year limited warranty, which warrants each system we manufacture to be free of defects in materials and workmanship for one full year. During that period we will repair or replace any defective products returned to our factory.

For a lot of companies, leasing our systems is an even better idea because of the cash flow and tax advantages. And we guarantee fixed rates, so you know exactly how much to budget each month. We can even custom design a lease plan to fit the exact needs of your business.

For the complete terms of our On-Site Service Con¬ tract, Satisfaction Guarantee, Warranty and leasing plans, write: Dell Computer Corporation, 9505 Arboretum Blvd.,

Standard Features:

■ Intel 80386 microprocessor running at 25 MHz.

• I MB of RAM* * expandable to 16 MB using a dedicated ihigh speed 32-bit memory slot.

- Advanced b\tel 82385 Cache Memory Controller with 32 'KB of high speed static RAM cache.

• hge mock interleaved memory architecture.

• VGA svs&tra include a high performance 16- fcit video adopter.

• Socket for 25 MHz Intel 80387 or 25 MHz WEITEK 3167 math coprocessor.

• 5.25 " 1.2 MB or 3.5" 1.44 MB diskette drive.

• Dual diskette and hard disk drive controller.

• Enhanced 101-key keyboard.

a 1 parallel and 2 serial ports.

• 200-watt power supply.

• 8 industry standard expansion slots.

Options:

• 25 MHz Intel 80387 math coprocessor.

• I MB or 4 MB memory upgrade kit.

• 2 MB or 8 MB memory expansion board kit.

• * Lease for as low as $245/ Month.

Austin, Texas 78759-7299.

The Dell System 325 is an FCC Class A device, intended for business use only.

Standard Features:

• Intel 80386 microprocessor running at 20 MHz.

• 1 MB of RAM* expandable to 16 MB using a dedicated high speed 32-bit memory slot.

•Advanced Intel 82385 Cache Memory Controller with 32 KB of high speed static RAM cache.

• Page mode interleaved memory architecture.

• VGA systems include a high performance 16- bit video adapter.

• Socket for 20 MHz Intel 80387 or 20 MHz WEITEK 3167 math coprocessor.

• 5.25 " 1.2 MB or 3.5 " 1.44 MB diskette drive.

• Dual diskette and hard disk drive controller.

• Enhanced 101-key keyboard.

• 1 parallel and 2 senal ports.

• 200-watt power supply.

• 8 industry standard expansion slots.

Options:

• 20 MHz Intel 80387 math coprocessor.

• 1 MB or 4 MB memory upgrade kit.

• 2 MB or 8 MB memory expansion board kit.

• * Lease for as low as $140/ Month.

All prices and specifications are subject to change without notice. Dell cannot be responsible for errors in typography or photography. ••Payments based on a 36-month open-end lease. In Canada, configurations and prices will vary. Microsoft, MS and MS-DOS are registered trademarks owned by Microsoft Corp. Signifies trademarks of entities other than Dell Computer

PLEASE CALL

426*5150.

The Dell 20 MHz 286 System 220.

It's an 802 86 system that's as fast as most 386 computers. But at less than half the price. Which means you get the best price/performanee of any system. The System 220 runs at 20 MHz, with less than one waiE state. It also features com¬ plete compatibility with Microsoft MS- DOS and MS OS/2, plus a remarkably small footprint. The System 220 is the ideal executive workstation.

Standard Features:

■ 80286 microprocessor miming at 20 MHz.

4 1 MB of RAM* expandable to 16 MB+ (8 MB+ on system board)*

* Ihge mode interleaved memory architecture. s Integrated diskette and VGA video controller

on system board.

4 Socket for Intel 80287 math coprocessor.

* One 3.5 M 1.44 MB diskette drive.

- Integrated high performance hard disk inter¬ face on system board.

4 Enhanced 101-key keyboard.

1 1 parallel and 2 serial ports integrated on system board.

* 3 full-sized industry standard expansion slots available*

Options:

" External 525" 1,2 MB diskette drive. •3.5*1.44 MB diskette drive*

- Intel 80287 math coprocessor.

* I MB RAM upgrade kit.

**Lmtfcr as low as $85/Mmih

The Dell 12.5 MHz System 200.

A great value in a full-featured AT com¬ patible. An 80286 computer running at 12.5 MHz, this computer is completely Microsoft MS-DOS and MS OS/2 com¬ patible The System 200 offers high speed drive options, industry standard com¬ patible BIOS and on-site service. As Executive Computing said of this com¬ puter's predecessor* 'Tf faster processing speed and low cost are two key issues affecting your purchase decision, this machine might be the ideal choice for your office!’

Standard Features:

*80286 microprocessor running at 12.5 MHz.

• 640 KB of RAM expandable to 16 MB+ (4.6 MBf on system board).

- Socket for Intel 80237 math coprocessor.

- 5.25 w 1.2 MB or 3.5" 1.44 MB diskette drive.

• Dual diskette and hard disk drive controller*

- Enhanced 101-key keyboard.

• 1 parallel and 2 serial ports.

• 200 -watt power supply.

- 6 industry standard expansion slots.

Options:

• Intel 80287 math coprocessor.

- 512 KB RAM upgrade kit.

as low as $99/ Month

♦Performance Enhancements (Systems 32 5 t 310 and 220):

6-10 KB is available for programs and d*Ua. The remaining 384 KB is reserved for use by the sys¬ tem to enhance performance.

tUsing 1 MB SIMMs. Inquirers to availability.

Laser Printers And More.

The obvious companion for a high performance Dell system is a Del! laser or dot matrix primer. All printers come with 30 -day money -back guarantee. And be sure to ask about our software offerings, which include most popular third-party applications as well as Dell Enhanced operating system software.

Laser Printers.

Laser System 150, 15 pages per minute: 55,995.

La se r Sy ste m 80, 8 pages per m i n u te : $3 ,295 .

Lase r Sy ste m 60, 6 pages per m i n u tc ; S2 , 1 95 ,

All Dell laser printers come with L5 MB RAM, full- page 300 DPI graphics, and have 31 standard fonts (7 resident and 24 down-loadable from diskette)* Dell laser printers also provide Hewlett-Packard LaserJet, Epson/FX, IBM Proprimer and Diablo 630 emulations.

Dot Matrix Printers.

Printer System 800: $699.95.

Our highest resolution text and graphics, 24 -pin dot matrix printer. Draft quality at 200 cps. Letter quality at 66 cps. Parallel and serial interfaces. Wide carriage.

Printers ystem 600 : $499. 95 .

9-pin dot matrix. Draft quality at 240 cps. Near-letter quality at 60 cps. Parallel interface. Wide carriage*

Printer System 300: 5199,95.

9-pin dot matrix. Draft quality at 144 cps. Near-letter quality at 36 cps. Four standard fonts. Parallel interface. Narrow carriage.

Operating System Software.

Dell Enhanced Microsoft* MS-DOS* 3.3: 599.95

Dell Enhanced Microsoft MS-DOS 4.0: S 1 1 9.95

(Both MS-DOS versions with disk cache and other utilities) Dell Enhanced MS'* OS/2 Standard Edition 1,0: 5324.95

To Order, Please Call

00-426-5150

In Canada, Call 800-387-5752

Corporation. '-Service in remote locations will incur additional travel charges. '<;39SS DELL COMPUTER CO RPORATION.

AD COPE NO. I1EB9

WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THE DELL 386 SYSTEMS,

Despite Their

SUSPICIOUSLY LOW PRICES.

ur 386-based systems are priced about 35% less than comparable systems-like Compaq’s? Which may make you wonder if we’ve left some¬ thing important out. Like high performance.

Well we haven’t.

In fact, these are among the fastest 386-based systems available. With more advanced features than you’d get in systems that list for up to $3000 more.

Like Compaq’s.

For instance, our 20 MHz System 310 offers you the best value available in any 386-based sys¬ tem. PC Magazine (6/14/88) describes it as “fast enough to bum the sand off a desert floor.”

And If That Sounds Fast, Wait Till You See Our New 25 MHz 386-Based System.

At 25 MHz, our new System 325 offers you the highest possible performance in a 386. Like the System 310, it utilizes the very latest technology, including the Intel 82385 Cache Memory Con¬ troller, advanced 32-bit architecture and high per¬ formance drives. And of course, both systems are fully IBM PC compatible. (For more detailed specifications, see the inside pages.)

But speed isn’t the only reason to buy from us. Or even the best reason.

The First Personal Computer That’s Truly Personal.

Dell configures systems to your own personal specifications. After an

evaluation of your needs, we’ll help you select the features that are right for you. After your system unit is custom built, we’ll bum-in every¬ thing, add-in boards and all, to make sure the entire system works perfectly.

Toll-Free Support And On-Site Service Included In The Price.

Every Dell system includes the Dell System Ana¬ lyzer, a complete set of diagnostic tools. Which lets Dell’s expert technicians resolve problems right over the phone. This toll-free support serv¬ ice is available from 7 AM to 7 PM (CT) every business day, at no extra charge.

And if your system requires hands-on service, a technician will be at your location the next business day. At absolutely no charge to you? Because included in the price of your system is a full year of on-site service.

But that’s not all. You also get our 30-day money-back guarantee. As well as our one-year limited warranty on parts and workmanship.

And If You Still Think You Get What You Pay For, Consider This.

When you buy or lease from Dell, you buy directly from our manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas. Which means we eliminate dealer markups, allowing us to give you a lot more 386 for less.

This same principle is behind all the Dell systems. Review them in detail. Then call us at (800) 426-5150 to order the system that’s right for you.

DELL

COMPUTER

CORPORATION

Circle 73 on Reader Service Card

FEBRUARY 1989 • BYTE 1

EVTE

FEBRUARY 1989 VOL. 14/NO. 2

PRODUCTS IN PERSPECTIVE

65 What’s New

97 Short Takes MegaMate,

the little drive that could MKS Make and MKS Lex and Yacc, Unix tools for DOS Wordbench, a writer's word processor DataSentry, inexpensive data security Language Systems FORTRAN, for the Mac forces Sourcer,

a machine code disassembler

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

109 Paradox 3:

Neither Enigma nor Riddle

by Stan Miastkowski and Nick Baran Borland's DBMS is serious competition for dBASE IV.

113 Cover Story

The Mac SE Takes Off

by Nick Baran

The newest version of the Mac SE runs rings around its predecessor.

205

MegaMate/97

211

REVIEWS

170 Product Focus:

Smoothing Out C

by Steve Apiki and Jon Udell Optimizing C compilers combine speed, high-level convenience and low- level power.

1 8 9 A Pair of Soph isticated Laptops

by John Unger The Zenith SupersPort 286 and Mitsubishi MP-286L have desktop computing power and convenient laptop size.

217

A PS/2 in Channel Only

by Mark L Van Name

The Tandy 5000 MC combines

PS/2 compatibility

with traditional PC features.

Three Assemblers for MS-DOS

by Michael Blaszczak Borland's TASM and OPTASM challenge the long-dominant MASM.

Full Impact

by Diana Gabaldon Ashton-Tate's spreadsheet for the Mac features presentation graphics,

dBASE IV Arrives

by Malcolm Rubel An improvement over dBASE III Plus in functionality, power, and ease of use.

121

139

145

Macinations:

Hey Apple, I Need a Laptop

by Don Crabb The time has come for a portable Mac that doesn't strain arms or credit lines.

OS/2 Notebook:

Electing the PM

by Mark Minasi An inexpensive OS/2 workstation that runs Presentation Manager,

COM1:

The ABCs ofX-, Y-, and ZMODEM

by Brock N . Meeks XMODEM has spawned a host of file- transfer protocols, and each has its merits.

Computing at Chaos Manor: Ready Line Overload

by Jerry Pour ne lie Jerry's COMDEX report and more.

Applications Plus:

New Friends and Old

by Ezra Shapiro Ezra’s friends are Framework III, the Canon Cat, and The Perfect Career.

Down to Business:

Getting into Bigger LANs

by Wayne Rash Jr.

As your office grows, a traditional central server LAN becomes the obvious choice.

151

► 157

163

2 BYTE* FEBRUARY 1989

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL AVIS © 1989

M SPECIAL SECTION: Personal Workstations/226

IN DEPTH

226 Introduction;

Personal Workstations

229 Two Worlds Converge

by Nick Baron

The personal workstation: what yon get when you cross a user- friendly workstation with a powerful personal computer.

235 The Current Crop

by Bill Nieholls Depending on where you start and what you spend, you can turn your personal computer into a workstation.

245 Worth the RISC

by Trevor Marshall and Jane Morrill Tazelaar The RISC chips now on the market deliver powerful performance at low cost.

251 How Fast Is Fast?

by Bill Kindel

The best way to predict how well a system will perform is to test it yourself.

255 Art + 2 Years = Science by Phillip Robinson Surveying the state of the art in personal- workstation graphics.

265 Networking with Unix by Greg Comeau NFS and RFS are feasible choices for creating a shared Unix workstation environment,

270 The Players

A guide to the companies offering personal- workstation products.

BYTE {ISSN 0360-5280) is puNl-shed monlhliy wilh in additional issue in October by MeGraw-H]3lt Inc. Postmaster: Stnd addira changes, USPS Form 35T9, flw3 fulfitlmenl cptcstLons Co BYTE SubsC r ipl iorti. P-O- Bo* 551. Higjitstown. NJ 08520. Seand-duf pcswge paid al Peterborough* NH 0345B and additional mailing offices. Fa stage piid Winnipeg, Manitoba. Regislralion number 9321. Printed in the Uniied Slales of America,

Not responsible for tost manuscripts or photos. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily ihoie ofBYTE.

Copyright ® 1989 by McGraw-Hill. Inc. All righlS reserved. Trademark registered in the United Slates P&WHI and Trademark Office.

Subscription queslions or problems should be addressed to: BYTE Subscriber Service, P.O. Bm 55)* Hlghtstown. NJ 08520.

FEATURES

274 Digital Paper

by Dick Fountain A new breed of wrlte-once optical media that can store up to a gigabyte on floppy disk-size cartridges.

283 Turbo Pascal

Windowing System

by Charles J. Butler TWindows lets you add windows to all your Turbo Pascal programs.

HANDS ON

293 Under the Hood:

Hard Disk Interfaces

by Brett Glass The interface you pick can dramatically affect your system's performance.

381 Some Assembly Required: Trees *n Keys, Part 2

by Rick Grehan Continuing last month's look at keyed file systems, Rick takes a closer look at the data file.

DEPARTMENTS

6 Editorial:

The End of Application Software? 11 Microbytes 24 Letters 33 Chaos Manor Mail 38 Ask BYTE 51 Book Reviews

347 Coming Up in BYTE

READER SERVICE

346 Editorial Index by Company

348 Alphabetical Index to Advertisers 358 I ndex to Advertisers

by Product Category Inquiry Reply Cards: after 352

PROGRAM LISTINGS

From BIX: see 298 From BYTEnel: call (617) 861-9764 On disk or in print: see card after 312

FEBRUARY 1989 * BYTE 3

EDITOR IN CHIEF Frederic S. Langa

PUBLISHER/GROUP VICE PRESIDENT J. Burt Totaro

OPERATIONS

Glenn Hartwig Associate Managing Edita

REVIEWS (Hardware, Software, Product Focus)

Michael Nadeau, Associate Managing Editor, Dennis Allen Senia Technical Edita, Software, Stephen Apiki Testing Edita, BYTE Lab, Stanford Diehl Testing Edita, BYTE Lab

NEWS AND TECHNOLOGY (Microbytes, What's New, Short Takes)

Rich Malloy Associate Managing Edita, D. Barker Senia Edita, News and Technology, Anne Fischer Lent Senia Edita, New Products, Andrew Reinhardt Associate News Edita

Peterborough: Roger Adams Associate News Editor, David Andrews Associate News Editor, Martha Hicks Associate News Edita

west Coast: Gene Smarte Bureau Chief, Costa Mesa, Nicholas Baran Technical Edita, San Francisco, Frank Hayes Associate News Edita, Marlene Nesary Associate News Edita, Jeffrey Bertolucci Editaial Assistant, San Francisco

SENIOR TECHNICAL EDITORS

Ken Sheldon Features, Jane Morrill Tazelaar In Depth, Richard Grehan At Large, Tom Thompson At Large

TECHNICAL EDITORS

Janet J. Barron, Janet Fiderio, Robert Mitchell, Ben Smith, Jon Udell, Stanley Wszola

CONSULTING EDITORS

Jerry Pournelle, Ezra Shapiro, Don Crabb, Brett Glass, Brock N. Meeks, Mark Minasi, Wayne Rash Jr.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jonathan Amsterdam Programming Projects, Mark Dahmke Video, Operating Systems, Mark Haas At Large, Rik Jadrnicek CAD, Graphics, Spreadsheets, Robert T. Kurosaka Mathematical Recreations, Alastair J. W. Mayer Software, Stan Miastkowski New Technology, Alan R.

Miller Languages and Engineering, Dick Pountain Algaithms, Roger Pcwell Computers and Music, Phillip Robinson Semiconductas, Jon Shiell High-Perfamance Systems, George A. Stewart, Book Reviews, Ernest Tello Artificial Intelligence

COPY EDITORS

Lauren Stickler Chief, Susan Colwell, Jeff Edmonds, Judy Grehan, Nancy Hayes, Cathy Kingery, Margaret A.

Richard, Warren Williamson

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

Peggy Dunham Office Manager, Linda C. Ryan, June N. Sheldon, Lynn Susan Valley

ART

Nancy Rice Director, Joseph A. Gallagher Assistant Director, Jan Muller Assistant, Alan Easton Technical Artist

PRODUCTION

David R. Anderson Directa, Virginia Reardon Senior Editaial Production Coordinata, Barbara Busenbark Editorial Production Coordinata, Denise Chartrand Editorial Production Coordinator, Michael J. Lonsky Editaial Production Coordinata

TYPOGRAPHY

Sherry Fiske Systems Manager, Donna Sweeney Applications Manager, Christa Patterson

ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION (603) 924-6448

Lisa Wozmak Directa, Lyda Clark Senia Account Coadinata, Karen Cilley, Linda Fluhr, Jeanne Gatcombe, Rod Holden, Wai Chiu Li Quality Control Manager, Julie Murphree Advertising/Production Coadinata

ADMINISTRATION

Donna Nordlund, Publisher's Assistant

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS Horace T. Howland Director, Pamela Petrakos-Wilson Promotion Manager, Wilbur S. Watson Marketing Services Manager, Dawn Matthews Public Relations Manager, Lisa Jo Steiner Assistant Promotion Manager, Stephanie Warnesky Marketing Art Directa, Sharon Price Associate Art Directa, Julie Perron Market Research Analyst

PLANNING AND RESEARCH

Michele Perron Director

Faith Kluntz Copyrights Coordinata, Cynthia Damato Sands Reader Service Coordinator

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Philip L. Penny Directa of Finance and Services, Kenneth A. King Business Manager, Christine Monkton Assistant, Marilyn Parker, Diane Henry, JoAnn Walter, Jaime Huber

CIRCULATION

Dan McLaughlin Director

James Bingham Newsstand Sales Manager, Vicki Weston Assistant Manager, Karen Desroches Distribution Coadinata, Donna Healy, Direct Accounts Coadinata, Louise Menegus Back Issues

PERSONNEL

Patricia Burke Personnel Coadinator, Beverly Goss Receptionist

BUILDING SERVICES

Tony Bennett Manager, Cliff Monkton, Mark Monkton, Agnes Perry

BYTE INFORMATION EXCHANGE

DIRECTOR

Stephen M. Laliberte

EXECUTIVE EDITOR George Bond

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Tony Lockwood

MICROBYTES DAILY

D. Barker Coadinator, Peterbaough, Rich Malloy New York, Gene Smarte Costa Mesa, Nicholas Baran San Francisco, Rick Cook Phoenix, Frank Hayes San Francisco, Jason Levitt Austin, TX, Larry Loeb Wallingfad, CT, Brock N. Meeks La Mesa, CA, Stan Miastkowski Peterborough, Wayne Rash Jr., Sue Rosenberg Washington, DC, David Reed Lexington, KY

GROUP MODERATORS

David Allen Applications, Frank Boosman Artificial Intelligence, Leroy Casterline Other, Marc Greenfield Programming Languages, Jim Howard Graphics, Gary Kendall Operating Systems, Steve Krenek Computers, Brock N. Meeks Telecommunications, Barry Nance New Technology, Donald Osgood Computers, Sue Rosenberg Other, Jon Swanson Chips

BUSINESS AND MARKETING

Patricia Bausum Secretary, Denise A. Greene Customer Service, Brian Warnock Customer Service, Tammy Burgess Customer Credit and Billing

TECHNOLOGY

Clayton Lisle Directa, Business Systems Technology,

ISCO., Fred Strauss Senior Business Systems Analyst

ADVERTISING SALES

Steven M. Vito Associate Publisher,

Vice President of Marketing

Dennis J. Riley Eastern Regional Sales Manager Sandra Foster Administrative Assistant

Jennifer L. Bartel West Coast Sales Manager, (214) 644-1 in

NEW ENGLAND

ME, NH, VT, MA, Rl, ONTARIO, CANADA &

EASTERN CANADA John C. Moon (617) 262-1160

ATLANTIC

NY, NYC, CT, NJ (NORTH)

Leah G. Rabinowitz (212) 512-2096 Ken Tashjy (212) 512-2645

EAST

PA, KY, NJ (SOUTH), MD, W.VA,

DE, DC

Thomas J. Brun (215) 496-3833 SOUTHEAST

NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, TN, VA Thomas H. Tolbert (404) 252-0626

MIDWEST

IL, MO, KS, IA, ND, SD, MN, Wl, NE, IN, Ml, MS, OH (312) 751-3740

SOUTHWEST, ROCKY MOUNTAIN

CO, WY, OK, TX, AR, LA, UT

Karl Heinrich (713) 462-0757

Dan Harper, Sales Associate, (603) 924-2598

SOUTH PACIFIC

SOUTHERN CA, AZ, NM, LAS VEGAS Jack Anderson (714) 557-6292 Tom Harvey (213) 480-5243

NORTH PACIFIC

HI, WA, OR, ID, MT, NORTHERN CA, NV (except

LAS VEGAS), WESTERN CANADA

Bill McAfee (408) 879-0371

Christine Kopec (415) 362-4600

Elisa Lister, Sales Associate, (603) 924-2598

TELEMARKETING L. Bradley Browne Directa Susan Boyd Administrative Assistant

SPECIAL ISSUES

Liz Coyman (603) 924-2518

BYTE BITS (2x3)

Mark Stone (603) 924-6830

THE BUYER’S MART (1x2)

Brian Higgins (603) 924-3754

REGIONAL ADVERTISING SECTIONS Scott Gagnon (603) 924-4380 Larry Levine (603) 924-4379 Barry Echavarria (603) 924-2574

BYTE POSTCARD DECK MAILINGS

BYTE DECK

Ed Ware (603) 924-6166

COMPUTING FOR DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION COMPUTING FOR ENGINEERS Mary Ann Goulding (603) 924-9281

INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING SALES STAFF See listing on page 349.

EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE:

One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. (603) 924-9281 .

West Coast Branch Offices: 425 Battery St.. San Francisco, CA 94111, (415) 954-9718; 3001 Red Hill Ave., Building #1 , Suite 222, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (714) 557-6292.

New York Branch Editorial Office: 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, (212) 512-3175. BYTEnet: (617) 861-9764 (set modem at 8-1 -N or 7-1-E; 300 or 1200 baud).

Fax: (603) 924-7507. Telex: (603) 924-7861 .

SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE: Outside U.S. (609) 426-7070; Inside U.S. (800) 525-5003.

For a new subscription— (800) 257-9402 U.S. only, or write to BYTE Subscription Dept., P.O. Box 555, Hightstown, NJ 08520.

Of*icers of McGraw-Hill Information Services Company: President: Walter D. Serwatka. Executive ^'Ce f>res'cfenfs: Kenneth E. Gazzola, Aerospace and Defense; Ira Herenstein, Computers ■ ■nil and Communications; Russell C. White, Construction; Robert P. McGraw, Healthcare; Brian H. Hall, Legal. Senior Vice Presidents-Publishers: Laurence Altman, Data Communications; David J. McGrath, Engineering News-Record. Senior Vice Presidents: Robert D. Daleo, Finance; Michael J. Koeller, Human Resources. Group Vice Presidents: J. Burt Totaro, BYTE; Norbert Schumacher, Energy/Process Industries. Vice Presidents: George Elsinger, Circulation; Julia Lenard, Systems Planning and Technology.

Officers of McGraw-Hill, Inc.: Joseph L. Dionne, Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer; Robert N. Landes, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary; Robert J. Bahash, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Frank D. Penglase, Senior Vice President, Treasury Operations.

Founder: James H. McGraw (1860-1948). Executive, editorial, circulation, and advertising offices: One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough. NH 03458, phone (603) 924-9281 . Office hours: Monday through Thursday 8:30 AM-4:30 PM, Friday 8:30 AM-1:00 PM, Eastern Time. Address subscriptions to BYTE Subscriptions, P.O. Box 551 , Hightstown, NJ 08520. Subscriptions are $29.95 for one year, $54.95 for two years, and $74.95 for three years in the U.S. and its possessions. In Canada and Mexico, $31.95 for one year, $59.95 for two years, $79.95 for three years. $75 for one-year air delivery to Europe. Y28.800 for one-year air delivery to Japan, Y1 4,400 for one-year surface delivery to Japan, $45 surface delivery elsewhefe. Air delivery to selected areas at additional rates upon request. Single copy price is $3.50 in the U.S. and its possessions, $3.95 in Canada, $4.50 in Europe, and $5 elsewhere. Foreign subscriptions and sales should be remitted in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery of first issue. Address editorial correspondence to: Editor, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned if accompanied by sufficient postage. Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to photocopy any article herein for the flat fee of $1.50 per copy of the article or any part thereof. Correspondence and payment should be sent directly to the CCC, 29 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970. Specify ISSN 0360-5280/83, $1.50. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference use without the permission of McGraw-Hill, Inc., is prohibited. Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the publisher. BYTE is available in microform from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Dept. PR, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 or 18 Bedford Row, Dept. PR. London WC1R 4EJ, England.

BYTE and EVTE are registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill. Inc.

4 BYTE* FEBRUARY 1989

Wintek Corporation 1801 South St.

Lafayette, IN 47904 Telephone: (800) 742-6809 In Indiana: (317) 742-8428 Telex: 70-9079 WINTEK CORP UD

’VnARIWO RK7. " Wintek', and tho Write* logo ore registered iratomorks ct WhlG* "AutoCAD" ft a ragntersd ftodemCTk ot Autodesk Inc

System Requirements

□ IBM PC, PC XT, or PC AT with 384K RAM, and DOS V2.0 or later

□ IBM Color/Graphics Adapter with RGB color or B&W monitor

□ IBM Graphics Printer or Epson FX/ MX/ RX- series printer and/or

□ Houston Instrument DMP-40, 41 42, 51 52, or Hewlett-Packard 7470, 7475, 7550, 7580, 7585, 7586 pen plotter

□ Optional Microsoft Mouse

Getting

Camera-ready 2X artwork from an HI or HP pen plotter

The Smart Buy. Guaranteed.

Still priced at $895, smARTWORK is proven, convenient, and fast. Our money-back guarantee lets you try smARTWORK for 30 days at absolutely no risk. Call toll free (800) 742-6809 today and put smARTWORK to work for you tomorrow. That's smart work.

Smarter Artwork

Three years ago, Wintek engi¬ neers created smARTWORK to reduce the time and tedium of laying out their own printed-circuit boards. Thousands of engineers have since discovered the ease of use and sophistication that makes smARTWORK the most popular PCB CAD software available. And thanks to them, smARTWORK keeps getting better.

smARTWORK transforms your IBM PC into a PCB CAD system

Using an Epson or IBM dot-matrix printer, you can create 2X artwork and IX or 2X checkplots in a fraction of the time hand-taping requires

2" by 4“ section of a 10" by 16" double¬ sided board with silkscreen layer

Interactive routing, continual design-rule checking, pad shav¬ ing, and production-quality 2X artwork have always been a part of smARTWORK. And now that, many customer suggestions have become a part of the software, smARTWORK is an even better value. That's why we offer it with a thirty- day money-back no-nonsense guarantee.

Smarter

New smARTWORK Features

□ Silkscreen layer for component placement and identification |

□ Text capabilities for all three layers

□ Selectable trace widths and pad shapes and sizes

□ User-definable library

□ Ground planes created with a single command

□ Solder-mask and padmaster plots generated automatically

□ Quick printer 2X checkplots

□ Additional drivers for printers and plotters

□ Optional drill -tape and Gerber photoplotter utilities

□ AutoCAD* .DXF file output

□ Completely updated manual

□ 800 number for free technical assistance

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Circle 249 on Reader Service Card

FEBRUARY 2989 - B YTE 5

EDITORIAL ■ Fred Langa

IBM and Microsoft have some very interesting plans for OS/2, PM, and DOS

Several weeks ago, IBM invited a handful of editors to its facility in Hursley, England, where most of Big Blue's work on user inter¬ faces goes on. The announced focus of the discussions was to be Presentation Manager (PM}, but it ended up being considerably more than that, expanding to encompass the entire future of OS/2. It's a centralized, uniform future, radi¬ cally different from the DOS-based world.

Part of the standardization derives from the fact that PM is a piece of IBM's Systems Application Architecture. With PM, SAA has moved squarely into the personal computer arena.

SAA is centered on four key concepts: a Common User Interface, a Common Programming Interface, Common Com¬ munications Support, and Common Ap¬ plications. {The Hursley group is respon¬ sible for the CUI.)

All this uniformity portends extreme portability among IBM system software and applications, from OS/2 Extended Edition (described as 14 IBM's personal¬ ization of the generic OS/2 operating sys¬ tem”) through OS/400, and up to VM and VME,

OS/2 EE's components already come close to SAA standards. (Actually, be¬ cause SAA itself will evolve, it’s not a “standard” in the strict sense of the word; it's more a goal or a guideline,) OS/2 will become more tightly meshed

The End of Application Software?

with SAA over time. For example, the database manager portion of OS/2 EE embodies about 90 percent of the func¬ tions of Structured Query Language (SQL); future versions will raise that to 100 percent.

If IBM has its way, SAA standardiza¬ tion will be far-reaching: For example, virtually all data will end up in a central SQL repository, which all applications will access via the built-in database man¬ ager, This way, the data generated by any application anywhere in a system of networked machines will become acces¬ sible by all other applications on all the other machines, as well.

SAA’s shared data, cooperative appli¬ cations, and shared peripherals means that— in theory— everyone using Big Blue's software and hardware (and, one presumes, close clones) will see a “sin¬ gle system image," Everyone has access to everything, and everyone can work to¬ gether easily, regardless of whether they're on a PS/2 or a 370.

IBM accepts the oft-quoted statistics that claim that by 1991, 85 percent of all PCs will be interconnected. IBM sees this as an argument in favor of a central repository— all data becomes accessible to all machines on the network. Users neither care nor need to know where the data is located; the system handles it alL

Is this software fascism? Well, no; the storing of code and data in separate files won’t go away (especially for individual program code). IBM’s John Soyring said that “other types of files would be al¬ lowed” so that programs wouldn't have to use the central repository, but that IBM would simply “encourage” the use of SQL facilities.

It’s interesting to note that Borland’s not-yet- released Paradox SQL partially fits this pattern: It can function as a front end, or preprocessor, that automatically generates SQL queries to access remote, centralized data. As such, it may be a bellwether for a new kind of application program that well be seeing a lot more

of: one in which a vendor carves a niche for a product with added-value special features (like a superior query-by -exam¬ ple facility), but relies on standardized system resources (Hke a central SQL data store) when they're available.

Under PM, the standardized resources can also include the user interface, com¬ munications, and more. It may sound somewhat Mac-like, but under IBM's scheme, the commonality is much wider, extending even across architectures and operating systems.

This is a far cry from the state of DOS applications today, where programmers often continuously reinvent the wheel: Each application may have its own little presentation manager, its own little com¬ munications manager, and so on. With these major pieces standardized and readily available at all levels throughout a business, applications programming be¬ comes simpler. Soyring puts it this way: “Programming will become macro writ¬ ing.” Programmers won't have to spend time developing the raw materials of their applications; instead, they “can concentrate on pure functionality, and their productivity will increase."

The thought was echoed by Micro¬ soft's Steve Ballmer. Because of PM's object orientation, “Applications will become objects,” he said, “and they’ll simply call other applications to use their services. Programming will just be writ¬ ing scripts in an external control lan¬ guage to use the various objects." If thal happens, it will be the end of stand-alone applications as we now know them.

Except under DOS, Next month. 111 talk about IBM's and Microsoft's plans for DOS, and their plans for Unix and an 803 8 6- specific version of OS/2.

— Fred Langa Editor in Chief (BIX name “ftanga”)

6 BYTE - FEBRUARY 1989

Circle 109 on Reader Service Card (DEALERS; 110 j

INTERACTIVE

A KODAK COMPANY

1-800-537-5324

INTERACTIVE Systems Corporation 2401 Colorado Avenue Santa Monica, CA 90404

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for 386

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■ Systems Corporation.

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