Microsystems was a personal computing

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

 magazine founded by Sol Libes and published from January 1980 to November 1984. Oriented toward the home and business personal computer user, it included an editorial page, letters from readers, technical articles, and advertisements. As a historical reference, it is notable for chronicling in detail the early days of the personal computer. Topics covered in its issues included:

• IEEE-696 / S-100 bus
  S-100 bus
  The S-100 bus or Altair bus, IEEE696-1983 , was an early computer bus designed in 1974 as a part of the Altair 8800, generally considered today to be the first personal computer...
  
   systems
• the CP/M
  CP/M
  CP/M was a mass-market operating system created for Intel 8080/85 based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Inc...
  
   operating systems from Digital Research
  Digital Research
  Digital Research, Inc. was the company created by Dr. Gary Kildall to market and develop his CP/M operating system and related products. It was the first large software company in the microcomputer world...
  
  : CP/M-80, CP/M Plus, CP/M-86
  CP/M-86
  CP/M-86 was a version of the CP/M operating system that Digital Research made for the Intel 8086 and Intel 8088. The commands are those of CP/M-80. Executable files used the relocatable .CMD file format...
  
  , and MP/M
  MP/M
  MP/M was a multi-user version of the CP/M operating system, created by Digital Research developer Tom Rolander in 1979. It allowed multiple users to connect to a single computer, each using a separate terminal....
  
  
• the MS-DOS
  MS-DOS
  MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
  
   operating system from Microsoft
  Microsoft
  Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
  
  
• implementations of the PL/I
  PL/I
  PL/I is a procedural, imperative computer programming language designed for scientific, engineering, business and systems programming applications...
  
   language: PL/I-80 and PL/I-86 from Digital Research
• the Turbo Pascal
  Turbo Pascal
  Turbo Pascal is a software development system that includes a compiler and an integrated development environment for the Pascal programming language running on CP/M, CP/M-86, and DOS, developed by Borland under Philippe Kahn's leadership...
  
   and UCSD Pascal
  UCSD Pascal
  UCSD Pascal was a Pascal programming language system that ran on the UCSD p-System, a portable, highly machine-independent operating system. UCSD Pascal was first released in 1978...
  
   languages
• the 8080
  Intel 8080
  The Intel 8080 was the second 8-bit microprocessor designed and manufactured by Intel and was released in April 1974. It was an extended and enhanced variant of the earlier 8008 design, although without binary compatibility...
  
  , Z80, 8086
  Intel 8086
  The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel between early 1976 and mid-1978, when it was released. The 8086 gave rise to the x86 architecture of Intel's future processors...
  
  , and 80286 microprocessors

History

As the nascent personal computer industry grew, the magazine changed as well. The front cover of the magazine adopted various titles throughout its history:

• MICROSYSTEMS - the CP/M and S-100 user's journal
• Microsystems - the CP/M user's journal
• Microsystems - the journal for advanced microcomputing

In 1983, Ziff-Davis took over publication of the magazine, but decided in September 1984 to stop publication, citing "poor circulation and lack of substantial growth potential". The circulation at that time was about 55,000.

Sol Libes resumed publication of the magazine under a new title in March 1985, as Micro/Systems Journal "for the Advanced Computer User".