PET-CBM personal computer guide. (book reviews) Steve Gray.

Although Adam Osborne hasn't been connected with Osborne/McGraw-Hill since this last May 1, because he's gotten heavily involved with the Osborne 1 computer, his name lives on in this and many other superior publications that have set a standard for computer books.

According to the back cover, this is a "step-by-step guide that assumes no prior knowledge of computers. If you can read English, you can use this book... If you're thinking about buying and personal computer, this book will show you what a PET can do for you. If you've just bought a PEt or CBM, this is the book you must have to really understand the computer."

This book tells you just about everything you could possibly want to know about the PET and CBM, with over 500 pages that get into every nook and cranny.

The eight chapters cover an introduction to CBM computers, Operating the CBM, Screen Editing, Programming the CBM, Making the Most of CBM Features, Peripheral Devices, System Information, and CBM Basic. Six appendixes cover character codes, error messages, Basic bibliography (10 of the best books), CMB publications (magazines and newsletters) and reference manuals, number-base conversion tables, and a list of differences between the two sets of ROMs, as they affect the text.

The preface says you can skip everything after the first three chapters if you have no intention of becoming a programmer but only want to run canned programs. Those first three chapters go into fine detail on how to use the computer, with a great many drawings and photographs. The rest of the book is equally detailed, with many examples, short and simple sentences, a layout that makes for very easy reading, and many short programs intended for hands-on use.

As usual with Osborne books, the highpoints are printed in boldface, so an experienced programmer can browse through it quickly and pick up what he needs to know in a short time.

Review Grade: B