Home Office, 1993

I recently found myself in possession of some "Home Office" magazines from 1993. I thought it would be fun to see what treasures lay within.

June 1993

June's issue featured a "Windows Watcher" column titled "Four New Ways To Put Windows To Work." This column was all about new programs made to work with Windows 3.1.

My favorite was the blurb about the "new" AOL (America On-Line) for Windows. "I've been using the long-awaited Windows version of AOL, and it is great!" Also, "America On-Line's new Windows version takes point-and-click friendliness to new heights."

I feel a little nauseous just re-typing that. Obviously, some of us have a different opinion of AOL... then and now.

July 1993

Mostly, this one amused me because of the title. It could be argued that the "user experience" for Windows hasn't changed much in the past decade and a half. :)

This wasn't especially amusing, but it did make me grin a bit. "Well, rumor has it, (...) the release of Windows 4.0 has been put off until well into 1994." Microsoft never has been good about meeting their own self-imposed deadlines, have they?

October 1993

This one had a cover story called "The Dream Machine". It was all about the absolute best computer you could buy at the time.

The total cost of this "Dream Machine" came to about $3,500. Obviously, computers just keep getting better and cheaper, but it was still amusing to look at the list of "essentials" they came up with back then. For example:

• The best Processor was a 486 (33-MHz)


• Recommended RAM was 16MB


• Hard drives maxed out at around 340MB


• CD-ROM drives were $450


• 16-bit sound was around $300


• Modems maxed out at 14.4 (1/4 the speed of avg modems now), and cost up to $400

Some things haven't changed though. Well, OK, one thing, ... maybe. The last item listed is an ergonomic mouse. Not a bad idea, even today. :)