Never let it be said that the multinational mainframe makers are too large and lumbering to make design breakthroughs at the micro level.

Take IBM, for example. Not only does its PC AT set the cat among the pigeons for price but the system also represents an exciting design feature.

The AT system box, you see, takes up a lot of space on the average desk. IBM therefore supplies a floor stand so that you can put the box on end beside your desk. Unfortunately this results in the small square metallic tile bearing the IBM logo being stood on end. You have to crane your neck to read it. So IBM has spring-loaded the tile; the user simply pulls it out, twists it through 90 degrees, and Plut! the logo is the right way up, or indeed any way up you like. And this remarkable feature is included in the system price. Eat your hearts out, you slavish followers of ergonomic trends...

Alone, homeless and unloved, a micro sits in the auction room waiting for bids. Fallen on hard times, it rubs shoulders uneasily with Sharp assemblers and slightly foxed Spectrums. But lot 271 comes round and passes by, withdrawn for want of serious offers. The bidding moves on to upstart disk units and bundles of games.

What is it, this micro that nobody wants, that hides its light under a bushel (or at least under several pecks) of protective polythene? Why, it's everybody's favourite micro, the IBM PC. Sic transit gloria... Well, it wasn't on its own - nobody wanted a new Mac either.

Journalists are always being accused of quoting people out of context, so here's one to savour from Commodore UK's general manager Howard Stanworth: "...business is in decline - certainly as far as Commodore is concerned!"

Before Jack Tramiel gets too excited we ought to add the rest of the sentence: "Any industry observer looking at an 86% increase in sales over 1982/3 would be hard-pressed to argue that business is in decline - certainly as far as Commodore is concerned!"

Come to think of it, the statement is vaguely ambiguous...

On The Cover
We check out the highly rated Wafadrive, Rotronics' storage device for Spectrums everywhere.

Welcome To The Dungeon
It's adventure all the way in our new weekly sortie through the maze of monsters, mists and misanthropic dwarfs.

Action Features
There's Yahtzee for C64 owners, a bright new version of the old Oriental dice game; Music on the Oric, with a Back at least as good as its byte; and programs for users of Spectrums, BBCs and QLs.

All-Star Cast
We present an exclusive review of Suicide Express from Gremlin Graphics and there's a look at Mastertronic's Chiller.