The Magic of Readiness & The Spark of Revolution Ring in the new year with a packed 92-page edition of COMPUTE!’s Gazette. The January 2026 issue celebrates the triumphant return of official Commodore hardware while honoring the 50th anniversary of the machine that started it all. This volume is overflowing with technical deep-dives into alternative BASICs, expert interviews with industry pioneers, and a robust selection of type-in programs for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit communities.

Feature Highlights:

• Cover Story: An ULTIMATE Christmas: A comprehensive look at the launch of the Commodore 64 Ultimate. Far from a mere emulator, this FPGA-based evolution recreates the original motherboard at the silicon level, featuring HDMI clarity, Wi-Fi, and authentic SID chip sockets. The feature includes a community report on the “Starlight Edition” keyboard and the DIY spirit of early adopters.

• The Dawn of the Microcomputer: Computer historian David Greelish commemorates 50 years of the MITS Altair 8800. This retrospective explores why the Altair remains the true “first” mass-produced personal computer and how it birthed the industry giants we know today.

• The C64 BASIC Comparison: Steve Lewis (Xiphod/Voidstar) provides an in-depth benchmark and review of alternative BASIC interpreters. Discover the strengths of Super Expander 64, EPYX Toolkit, and Tuned Simon’s BASIC as they go head-to-head against the standard V2 ROM.

• Type LOOK: Scott Adams: An exclusive interview with the father of interactive storytelling. Scott Adams reflects on the early days of Adventure International, the technical hurdles of the VIC-20, and designing text adventures for Marvel’s greatest superheroes.

• The Curator’s Gambit: Meet Stephan Slabihoud, founder of 8Bit-Museum.de and creator of the Retro Chip Tester Pro. Learn how a catastrophic “chip-swapping” failure led to the development of the retro community’s most essential diagnostic tool.

Type-In Programs & Tutorials: Get back to the keyboard with this month’s featured listings:

• Space Lander Part III (C64): The series conclusion by Chris Garrett, teaching you how to elevate your games with custom character sets, obstacles, and optimized title screens.

• WORDY (C64): A viral word-guessing phenomenon comes to the 8-bit world. Deduce five-letter words with color-coded feedback that fully utilizes the C64’s display capabilities.

• PETSCII LIFE (C64): A mesmerizing implementation of Conway’s Game of Life designed specifically for PETSCII graphics.

• ALLINFAM.BAS & ASMMOVE.BAS (Atari 8-Bit): A pair of listings for the Atari community, featuring a BASIC music program and handy assembly routines for memory manipulation.

• MLX-III & Automatic Proofreader v3.0: Modernized versions of the Gazette’s classic entry utilities. Version 3.0 of the Proofreader now intelligently detects your hardware (C64, VIC-20, C128, or Plus/4) to ensure your typing is error-free.

Columns & Regulars: Includes COMPUTE!’s Amiga Resource on how the Amiga transformed professional media (Babylon 5, SeaQuest DSV), The FujiNet Report on cross-platform networking, and MEGA65 Digest exploring PCM digitized sound. Plus, Tandy Land profiles the Model 2000, The GEOS Column uncovers the mystery of the “Cake” document, and Dialed Back revisits the modems that built the BBS era.