View source for Electron User

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox magazine
| logo = 
| logo_size = 
| image_file = Electron User mag cover vol 1 iss 1.jpg
| image_size = 
| image_alt = 
| image_caption = First issue cover
| editor = 
| editor_title = 
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer = 
| photographer = 
| category = [[Computing]]
| frequency = Monthly
| circulation = 
| publisher =  Database Publications
| founder = 
| founded = 
| firstdate = {{start date|1983|10|df=y}}
| finaldate       = {{end date|1990|07|df=y}}
| finalnumber     = 
| company = 
| country = United Kingdom
| based = [[Stockport]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| website = 
| issn = 0952-3057
| oclc = 499397017
}}
'''''Electron User''''' was a magazine targeted at owners of the [[Acorn Electron]] microcomputer. It was published by [[Database Publications]] of [[Stockport]], starting in October 1983 and ending after 82 issues in July 1990.<ref>{{cite web|title=Electron User Magazine and Tapes|url=http://8bs.com/electronusermag.htm|work=8 Bit Software|accessdate=19 June 2020}}</ref>

Initially it was included as a 16-page pullout supplement to ''[[The Micro User]]'' but after four such editions it became a standalone title and within a year had grown to an average length of around 64 pages. The focus was news stories, [[type-in program]]s and software reviews. It also contained [[cheat code]]s and a long-running column on [[adventure game]]s initially by "Merlin" in a column entitled "Merlin's Cave" and subsequently by "Pendragon".

Its advertisers included the top BBC/Electron games distributors of the day, such as [[Acornsoft]] and [[Superior Software]].

Often the April-dated edition of the magazine included an [[April Fools' Day]] joke, generally consisting of a short [[machine code]] type-in listing which claimed to do something extremely useful and of wide interest but which in fact printed April Fool on the screen.  Examples included:
*a program to predict what text the user would type next
*a program to compile [[BASIC]] programs directly into machine code leveraging the machine's BASIC interpreter
*a program to display colours on a [[monochrome]] screen by rapidly modulating the pixels (citing a recent ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'')

==See also==
* ''[[Acorn User]]''
* ''[[The Micro User]]'' / ''[[Acorn Computing]]''
* ''[[Archive (magazine)|Archive]]''
* ''[[BEEBUG]]'' / ''Disc User''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://mags.acornpreservation.org/Electron_User/index.php Acornmags Electron User section]
* [[iarchive:ElectronUserVol2No.8/mode/2up|Archived Electron User Magazines]] on the Internet Archive

{{Acorn computer magazines}}

[[Category:Home computer magazines]]
[[Category:Defunct computer magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1983]]
[[Category:Magazines disestablished in 1990]]
[[Category:Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Magazines published in Manchester]]


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