Octet (computing) Octet (computing) The octet is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that consists of eight bits. The term is often used when the term byte might be ambiguous, as the byte has historically been used for storage units of a variety of sizes. The term "octad(e)" for eight bits is no longer common. A variable-length sequence of octets, as in Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1), is referred to as an octet string. The international standard IEC 60027-2, chapter 3.8.2, states that a byte is an octet of bits. However, the unit byte has historically been platform-dependent and
Byte (magazine) C, BASIC, assemblers), and coverage of the first microcomputer operating system, CP/M. "Byte" ran Microsoft's first advertisement, as "Micro-Soft", to sell a BASIC interpreter for 8080-based computers. In spring of 1979, owner/publisher Virginia Williamson sold "Byte" to McGraw-Hill. She remained publisher until 1983 and became a vice president of McGraw-Hill Publications Company. Shortly after the IBM PC was introduced, in 1981, the magazine changed editorial policies. It gradually de-emphasized the do-it-yourself electronics and software articles, and began running product reviews. It continued its wide-ranging coverage of hardware and software, but now it reported "what it does" and "how it works",