The magazine 80 Microcomputing, also known as 80 Micro, was the most famous of the TRS-80 magazines and the best remembered. It was the first of the platform-specific computer magazines to become very popular, creating a model that many other magazines followed. Harry McCracken, former editor-in-chief of PC World, described PC World as "essentially an 80 Micro clone that happened to be about Windows, not TRS-80’s."

80 Microcomputing published for 101 issues from January 1980 to June 1988, plus one special anniversary issue in 1983. With the combined June/July 1982 issue, 80 Microcomputing was renamed to 80 Micro and the cover date was advanced one month.

80 Microcomputing was created by Wayne Green, the founder of many magazines including 73 and Kilobaud Microcomputing (of which 80 Microcomputing was a spinoff). Wayne Green envisioned 80 Microcomputing as being about the readers and included this appeal in the first issue under the heading "You are the Author": All of my magazines have one thing in common—they are written entirely by the readers, you. If you buy something which should be written about, write about it. If you get some software which is great, write about it. If it is awful, say so. Try to think of 80 Microcomputing as more of an enormous and informal club newsletter than a pontificating magazine."