Electron User

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{short description|British magazine}}

{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox magazine

| logo =

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| image_file = Electron User mag cover vol 1 iss 1.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| image_caption = First issue cover

| editor =

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| category = Computing

| frequency = Monthly

| circulation =

| publisher = Database Publications

| founder =

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| firstdate = {{start date|1983|10|df=y}}

| finaldate = {{end date|1990|07|df=y}}

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| country = United Kingdom

| based = Stockport

| 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.{{cite web|title=Electron User Magazine and Tapes|url=http://8bs.com/electronusermag.htm|work=8 Bit Software|accessdate=19 June 2020}}

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 programs and software reviews. It also contained cheat codes and a long-running column on adventure games 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)