February 28, 1983

Soon after he purchased his first personal computer in 1975, Gerald D. Smith, then a designer of computer-based accounting systems for business, figured it would take about six months to create a program capable of processing individual tax returns in about 10 minutes. He was wrong. The gestation stretched out to five years, but the original blueprint apparently was sound. Now in its third year on the market, Mr. Smith's Micro-Tax is a best seller among dozens of taxprocessing disks available for personal computers.

On a track he helped design, Eamonn Coghlan ran the first sub-3:50 indoor mile - 3 minutes 49.78 seconds - today during the Vitalis/U.S. Olympic Invitational meet. Aided by a brisk early pace, a competitive field and his determined desire for a permanent place in the record books, the 30-year-old Coghlan led the last half-mile of the 10-lap race as if on a mission. Perhaps he was. Earlier in the month, Coghlan's father, Bill Coghlan, died of a heart attack during a visit here from Ireland to watch his son run in two meets - the Wanamaker Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden and this meet, which was postponed from Feb.12 because of heavy snow. Today, while recounting the race, Coghlan said he thought of his longtime Irish coach, Gerry Farnam, who died last year, and his father, and said to himself on the last lap, ''This is for you guys.''

GEORGE BAMBERGER, who had to be coaxed into returning as manager of the Mets this year, is kind of giddy these days. He watches the assembly line of young pitchers firing baseballs in the Mets' training camp, and says: ''When I first went to the Baltimore Orioles in 1968, they had pitchers like Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar and Pat Dobson. But, except for Palmer, for arm strength and natural talent, none of the Orioles could throw with these kids.'' For people who suspect that Bamberger's rhetoric is running away with his judgment, the manager of the Mets adds: ''This is as good a group of kids as I've seen in 37 years in baseball. These guys have the potential to become the Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan of the 1980's.''

Orders for machine tools, a major economic barometer, dropped 55.4 percent in January from the levels of a year earlier and were 24.3 percent below the previous month, the National Machine Tool Builders' Association reported yesterday. Total net orders for the vital machines, which are closely watched by economists as an indicator of American industry's future production plans, fell to $91.5 million last month from $120.95 million in December and $202.5 million in January of 1982.

The nation's governors want higher taxes and less spending in the military sector to cut the Federal budget over the next five years, rather than any further reduction in social expenditures. (Page A1.) Treasury Secretary Regan doesn't think the $4.6 billion jobs bill is too large for the Administration to accept. While $300 million more than the President had proposed, it does not stretch the Administration's credibility, Mr. Regan said. (A1.)