- Microsoft has released 6,955 lines with basic assembly code from 1976
- Bill Gates and Ric Weiland Customized Basic to Mos 6502
- Commodore Licensed Microsoft Basic in 1977 for $ 25,000 all over the world
Almost half a century after Bill Gates first started writing software that would launch Microsoft, the company has published this code public.
In early September, it placed the source of the assembly for its 6502 basic interpreter on GitHub and framed it as a historic milestone.
The release comes under the MIT license, which means it can be freely studied, recycled or even sold.
Tracking Basic from Altair to Commodore
For long -standing observers, the guest feels like both a preservation act and a reminder of where Microsoft’s history began.
The 6502 interpreter dates back to 1976, when Gates and Microsoft’s other employee, Ric Weiland, adapted previous work with Basic for a new processor.
This adjustment was soon picked up by Commodore, which licensed it for $ 25,000 in 1977 and sent it inside machines such as PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64.
Millions of these systems ended up in schools and homes and transported Microsoft Basic in the classrooms where personal computing was still a news.
The code, now released, is version 1.1, which includes waste collection directions that contribute jointly by Gates and Commodore Engineer John Feagans in 1978.
On the Commodore Kelle Animal, this update was known as Basic V2, a version that is still remembered by many early adoptors.
Practically, Microsoft has opened 6,955 lines with collection language, complete with committed timestamps set “48 years ago.”
In addition to nostalgia, the source also shows how early interpreters were built to maximize scarce resources on 8-bit machines.
Microsoft notes that the release shows “Conditional Compilation Support for multiple groundbreaking computer systems”, including Apple II, Commodore PET, Ohio Scientific and MOS technology KIM-1.
For historians and hobbyists, the most interesting elements are the techniques that made the interpreter useful on limited hardware.
Among them is “full basic language implementation”, “fluent arithmetic”, “string handling and manipulation” and “array support.”
The code also shows “effective memory utilization for 8-bit systems” and introduces “String Waste Collection” and “Dynamic Variable Storage”, which basically gave its reputation as a flexible beginner-friendly language.
The notes that accompany the release claim that basic positioned Microsoft “as a dominant force in personal computer software before MS-DOS or Windows.”
That is true, but it omits the less flattering episodes that followed, such as how the company built MS-DOS with powerful inspiration from CP/M or how aggressive Windows licenses were later used against competitors.
Even with that context, release remains remarkable. It provides transparency in a program that shaped Microsoft’s early fortunes and defined what beginner programming looked like in the late 1970s.
Via the register
