In a significant nod to Microsoft's origins, co-founder Bill Gates marked the company's upcoming 50th anniversary by releasing the original source code for Altair Basic. Made available as a 157-page PDF download on his personal blog, this code represents the very foundation upon which the tech giant was built. Gates himself described it as “the coolest code I’ve ever written to this day,” highlighting its personal and historical importance. This software was specifically a programming language interpreter designed for the MITS Altair 8800 microcomputer, a pioneering machine in the nascent personal computer era.The journey to create Altair Basic began in 1975, a time when personal computers were far from commonplace. Gates, alongside fellow Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and programmer Monte Davidoff, embarked on an intensive development effort. The trio reportedly dedicated themselves to coding “day and night for two months” to bring their vision to life. Their inspiration struck after seeing the MITS Altair 8800 featured on a magazine cover. Gates and Allen recognized a pivotal opportunity: enabling this microcomputer's chip to run a version of the BASIC programming language could fundamentally change the computing landscape and make programming accessible.During development, the team faced choices regarding the type of tool to build. As Gates explained on his blog, they considered creating a compiler, which translates an entire program before execution. However, they ultimately opted for an interpreter. “We figured the line-by-line approach of an interpreter would be helpful to novice programmers since it would give instant feedback on their code, allowing them to fix any mistakes that crop up,” Gates noted. This decision prioritized user-friendliness and immediate feedback, crucial for encouraging adoption among early computer enthusiasts.The successful development led MITS, the manufacturer of the Altair 8800, to license the software from Gates and Allen. This agreement was monumental, as Altair Basic officially became the very first product offered under their newly formed company, initially named Micro-soft. Interested individuals can view the complete source code document on Gates' blog, which not only contains the code itself but also offers additional details about Microsoft's early history. Furthermore, the blog post features a web page designed with retro animations and graphics, paying homage to the era and the significance of this foundational coding project.The release of this historical artifact provides a unique window into the dawn of personal computing and the entrepreneurial spirit that launched one of the world's most influential technology companies. It serves as a tangible reminder of how a focused project, driven by foresight and intense effort, could lay the groundwork for decades of innovation. Examining the Altair Basic code offers insights into the programming practices of the time and the ingenuity required to develop software for severely resource-constrained early hardware, making it a valuable piece of computing history now accessible to all.
