It's "the coolest code I've ever written," the Microsoft co-founder says.

The computer came out scant months after the introduction of the famous Altair 8800. Although the Altair ... a power switch and a reset button. A ROM monitor let you use the machine with a terminal.

Paul Allen and Bill Gates develop BASIC for the Altair 8800. Microsoft is born. 1977: Apple is selling its Apple II for $1,195, including 16K of RAM but no monitor. Software Arts develops the ...

To mark the occasion, Gates has released the source code he and Allen wrote for the Altair 8800 – dubbed Altair BASIC – which became the company's first product. Reminiscing about Microsoft's ...