Microsoft Basic

language (MS-BASIC) A dialect of BASIC from Microsoft,

originally developed by Bill Gates in a garage back in the

CP/M days. It was originally known as GWBasic, then QBASIC

and finally MS-BASIC.

When the MS-DOS operating system came out, it incorporated

the GWBASIC.EXE or BASICA.EXE interpreters. GWBASIC ("Gee

Whiz") incorporated graphics and a screen editor and was

compatible with earlier BASICs.

QBASIC was more sophisticated. Version 4.5 had a full screen

editor, debugger and compiler. The compiler could also

produce executable files but to run these a utility program

(BRUN44.EXE) had to be present. Thus source code could be

kept private.

From DOS 5.0 or 6.0 onward, MS-BASIC was standard.

Current version: 1.1, also produces stand-alone executables

and can display graphics.

Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.lang.basic.misc.

[Relationship to BASIC in ROM on first IBM PC?]

(1995-05-12)