In a nostalgic reflection on the early days of Microsoft, Bill Gates has made a significant gesture by sharing the original source code that laid the foundation for the tech giant. On his Gates Notes blog, he commemorated the company’s 50th anniversary by unveiling what he describes as “the coolest code I’ve ever written.” Accompanying the announcement was a photograph of Gates holding a substantial stack of paper, which contained the code that would eventually revolutionize personal computing.
The inspiration for this groundbreaking work stemmed from a January 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, which featured the Altair 8800 on its cover. This innovative personal computer was developed by MITS, a small company that caught the attention of a 19-year-old Gates and his Harvard colleague, Paul Allen. Eager to seize the opportunity, they contacted MITS to inform them of their version of the BASIC programming language, designed specifically for the Altair 8800’s microprocessor. However, there was a catch: they had yet to write the software.
Micro-Soft is born
Undeterred by the challenge, Gates and his team dedicated themselves to coding around the clock for two months. Their hard work culminated in a successful presentation of the software to MITS’s president, who agreed to license it. This pivotal moment marked the birth of their new venture, initially named Micro-Soft, a name that would later be simplified to Microsoft. Gates reflected on this journey, noting, “Altair BASIC became the first product of our new company.” Today, the legacy of that initial endeavor is available for download, with Gates expressing pride in how far computer programming has evolved over the past five decades.
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Melinda Gates: new book
In related news, Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates’s former wife, is making headlines with the upcoming release of her new book, The Next Day, set to launch on April 15. As the publication date approaches, she has begun to share insights regarding the dissolution of her marriage to Gates, which ended in 2021 after 27 years and the raising of three children together.
In her book, Melinda reveals the emotional turmoil she experienced leading up to their separation, recounting vivid nightmares that symbolized her struggles. She describes a recurring dream of a beautiful house collapsing around her, which left her in a state of panic. Acknowledging Bill Gates’s admission of infidelity during their marriage, she also expressed her discomfort regarding his associations with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship Gates has since publicly regretted.
Melinda’s dreams evolved into haunting images of her family teetering on the edge of a cliff, ultimately leading her to a pivotal realization: she would need to make a decision about her future independently. “I knew, in that moment, that I was going to have to make a decision — and that I was going to have to make it by myself,” she reflects, highlighting the profound personal journey she has undertaken.
