Microsoft is about to blow out 50 candles, and founder Bill Gates is taking a heartfelt detour down memory lane — straight back to the moment a scrappy bit of computer code helped launch a tech empire.
How a Magazine Article Sparked a Software Revolution
In a blog post shared ahead of Microsoft’s 50th anniversary, Gates looked back at a pivotal point in 1975 when he and his late friend Paul Allen took a leap of faith — and a major shortcut. Inspired by a Popular Electronics article featuring the Altair 8800, a minicomputer powered by a new chip from then-little-known Intel, Gates and Allen reached out to its manufacturer, Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems. They boldly claimed to have written software that could run on the Altair.
There was just one small problem: the code didn’t exist yet.
What followed was a blur of caffeine-fueled nights and intense focus. The duo leaned on the BASIC programming language — created in 1964 at Dartmouth College — but had to tweak it to work with the Altair, all without ever laying eyes on the machine itself.
Two Months, No Sleep, and a Teletype Machine
The result of their efforts was a program Gates now calls “the coolest I’ve ever written.” He recalls printing it out on a teletype machine — primitive by today’s standards, yet revolutionary at the time. That code became the Altair’s operating system and laid the groundwork for Microsoft’s birth in April 1975.
“The code remains the coolest I’ve ever written,” Gates wrote, noting that the original program is still available for download via his blog.
You can CLICK HERE to check out Microsoft’s source code.
That early success transformed Microsoft into the world’s first software factory, ultimately ushering in the era of personal computing. From Word to Excel to PowerPoint, and of course, the Windows operating system, Microsoft’s software suite would go on to define how millions of people interact with technology every day.
Reflecting on a Legacy, with More to Come
Now 69 and inching closer to 70, Gates has been in a reflective mood. His trip down memory lane this year includes a February memoir detailing his childhood as a shy, misunderstood kid, and a look back at the 25-year journey of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he launched after stepping down as Microsoft CEO in 2000.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has soared to new heights under current CEO Satya Nadella. Once struggling in the post-Gates era, the company now boasts a market value of approximately $2.8 trillion — proving that the legacy of that “cool” code still echoes through the tech world five decades later.
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