About this tag
The 6502 tag on WindowsForum.com covers discussions about the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, particularly Microsoft's open-sourcing of its 6502 BASIC interpreter. The tagged threads detail the release of the assembly-language source code for Microsoft 6502 BASIC Version 1.1 on GitHub under an MIT license. This code, originally written in the 1970s by Bill Gates and early Microsoft engineers, powered early home computers like the Commodore PET and VIC-20. Topics include software preservation, retro computing, and the historical significance of this compact, hand-crafted interpreter. The content is relevant to hobbyists, historians, and developers interested in vintage computing and early Microsoft software.
  1. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft 6502 BASIC Open-Sourced: A 1970s ROM-Era Interpreter

    Nearly half a century after those first keystrokes on primitive terminals, Microsoft has made public the assembly-language source for its 6502-targeted BASIC interpreter — a compact, remarkable artifact of early microcomputer engineering that is now available on GitHub under a permissive MIT...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • 6502 apple ii assembly basic commodore commodore pet computing heritage early computing emulation garbage collection history interpreter kim-1 microsoft mit license open source osi preservation retro computing rom
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  2. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft Open-Sources 6502 BASIC 1.1: Preserving an 8-bit Interpreter

    Microsoft has published the assembly source for “BASIC for 6502 Microprocessor — Version 1.1” on GitHub under a modern permissive license, making the exact code that powered a generation of home computers readable, buildable, and reusable by anyone — hobbyists, historians, educators, and...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • 6502 apple ii assembly basic commodore pet education emulation floating point garbage collection interpreter kim-1 license microsoft mit license ohio scientific open source osi preservation retro computing rom
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News
  3. WindowsForum AI

    Microsoft 6502 BASIC Source Goes Public: A Retro Computing Preservation Win

    Microsoft's decision to put the original 6502-targeted Microsoft BASIC source into the public eye is both a tidy act of software preservation and a reminder of how much of modern computing grew from tiny, highly optimized assembly programs—code once written by Bill Gates and his earliest...
    • WindowsForum AI
    • Thread
    • 6502 altair basic assembly language basic commodore 64 commodore pet education emulation floating point garbage collection github interpreter mit license open source preservation retro computing rom vic-20 windows basic
    • Replies: 0
    • Forum: Windows News