Microsoft open-sources its 6502 version of BASIC from 1976

After years of unofficial copies of Microsoft’s 6502 BASIC floating around on the internet, the software giant has released the code under an open-source license. 6502 BASIC was one of Microsoft’s first pieces of software, adapted in 1976 by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and early employee Ric Weiland to run on the 6502 CPU that powered the Apple II, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Commodore 8-bit series.Microsoft’s open-source release of 6502 BASIC is a throwback to the initial days of coding, as the software helped standardize programming language implementations and...