Microsoft’s GW-BASIC is a programming language that was released in 1983 and bundled with MS-DOS on early PCs. It was the first programming language many students and developers learned in the 80s, and nearly four decades later, Microsoft has released the source code.
Available from Github, the code is being released “for historical reference/interest purposes,” and probably isn’t all that useful for folks looking to learn to code or design a programming language from scratch today. But it’s still a pretty cool bit of computing history that’s now available for anyone to examine.
Here’s a roundup of recent tech stories from around the web.
- Microsoft Open-Sources GW-BASIC [Windows Command Line blog]
The move comes less than two years after Microsoft released the source code for MS-DOS 1.25 and MS-DOS 2.0 and six years after the release of the source code for MS-DOS 1.1 and Word for Windows. - How iPhone Hackers Got Their Hands on the New iOS Months Before Its Release [Vice]
iOS 14 isn’t expected to launch until September, but hackers, security researchers, and some bloggers have apparently had access to a leaked pre-release version for months. - What’s coming in Windows 10 accessibility [Windows Blogs]
Microsoft describes some upcoming Windows 10 accessibility features/changes including adjustable to the text cursor and improvements to the Magnifier and Narrator. - Intel Tiger Lake (Xe) Graphics Details Slide Leaks [Guru3d]
More details leaked for the Intel Xe integrated graphics coming with next-gen “Tiger Lake” processors. Support for up to 4 displays, 8K60 output, and more… - Walmart Onn 8 Pro review: Just buy a Fire tablet instead [Android Police]
Walmart’s Onn 8 pro tablet looks like a good deal on paper — $99 for an 8 inch HD LCD display, Android 10, and 2GB/32GB RAM/Storage. But Android Police reports the screen is a smudge magnet and performance is mediocre.
You can keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook.