the pair, and they set about writing BASIC, a simple programming language designed to bring computers into the homes of everyday Americans who were not necessarily technically-minded. Based on the success with Altair, the pair approached other companies in order to "bundle" their software with computers as the computers were sold rather than selling to consumers directly. This strategy was designed to gain widespread acceptance for their product (Gates 45).
Gaining acceptance for BASIC and using that as a springboard to writing one of three operating systems for IBM's personal computer proved the company's most successful points during the early years. With IBM, Microsoft focused on gaining acceptance for its operating system at the expense of other operating systems and their strategy worked to the point that MS-DOS became the standard on which other computer makes based their systems.
If Gates and Allen had a better understanding of business principles, they might have done b
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