05-26-2008, 12:33 PM
There are several stories for it. Here is some comment for it, with discussion.
Gee-Wizz,
The original basic was casette-basic. This was usually in ROM. IBM computers typically had Basic C1.10 in rom. Disk Basic (basic.com) allowed one to run cassette basic with DOS. Then there was 'advanced basic'.
Microsoft responded with 'gee-whiz', a kind of reponse to advanced technology.
Graphic Workstation
The idea here is that GW Basic was written for workstations that had replaced rom-basic with graphics. This is unlikely: the graphics area is A0000 - AFFFF, while GWBasic is at F6000.Â
Still, it gives the product a kind of respectability. Basic itself is not graphical.
People's initials
The name here is for eg Gates, William (ie Bill Gates), or another programmer who did the code.
Microsoft typically did not do this, but it is noting in passing that the Bootsector for IBM DOS 1.0 has a person's name in it.Â
Gee-Wizz,
The original basic was casette-basic. This was usually in ROM. IBM computers typically had Basic C1.10 in rom. Disk Basic (basic.com) allowed one to run cassette basic with DOS. Then there was 'advanced basic'.
Microsoft responded with 'gee-whiz', a kind of reponse to advanced technology.
Graphic Workstation
The idea here is that GW Basic was written for workstations that had replaced rom-basic with graphics. This is unlikely: the graphics area is A0000 - AFFFF, while GWBasic is at F6000.Â
Still, it gives the product a kind of respectability. Basic itself is not graphical.
People's initials
The name here is for eg Gates, William (ie Bill Gates), or another programmer who did the code.
Microsoft typically did not do this, but it is noting in passing that the Bootsector for IBM DOS 1.0 has a person's name in it.Â