Fully loaded example of an Altair 8800 Computer— the spark that ignited the microcomputer revolution

8044. MITS Altair 8800 Computer. MITS Altair 8800 computer, serial no. 222719K, complete with the iconic Rev. 1 front panel (with “MITS Altair 8800 Computer” along the bottom) and sought-after Rev. 0 processor board with its original white ceramic and gold Intel 8080 CPU (marked “C8080A / N7285”). Among the other boards and upgrades are: the desirable MITS 2K PROM memory card (88-PMC), loaded with seven white ceramic 1702A EPROMS; the MITS 88-ACR/ SIO board set (the desirable MITS cassette interface); PTCO 4KRA RAM board; video interface board; MITS 4-port parallel I/O interface board (88-4PIO); and upgraded power supply. Several of the internal card support brackets are cracked but present. The case’s rear panel bears the affixed MITS, Inc. ‘Creative Electronics’ serial number label.

Includes hundreds of pages of documentation—including an original “The Age of Altair” illustrated brochure and multiple BASIC manuals in an Altair binder—as well as twenty floppy disks once used with the system.

Often credited with igniting the ‘microcomputer revolution,’ the Altair 8800 was the first commercially successful personal computer. Interest in it grew after it was featured on the cover of the 1975 issue of Popular Electronics, and it was sold by mail order as both a hobbyist kit and as a fully assembled unit. When Bill Gates and Paul Allen read about the Altair in Popular Electronics, they saw the opportunity to start their own computer software company and developed Altair BASIC—the very first product created by ‘Micro-Soft.’ Starting Bid $1,000

8045. Bill Gates Personally-Used TRS-80 Model 100 Computer with Autograph Note Signed. Incredible TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer that was personally used by Microsoft founder Bill Gates when he was an active software developer in the early-to-mid 1980s. Equipped with Microsoft’s N82 BASIC 80 programming software, the TRS-80 Model 100 was the last major coding project written by Gates as part of a Microsoft development team. The underside of the computer bears an affixed Post-It note with an ANS in pencil from Gates. The handwritten note, signed “Bill,” reads: “I don’t need this anymore. It is MS property. I am going to start using the model 200.” Another hand has dated the note to January 27, 1986. The underside of the computer is engraved “MSPROD. MKTG,” and features two affixed labels, one typed “Property of Microsoft Corporation, #M100–10,” and the other annotated, “EXT ROM Wire, W.T. 9-29-83.” The Radio Shack parts label identifies the serial number as “303014451.”In fine, untested condition; the consignor affirms that the computer is fully functional.

In an interview with the Smithsonian Institution, Gates affirmed that the Model T ‘was the last machine where I wrote a very high percentage of the code in the product. I did all the design and debugging along with Jey. And it is a cool user interface, because although most of the code is a BASIC Interpreter, we did this little file system where you never had to think about saving anything. You just had this menu where you pointed to things. It was a great little editor and scheduler. We crammed it all into a 32K ROM.’ This TRS-80 Model 100 derives from the collection of a longtime member of Microsoft during the 1980s and 1990s. Starting Bid $2,500