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Free, cross-platform emulator for the GW-BASIC family of interpreters.

Get PC-BASIC

Technology of the 1980s -- available here and now

♠ Classic.

Run classic games and legacy BASIC applications designed for MS-DOS systems, IBM PC, PCjr or Tandy 1000.

♦ Faithful.

PC-BASIC aims for bug-for-bug compatibility with Microsoft GW-BASIC. It runs ASCII, tokenised and protected BASIC programs and supports the Microsoft Binary Format for full interchangeability of data files.

♣ Versatile.

PC-BASIC supports GW-BASIC, BASICA, PCjr Cartridge BASIC and Tandy 1000 BASIC.

It runs on every platform that supports Python.

♥ Yours.

PC-BASIC is free & open source software, released under the GNU General Public Licence version 3.


Graphics

MDPA, CGA, EGA, or VGA; PCjr or Tandy; or even Hercules or Olivetti graphics - PC-BASIC can emulate all of them.

Music

Tandy and PCjr 3-voice music and noise generation are fully supported. As are IBM PC beeps.

Printing

No helper programs or difficult settings needed: printing through LPRINT and LPT1: works out of the box.

Comms

Full support for 2 serial ports included -- no matter whether they are real serial ports or emulated through sockets.


Languages

PC-BASIC understands a large number of MS-DOS code pages and supports all Unicode scripts natively. BASIC program in Chinese? Not a problem for PC-BASIC.

Tapes

Have old IBM PC audio cassette recordings in WAV format? PC-BASIC will open your files though its CAS1: device.

Scripting

Script a quick few lines of BASIC on the Unix or Windows command line with PC-BASIC's command-line interface.

New Stuff

PC-BASIC is under active development and new features are implemented regularly. Comments, requests and suggestions are always welcome!