4 ms·

> It was a shame, since MacBASIC allowed users to write software that supported the features of the Mac UI and Microsoft's BASIC did not. Practically speaking

> It was a shame, since MacBASIC allowed users to write software that supported the features of the Mac UI and Microsoft's BASIC did not. Practically speaking perhaps yes, but technically MS Basic on the Mac did enable you to make many Mac Toolbox/Quickdraw calls, enabling one to make buttons, shapes, draw, use fonts, etc. All of this ran inside the BASIC window, so it wasn't like you could open new windows or file dialogs. I have no idea what Apple's MacBasic was like, but I did use MS Basic to make some very simple games. For junior high school me it was mostly using buttons in unsophisticated guessing or choose-your-own-adventure games. I had a floppy with Pong-like game written in MS basic for the Mac. It used toolbox routines to draw the ping-pong-like paddle, the ball, the oval-shaped (iirc) bricks, and follow mouse movements while hiding the default pointer. I don't know who wrote it, but it came to me via a parent who worked at Jet Propulsion Lab and brought it home to run on our 128k Mac.

WillAdams 2y ago
Being trapped in the MS BASIC window was _incredibly_ limiting for anything which was constrained by screen real estate --- starting out with only 512 x 342 and subtracting the menubar didn't leave much even for applications which weren't so constrained.
GeekyBear 2y ago
> I have no idea what Apple's MacBasic was like This was already apparent. Microsoft BASIC for Mac was a lowest common denominator sort of product. It did the sorts of things BASIC could do on any platform fairly well (since most platforms ran a Microsoft BASIC variant), but it did an incredibly poor job of allowing a user to write programs that worked as if they were designed for a Mac.
- scelerat 2y ago
  > This was already apparent On edge? We're just talking here. I'm not trying to hold up MS Basic as some awesome programming environment, just describing how I experienced it

WillAdams 2y ago

Being trapped in the MS BASIC window was _incredibly_ limiting for anything which was constrained by screen real estate --- starting out with only 512 x 342 and subtracting the menubar didn't leave much even for applications which weren't so constrained.

GeekyBear 2y ago

> I have no idea what Apple's MacBasic was like This was already apparent. Microsoft BASIC for Mac was a lowest common denominator sort of product. It did the sorts of things BASIC could do on any platform fairly well (since most platforms ran a Microsoft BASIC variant), but it did an incredibly poor job of allowing a user to write programs that worked as if they were designed for a Mac.

scelerat 2y ago
> This was already apparent On edge? We're just talking here. I'm not trying to hold up MS Basic as some awesome programming environment, just describing how I experienced it