I roto i te Hui-tanguru 1976, i tuhituhi Gates he Open Letter ki Hobbyists i roto i te MITS newsletter i roto i nei i kī ia e neke atu i te 90 ōrau o nga kaiwhakamahi o Microsoft Altair BASIC kihai i utua Microsoft mo reira, me te mahi i te reira i te Altair "mākete hākinakina" i roto i te mōrea o te whakakore i te akiaki mo tetahi kaiwhakawhanake ngaio ki te whakaputa, tohatoha, me te mau tonu pūmanawa kounga tiketike. Ko tenei reta unpopular ki maha pūmanawa hobbyists, engari mau tonu Gates i roto i tona whakapono e kia taea ki te tono utu kaiwhakawhanake pūmanawa. riro Microsoft o MITS i te mutunga o 1976, a tonu reira ki te whakawhanake i te pūnaha reo hōtaka mō ngā momo kamupene pūmanawa. ka kite te kamupene neke i Albuquerque ki tona kāinga hou, Bellevue, Washington, i runga i January 1, 1979.
Ko te tau 1976