Duba wurin da ke ƙasa sannan ka amsa tambayar daga baya a cikin harshe ɗaya kamar yadda wurin yake:  Passage: Altair BASIC na Microsoft ya shahara a tsakanin masu sha'awar kwamfuta, amma Gates ya gano cewa kwafin da aka riga aka sayar ya shiga cikin al'umma kuma ana yin kwafi da rarrabawa sosai. A watan Fabrairun 1976, Gates ya rubuta Open Letter to Hobbyists a cikin wasiƙar MITS inda ya tabbatar da cewa fiye da kashi 90 cikin ɗari na masu amfani da Microsoft Altair BASIC ba su biya Microsoft ba kuma ta yin hakan "kasuwar sha'awar" Altair tana cikin haɗarin kawar da ƙwarin gwiwa ga duk wani ƙwararren mai haɓakawa don samarwa, rarrabawa, da kuma kula da software mai inganci. Wannan wasika ba ta da mashahuri tare da masu sha'awar kwamfuta, amma Gates ya ci gaba da gaskantawa cewa masu haɓaka software ya kamata su iya buƙatar biyan kuɗi. Microsoft ya zama mai zaman kansa daga MITS a ƙarshen 1976, kuma ya ci gaba da haɓaka software na harshe na shirye-shirye don tsarin daban-daban. Kamfanin ya ƙaura daga Albuquerque zuwa sabon gidansa a Bellevue, Washington, a ranar 1 ga Janairu, 1979. A farkon shekarun Microsoft, duk ma'aikata suna da babban alhakin kasuwancin kamfanin. Gates ya kula da bayanan kasuwanci, amma ya ci gaba da rubuta lambar kuma. A cikin shekaru biyar na farko, a cewar Bill Gates kansa da'awar, shi da kansa sake nazari kowane layi na code kamfanin sufuri, kuma sau da yawa sake rubutawa sassa na shi kamar yadda ya ga ya dace.  Tambaya: Yaushe ne Microsoft ya rabu da MITS?
Shekara ta 1976