How does one make Quickbasic 4.5 work on a Windows 10 pc?
I have a vested interest in continuing to use Quickbasic because of programs which I have written & want to continue to use & develop.
Though I can write code I am not an expert computer user: therefore I hope for simple answers to my question which is: how does one make QuickBasic work on a Windows 10 pc?
I have tried DOSBox which is supposed to do the trick but I could not get it to work.
3 Answers
A quick search has found several alternatives:
QBasicfrom the Microsoft Store.
QBasic is Quick Basic interpreter.This application can be used to run quick basic program and software developed for your Windows10 desktop or tablet.
QB64 is a modern version of Qbasic and runs natively on Windows 10. QBasic 1.1 needs to be run in DOSBox in-order to run on Windows 10. QB64, QBasic and DOSBox are a free download.
qbasic.net contains several downloads. The most pertinent may be:
As I am not using Quickbasic, you will have to test and find the best solution for you.
QB64 and FreeBasic both run natively on Windows and have support for QuickBasic.
I have had no problems running Quick BASIC and the Microsoft BASIC Compiler on DOSBox. I've used everything from QB45 to the DOS version of Visual BASIC. All have worked flawlessly.
I have also used Oracle VirtualBOX to run DOS software, but it's a bit more work that way and doesn't provide any real benefit over using DOSBox.
Having said that, the new version of QB64 is very similar to Quick BASIC. That's probably the closest you'll get to a vintage QB experience on a modern operating system.
And to answer your specific question: DOS programs no longer work on 64-bit Windows systems. Microsoft dropped support for 16-bit applications for 64-bit Windows versions. So you will either need to step up to a modern programming language, use something like QB64 or FreeBASIC, or install a virtual machine and DOS.
