Early Microsoft code riddled with hidden jokes

MICROSOFT’S programmers created landmark software titles in the ‘80s. That didn’t stop them joking around in the code.

Taking some inspiration from old William it seems.

MICROSOFT’S programmers may have been creating some of the biggest and most important software titles back in the 1980s, but that didn’t stop them from joking around inside the code.

Yesterday, Microsoft and the Computer History Museum released the source code for early versions of Microsoft’s MS-DOS and Word programs, which one developer ciphered through and found hidden jokes.

Lines like “coded inline because we’re Gods,” were hidden throughout, the f-bomb gets dropped a few times, while progammers also commented on “dumb users”. All of the unusual comments can be seen below.

'… because we're gods' #Microsoft #Word #source pic.twitter.com/1SkKmjqvKP

— Leon Zandman (@leonzandman) March 25, 2014

What a hack!! Bad fart!? :-D #MSDOS #V2.0 #Source pic.twitter.com/iaCaiAqf7J

— Leon Zandman (@leonzandman) March 25, 2014

/* dumb user is using a Novell Network! */ #microsoft #word #source pic.twitter.com/2XZ2RnP1YE

— Leon Zandman (@leonzandman) March 25, 2014

Cheap, gruesome, rough, shameful hacks… They got 'em all! #MSDOS #sourcecode :-) pic.twitter.com/EGU9A9ck09

— Leon Zandman (@leonzandman) March 25, 2014

Poetry by Bill "Shake" Spear, preserved verbatim for eternity… :-) #msdos #source pic.twitter.com/pcAXjocZKj

— Leon Zandman (@leonzandman) March 25, 2014