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**Michael Mattias** · 19 Nov 2004, 11:07 AM

This simply must be one of those 'language things.'

**Mark Baker** · 19 Nov 2004, 04:27 PM

I'd like to own a really nice car, but I'm young(ish) and don't have the money
so can't pay for this. Is somebody anybody who will give me this for free ?
I'm living in England (former Great British Empire)

In the real world, products cost money and PB certainly is not
free and why should it be. Powerbasic offers a 30day money
back offer if you are not satisfied so come on the compiler will
not break the bank (as opposed to the car) !!

and .... if you are 65 and still active then buy it like the rest of us

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Regards

Mark Baker

[This message has been edited by Mark Baker (edited November 19, 2004).]

**Ian Cairns** · 19 Nov 2004, 06:33 PM

If you just want to play with the potential of PBDos, then try FirstBasic which is available in the Download section of the PowerBasic site.
I know that money can be tight for lots of people. Coming up with that amount in $US is beyond the reach of many, (believe it or not).
best wishes, Ian Cairns

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ian[dot][email protected]

**Donald Darden** · 6 Dec 2004, 04:59 PM

The Demos grou in the Download section also has a limited version
of PB/DOS 3.2 that you can try. It does not permit you to compile
saved source files, but it can help you evalutate the later version
of PB/DOS 3.5. Don't forget the PB/Xtra download just below it,
which gives you a lot of sample code and programs to look at.

As I remember, programs written under version 3.2 all compiled and
ran without problems using version 3.5, so this is truly a good
trial. You can probably use cut-and-paste to put pieces of code
into the editor and compile them.

If you want a Basic programming language, not specifically PB/DOS,
there are many available online from various sites. I might
mention PureBasic, Dark Basic, Liberty Basic, BlitzBasic, among
others. Also, some sites carry alternate editors and compilers.
Some are free, some are shareware, some are commercial. Most
for sale products have some form of trial version offered at no
cost.

Different versions have different relative strengths, so it is
worthwhile following links, provided by Google and other search
engines, to those sites, then seeing what they can do and reading
their claims. If you end up investing either money or your time,
you want to make sure you will be happy with the end product.

For commercial development, PowerBasic is the top of the line.
They have full time employees and considerable overhead to deal
with, so they cannot charge as little as some of the others,
which may be labors of love and given only part time support.

It's not all about commercial development anyway, as some of the
other versions mentioned are focused on game creation and great
graphics as part of their essential role. You can also find
sites devoted to game development with great links and products
that will increase your appetite in that area.

But the fact is, PowerBasic is a business for profit, and how can
they give away their product? Unfortunately, I don't know of
anyone that offers older versions of development software in the
same manner as used books or some other types of software. I see
sites that offer outdated versions of different software at good
prices, but I think most developers are convenced that they need
the latest and greatest in order to maximize their efforts.

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Old Navy Chief, Systems Engineer, Systems Analyst, now semi-retired

**Michael Torrie** · 6 Dec 2004, 08:43 PM

Miroslav, I invite you to check into the world of open source software (OSS). OSS is software that you can download for free, complete with source code under licensing terms that allow you change the code and redistribute it to others. Many great tools are available under these terms including compilers, applications, and entire operating systems. The payment for using such programs is only time and a willingness to contribute back to the community any changes you make to the programs you use (if you felt the need to make such changes). When it comes to compilers, you probably won't need or want to modify them. Instead, just have fun. I recommend that you take a look at the GNU LibertyBasic Compiler Collection. You can find it at http://lbpp.sourceforge.net/ and there are binaries available for Unix and Windows (although not MS/DOS). Keep in mind that one of the things you pay for when buying PowerBASIC is a nice (well it was nice in its day) Integrated Development Environment or IDE. The GNU LiberyBasic Compiler Collection is commandline-only, meaning you will need to supply your own editor. Many compilers are like this. Still very useful if you are unable to afford PB.

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[This message has been edited by Michael Torrie (edited December 06, 2004).]

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