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MAI Basic Four

Business Basic variety

Basic/Four is a variety of Business Basic which originally ran on computers of the same name introduced in 1971. The company that produced the system, Management Assistance, Inc., was later known as Basic/Four Corporation, MAI Basic Four, Inc., and MAI Basic Four Information Systems. Basic/Four set the pattern for the business BASIC market, with similar products appearing on other minicomputer systems, and later, microcomputers like the Apple III.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1974Founded1

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Basic Four terminal
Photo: Bilby, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

Basic/Four is a variety of Business Basic which originally ran on computers of the same name introduced in 1971. The company that produced the system, Management Assistance, Inc., was later known as Basic/Four Corporation, MAI Basic Four, Inc., and MAI Basic Four Information Systems. Basic/Four set the pattern for the business BASIC market, with similar products appearing on other minicomputer systems, and later, microcomputers like the Apple III. It remained a popular product into the early 1980s, when increasingly powerful micros replaced it, and MAI turned to selling pre-packaged Basic/Four like accounting software.2

Timeline

  1. 1974Founded Founded1

Sources

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