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(Image credit: SDF on X ) Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Share this article 1 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google A computer historian has documented the moment a 1974 kit computer successfully ran its first program – in 2016. The ancient Altair 8800 computer is thought to have been “partially assembled with some errors” by its original owner, but it has now been fixed, with the aid of a new PSU, after 52 years of neglect. SDF, from the Interim Computer Museum (ICM), shared the momentous moment on their X profile.
This MITS Altair 8800 kit was partial assembled with some errors but never completed. It sat for decades but now it has finally been corrected and completed with a new power supply. Here it is running its first game program.https://t.co/ihON7y2jBE #retrocomputing… pic.twitter.com/exru2ZZbfb January 14, 2026
You may know about the Altair 8800 computer, as it has a special place in computer history. It was introduced back in 1974, and according to places like Wikipedia it “was the first commercially successful personal computer.” Some other distinguishing characteristics of this configurable and expandable machine were its supply to the public in kit form, it introduced the S-100 bus standard, and its use of the Intel 8080 CPU (at 2.0 MHz).
The Altair 8800 also came without any screen or video output, as standard, and that’s how you see it in the embedded Tweet – brought to life for the first time in 52 years.
Supersized chip family gathers for the 54th anniversary of the Intel 4004 CPU
Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/retro-gaming/erroneously-assembled-1974-altair-8800-computer-gets-fixed-and-enjoys-first-run-in-2026-intel-8080-powered-machine-ran-its-first-program-52-years-later#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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