Microsoft TASC: The Applesoft Compiler (also known as simply TASC or MAC), you guessed it, compiled BASIC programs into binary executables. All it needed to run was an AppleII+. Since Microsoft wrote Applesoft BASIC in the first place, it is not hard to understand why their compiler was reported to generate the fastest code. It is also amusing to note that the program used the acronym MAC before the Macintosh was a glimmer in Apple's eye.