Take heart, there are alternatives! Whether you are a former BASIC programmer who would like to revisit the language or just someone who likes to dabble, you have a large (and ever-increasing) body of BASIC compilers available to choose from today. The prices typically range from free to inexpensive.

A few interesting options are:

Freebasic

Freebasic is an open source product with DOS, Windows, and Linux compilers available for downloading. Those looking for an editor or integrated development environment can select from several third party products. The support section includes both online docs and active support forums, each of which are available in both English and German. As of this writing, Freebasic is available the nice price of .... free!

DarkBasic

DarkBasic is a version of BASIC specialized to facilitate the programming of 3D games. Support is provided for collision detection, object rotation, fog, camera and lighting effects, a variety of image and sound formats, and all sorts of other goodies aimed at pleasing the aspiring 3D game developer, including "DarkMatter," described as "a collection of fully animated 3D models you can use, royalty-free in your own games." Additional "media packs", and other tools for DarkBasic are also available for a price. An even more powerful version of the program, "DarkBasic Professional" is available from the makers of DarkBasic, as is more limited 2D games language, "Play Basic".

Help for users is available through active support forums, a free monthly newsletter, and tutorials, source code, etc. Cost varies depending on version ordered and whether one is purchasing a boxed set or an electronic download. International DarkBasic websites are available for Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia.

BlitzBasic

BlitzBasic is another family of products aimed at aspiring game developers. As in the case of DarkBasic, BlitzBasic includes a host of features to support graphics and sound. Programs offered include Blitzplus for creating 2D games for Windows, Blitz3D for creating 2D or 3D games for Windows, and BlitzMax for creating 2D games for Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Blitzmax also has some more advanced features for the Windows environment only. Cost varies depending on version ordered.

Help for users is provided on the active set of community forums hosted on the BlitzBasic website. In addition to the forums, the "Community" page of the Blitz website also includes code archives and other useful items to assist BlitzBasic programmers. Several additional tools for use with the BlitzBasic products are described on the main page and the "Products" page of the BlitzBasic website, some by BlitzResearch, others by third parties. French and German sections of the website are also available.

I've experimented a bit with the BlitzPlus product myself and have been quite pleased with it. One thing I like about it is that it creates (fairly) small executables (about 3/4 of a megabyte for a short program), a real plus if you create a program for internet distribution.

PureBasic

Another interesting dialect of BASIC is PureBasic. As of this writing, the PureBasic website is offering PureBasic for $69, for which you get four versions to support four operating systems (Amiga, Linux, Windows, and MacOS X) all future updates for free on the PureBasic website. According to the PureBasic website, a small program created with PureBasic will produce an stand-alone executable whose size is only around 5K-10K. (I'm guessing that such a program might not have all sorts of GUI-compliant bells and whistles. Still, that's pretty impressive).

The PureBasic website and online documentation are available in English, German, and French. Active forums are maintained in English and German (possibly French too - I couldn't tell if the French section kept throwing me into the English forum because there isn't a French section or because some sort of geolocation feature pegged me as an American.)

... And if you don't like any of those products ... there are a lot more to choose from. Try searching for "basic compiler" at Google or SourceForge. Take a look at the list of free basic compilers and interpreters at TheFreeCountry.com. Do your homework, read the information available, and make your best choice. Happy hunting :)