They all look fine to me. The larger seedlings are ready for repotting, and in theory you should be able to transplant the little fellas, or some of them, without losing too many.

Just get a fork and gently loosen a clod of the potting mix (soil) so that you can lift (from the bottom!) up the clod. Work your way in a circle to get a good clod. Lay it on some newspaper or a clean surface, then with the fingers, gently pull the plants apart. Don't yank out each plant, be gentle and pull, holding onto the plant as near to where the stem was in the soil as possible. This will separate them out. You do not have to remove all the soil from around the roots - it's nice to leave some on, actually, so that they are more protected from damage. With more experience you'll know just how much 'ripping apart' you can get away with. For now, take care to keep the roots intact.

Have your larger pots ready. One seedling per pot - keep remembering that basil can get quite large if the conditions are right for it. The proper way to do it is to keep 'potting on' - gradually moving from a tiny pot to a large pot, but honestly, get pots that are a reasonable size and save yourself some work. All these plants should be allowed to grow quickly, and transplanting will only slow them down each time.

OK, pots are ready, full of potting mix. Remember to lift the pots and drop them down again on your work-bench to help settle the soil and remove any air pockets. You may need another handful or two of potting mix to refill. Using your finger, or a piece of dowel, or a pencil as a 'dibbling stick', make a hole in the centre of the pot, wriggling the stick around to make it easier for the roots to slide in and fall to the bottom. Place a seedling in each hole, making sure that the stems are not buried any deeper than they were originally (you can tell by the dirty mark!). With the finger tips, gently tamp the soil around, give them a shower, and put them where they'll be - where they'll get lots of sunlight and warmth and shelter from the wind and any frosts you might have.

You can come back in a week or so to repeat the procedure with the remaining babies. It's inevitable that you'll lose a few, but if you count up those plants, you'll find there's an awful lot of them, and you probably won't need even half of what's there. Unless you plan on eating TONS of basil or on giving some plants away.

All plants will go into shock when transplanted. They might look very iffy for a week or two, but that's normal. Just keep the word BABY in mind and treat them gently.

Thanks so much for that very detailed and thoughtful explanation. I sure do appreciate it...As many plants as I have transplanted etc. This is my VERY first time starting a seed....and it's very exciting to watch the process...I"m looking forward to doing more and more.

update on the seedlings...more roots than I thought would be there, but all in all they were transplanted and seem to be doing ok....

here's a pic (also includes some potted peppers, which were not planted from seed)