{"slug": "os8088", "name": "Os8088", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 8, "warners": 2, "score": 1.848, "rising": 3.0, "first": "2026-08-08", "latest": "2026-10-11", "why": "I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "os8088.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://os8088.com", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Os8088", "os8088", "OS8088", "OS/8088"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800771360, "item_id": 50048210, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048210", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is AI generated and it's impressive too", "excerpt": "This is AI generated and it's impressive too, https://www.os8088.com/ but if you have an old PC with Frotz to play with, create some game by hand (no AI used, at all) with Inform6 or better, Puny Inform and try doing things by yourself. You will be surprised of what you can do with very little...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications"}, {"id": 787668560, "item_id": 49229285, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49229285", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want to try the operating system in the browser", "excerpt": "If you want to try the operating system in the browser, you can try it by visiting here: https://os8088.com/demo/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787653936, "item_id": 49228371, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228371", "by": "baud9600", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is great", "excerpt": "This is great - It\u2019s almost as impressive as the \u201cGOS\u201d written for Atari 8-bit running on 6502 at 1.79 MHz. Visually it\u2019s almost identical but has a nicer font. The specs are somewhat similar with 16 task slots, calculator app and task manager, serial mouse support (ST mouse) and Atari\u2019s hardware sprites helping with some of the graphics. The XOR window frame is the same idea. Amazingly, Atari GOS runs in 128K of RAM", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787647920, "item_id": 49227995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227995", "by": "rickcarlino", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "excerpt": "The website explicitly states a lack of networking. Any interest in pursuing that in a future version? I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS on old PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 787732624, "item_id": 49233289, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49233289", "by": "reaperducer", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "How are we supposed to trust that photo, when you've already demonstrated that you're happy to use AI", "excerpt": "Yes, you can see the hardware we tested here: https://www.os8088.com/hardware How are we supposed to trust that photo, when you've already demonstrated that you're happy to use AI and call it \"hand-written.\"", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787660768, "item_id": 49228798, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228798", "by": "yjftsjthsd-h", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It's not a bad system, but it sounds easy to break.", "excerpt": "https://os8088.com/how-it-works/multitasking/ > Pre-emptive multitasking on an 8086 > Twelve task slots, 1,536 bytes of stack each, and a timer interrupt that takes the CPU away from whatever is running 18.2065 times a second. No task is asked to cooperate and no task can refuse. If you don't have protected mode, can't any program just rewrite the interrupt handler? It's not a bad system, but it sounds easy to break.", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM PCs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["mac-like os for ibm pc", "mac-like os for ibm pcs", "mac-like os on old pc"], "compared": [], "makers": [{"id": 789876112, "item_id": 49367257, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49367257", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "os8088 is an operating system written with AI tools in x86 16-bit assembly", "excerpt": "os8088 is an operating system written with AI tools in x86 16-bit assembly with an optional C/C++ app porting toolchain. It runs on anything with an x86 processor from the early 8088/8086 CPUs up to the latest CPUs. It supports CGA/Hercules + VGA. Sound Blaster, NE2000 network and MFM hard drive support is now available. We've also ported many cool apps: MOD trackers, TexPad, MS Word 1.1a (in ASM and C), CP/M 2.2 emu", "context": "", "use_case": "Retro x86 operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088.com: IBM XT OS now has a Browser, CP/M 2.2 with Z80 core and MS Word 1.1a"}, {"id": 787677136, "item_id": 49229821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49229821", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Yes, you can see the hardware we tested here", "excerpt": "Yes, you can see the hardware we tested here: https://www.os8088.com/hardware", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787668176, "item_id": 49229261, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49229261", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "\"Author\" of os8088 here.", "excerpt": "\"Author\" of os8088 here. That's no longer the case. Someone that is contributing to the project is using real hardware to validate the changes. You can check out some of the systems he tested it with here: https://www.os8088.com/hardware The system does currently run with 256KB of RAM, and you can use some of the basic apps, but not all of them.", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM XT", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787667424, "item_id": 49229214, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49229214", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "\"Author\" of os8088 here.", "excerpt": "\"Author\" of os8088 here. I love seeing what these early limited system could do! Someone shared a video of GOS with me after seeing what os8088 looked like. I believe os8088 also boots now with just 128k of RAM, but it's very limited in the type of apps you can load. There's a os8088.com/hardware page where one of the contributors to the project that has been helping optimize the operating system tested it out on a b", "context": "author of os8088", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM XT", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49226923", "title": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386", "mentions": 9}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50043110", "title": "Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49610631", "title": "I-have-ADHD: A skill to stop coding agents from burying the answer", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49367256", "title": "Os8088.com: IBM XT OS now has a Browser, CP/M 2.2 with Z80 core and MS Word 1.1a", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49355606", "title": "OpenLogi", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2, "warn": 2, "neutral": 2}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 800771360, "item_id": 50048210, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50048210", "by": "anthk", "date": "2026-10-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is AI generated and it's impressive too", "excerpt": "This is AI generated and it's impressive too, https://www.os8088.com/ but if you have an old PC with Frotz to play with, create some game by hand (no AI used, at all) with Inform6 or better, Puny Inform and try doing things by yourself. You will be surprised of what you can do with very little...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications"}, {"id": 793852560, "item_id": 49615785, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49615785", "by": "sixothree", "date": "2026-09-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "You might be surprised at the developer documentation for OS8088", "excerpt": "You might be surprised at the developer documentation for OS8088 (recently posted on HN). https://os8088.com/developers/ Instead of describing to the user how to setup their dev environment, section 3 basically instructs the agent to install all developer tools required for the application to operate in development mode.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I-have-ADHD: A skill to stop coding agents from burying the answer"}, {"id": 789806704, "item_id": 49362919, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49362919", "by": "pmarreck", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "This guy just built a preemptively-multitasking OS for the Intel 8088 chip", "excerpt": "There's going to be a lot more cool shit like this now that AI can help build anything! This guy just built a preemptively-multitasking OS for the Intel 8088 chip, the one from the original IBM PC, which also features an early Mac-like UI: https://os8088.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenLogi"}, {"id": 787732624, "item_id": 49233289, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49233289", "by": "reaperducer", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "warn", "quote": "How are we supposed to trust that photo, when you've already demonstrated that you're happy to use AI", "excerpt": "Yes, you can see the hardware we tested here: https://www.os8088.com/hardware How are we supposed to trust that photo, when you've already demonstrated that you're happy to use AI and call it \"hand-written.\"", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787668560, "item_id": 49229285, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49229285", "by": "jggonz", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want to try the operating system in the browser", "excerpt": "If you want to try the operating system in the browser, you can try it by visiting here: https://os8088.com/demo/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787661824, "item_id": 49228864, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228864", "by": "Rohansi", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "> If you don't have protected mode, can't any program just rewrite the interrupt handler? Yes? It's still possible to make it safe if you ensure that all programs are written in a memory safe language. Aside from throwing out a ton of existing code it's not as bad as it sounds. The Birth and Death of JavaScript touches on it towards the end. https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/the-birth-and-death-of-javascript", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787660768, "item_id": 49228798, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228798", "by": "yjftsjthsd-h", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "warn", "quote": "It's not a bad system, but it sounds easy to break.", "excerpt": "https://os8088.com/how-it-works/multitasking/ > Pre-emptive multitasking on an 8086 > Twelve task slots, 1,536 bytes of stack each, and a timer interrupt that takes the CPU away from whatever is running 18.2065 times a second. No task is asked to cooperate and no task can refuse. If you don't have protected mode, can't any program just rewrite the interrupt handler? It's not a bad system, but it sounds easy to break.", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS for IBM PCs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787653936, "item_id": 49228371, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49228371", "by": "baud9600", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is great", "excerpt": "This is great - It\u2019s almost as impressive as the \u201cGOS\u201d written for Atari 8-bit running on 6502 at 1.79 MHz. Visually it\u2019s almost identical but has a nicer font. The specs are somewhat similar with 16 task slots, calculator app and task manager, serial mouse support (ST mouse) and Atari\u2019s hardware sprites helping with some of the graphics. The XOR window frame is the same idea. Amazingly, Atari GOS runs in 128K of RAM", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}, {"id": 787647920, "item_id": 49227995, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49227995", "by": "rickcarlino", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "excerpt": "The website explicitly states a lack of networking. Any interest in pursuing that in a future version? I have a Pocket 8086 - I would love to give this a try next weekend.", "context": "", "use_case": "Mac-like OS on old PC", "switched_from": "", "story": "Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386"}]}