# CP/M

11 Hacker News commenters recommended CP/M and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Early 8-bit operating system, comparable to MS-DOS and widely supported on Z80 machines; critics say CP/M-86 came out late and its tools and command interpreter were weak.

## Why people recommend it

- Capable, comparable to MS-DOS (2 comments): "It was basically equivalent to MS-DOS in capability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47013432)) "I'm pretty sure C/PM 86 was already a thing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49150429))
- Well liked on Z80 systems (2 comments): "CP/M was great on Z80 systems." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48337129)) "I'm particularly fond of CP/M" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47335814))

## What people warn about

- Weak tools and command interpreter (3 comments): "Instead you ended up with things cp/m and dos. fine enough I guess but their command interpreter sort of sucks" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48397283)) "the tools and documentation were bad to the point where most machines had Z80 processors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47511453)) "CP/M and DOS were indeed pretty weak" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48429894))
- Faded, little lasting role (3 comments): "completely un-necessary on a proper microcomputer which has the OS in ROM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46874002)) "CP/M was headed for the dustbin at the high end" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47827764)) "CP/M never played a meaningful role ever." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486870))
- CP/M-86 released very late (2 comments): "CP/M-86 was badly late: it followed over three years after the release of the 8086" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46525599)) "CP/M-86 was horribly horribly late" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46272375))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows.md): 1287 recommend
- [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos.md): 1041 recommend
- [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux.md): 745 recommend
- [Haiku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/haiku-os.md): 115 recommend
- [NetBSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/netbsd.md): 100 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "CP/M", https://hackerapproved.com/p/cp-m/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).