Os8088
Shares rank 32 of 87 operating systems by recommenders
Free operating system for IBM XT-class PCs, praised for its Mac-like look and compact assembly code, though critics say the font spoils the Mac illusion.
Free operating system for IBM XT-class PCs, praised for its Mac-like look and compact assembly code, though critics say the font spoils the Mac illusion.
25 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 64%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Impressive, ambitious work on old hardware
“This guy just built a preemptively-multitasking OS for the Intel 8088 chip”
Comment from 19 Aug 2026 in “OpenLogi” “One has to admire the work and inventiveness in these projects.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “This is something that hasn't been done before, and now exists.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” - Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386”
- Comment from 11 Oct 2026 in “Open-source Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word replications”
- Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Os8088.com: IBM XT OS now has a Browser, CP/M 2.2 with Z80 core and MS Word 1.1a”
Intentional, hand-written-looking code and UI
“Everything looks intentional. There are no bizarre UI elements that were hallucinated into existence.”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Os8088.com: IBM XT OS now has a Browser, CP/M 2.2 with Z80 core and MS Word 1.1a” “It looks much closer to real human-written Asm than compiler output, which is itself a big win.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “intentional and supervised by someone who knows their sh*t”
Comment from 20 Aug 2026 in “Os8088.com: IBM XT OS now has a Browser, CP/M 2.2 with Z80 core and MS Word 1.1a” - Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Accused of being AI-generated
“I think someone vibecoded a bad System 7 replacement that had at least some QuickDraw in it.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “coding this dead end from 1978 in assembly rather than getting Claude to do it in six days”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “That's what happens when you let an LLM write your ad-copy...”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” - Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386”
Font spoils the Mac illusion
“It looks surprisingly Mac-like, except the font kind of spoils the illusion.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “I don't think you can call it Mac-like without proportional fonts.”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” Code no better than compiler output
“The code doesn't look much better than what a good C compiler might produce”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386” “Now it's the equivalent of a 1st-grader showing off their finger-painting”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “Os8088: A powerful Mac-like OS for the IBM XT, 286, 386”
Other operating systems people recommend
The four most recommended other operating systems, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 87 operating systems, rankedWhat people said
24 of the 27 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This is AI generated and it's impressive too”
“intentional and supervised by someone who knows their sh*t”
“Everything looks intentional. There are no bizarre UI elements that were hallucinated into existence.”
“It is almost unreadable because of the style.”
“This project is a great example of this.”
“This guy just built a preemptively-multitasking OS for the Intel 8088 chip”
“thanks for this, such fun!”
“Did not boot for me on an IBM PS/2 Model 30 (80286).”
“This is great. If I'd had the chance this is exactly what I would have run.”
“I think someone vibecoded a bad System 7 replacement that had at least some QuickDraw in it.”
“This is awesome and you should keep working on it.”
“I don't think you can call it Mac-like without proportional fonts.”
“The code doesn't look much better than what a good C compiler might produce”
“From running the demo in the browser, it seems so performance-wise and size-wise”
“This is something that hasn't been done before, and now exists.”
“Now it's the equivalent of a 1st-grader showing off their finger-painting”
“It looks much closer to real human-written Asm than compiler output, which is itself a big win.”
“coding this dead end from 1978 in assembly rather than getting Claude to do it in six days”
“the whole thing was built up by Claude. I closed the tab.”
“It's not a bad system, but it sounds easy to break.”
“One has to admire the work and inventiveness in these projects.”
“It looks surprisingly Mac-like, except the font kind of spoils the illusion.”
“That's what happens when you let an LLM write your ad-copy...”
“the source code on github reads like a book”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.