Tech projects, hobby programming, and geeky thoughts of Paolo Amoroso

Where to download CP/M-86 software

CP/M-86 is a footnote to the history of the personal computer, which is part of why it's interesting.

The downside is the limited popularity the operating system enjoyed makes it difficult to discover online resources, particularly software. I face this issue when looking for software and tools for my V20-MBC homebrew computer, which can run CP/M-86 with the Intel 8088 of its Nec V20.

Therefore, I'm keeping track of the programs and software collections I run across online.

I include a list here, which I'll revise and expand with more entries. On the V20-MBC I tested only a small fraction of this software, so some programs designed for vendor-specific CP/M-86 versions or machines may not run on the device.

Repositories and collections

Old BBS archives, repositories, personal websites, and CD-ROM collections are good starting points. CP/M-86 software in executable form is usually in a section under general CP/M resources.

I found these repositories and websites:

Programs and utilities

Some applications are provided for download from their own websites or distribution archives:

Source code

Some software that works on CP/M-86 is distributed in source form with no prepackaged binaries. It's usually available at general CP/M repositories, in sections specific to the programming language or environment it was developed with such as Turbo Pascal or BASIC. This code may need some tweaks to run on CP/M-86.

For example, the Walnut Creek CP/M CD-ROM has a Turbo Pascal section.

CP/M-86 Miscellaneous Ports is a collection of C and Unix tools ported to CP/M-86, such as yacc.

#v20mbc #retrocomputing

Discuss...
Email | Reply @amoroso@fosstodon.org