Two things that might still be fun with CP/M to this day, though neither is in that image and would have to be obtained separately.
1. MBASIC. A nice time capsule of BASIC programming in that era, more serious and less quirky than Microsoft BASIC on other old emulated computers such as C64.
2. Wordstar. That has a bit of a learning curve, but it's frankly more bang for the (compute) buck than absolutely anything since. I came late to the CP/M party with an inexpensive (for the day) surplus Intertec Superbrain in 1984 or so, but I ended up using Wordstar for quite a while for document preparation. Of course getting it to output to a modern printer would need going deep under the hood. Most CP/M systems came with source code for the BIOS for a reason. I hacked mine to turn an obsolete LAN type interface on it (a Compustar M30) into a Centronics-compatible parallel printer port and wrote my own BIOS glue to drive it.
The science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer has written about WordStar extensively and has put together a complete collection of manuals and software for the latest DOS version here: https://sfwriter.com/ws7.htm
Along with advice for running under emulation and how to print from it, under the subheading Printing.
The editor, JOE, has a WordStar mode that you bring up with jstar. I programmed in WordStar in the 80's, and it's fun to bring it back to life that way!
Fun fact, George RR Martin still uses the MS-DOS version of Wordstar for his writing.
Given his (non-)performance, perhaps he should switch to something else?
the hardware/software combination is probably not the root cause
I’m still waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to finish his third book as well in the kingkiller chronicles.
I'm a great WordStar fan and I still use the MS-DOS version (ver 7) occasionally running under emulation in MS Windows. I still have archived documents that I wrote in WordStar in the 1980s and whenever I need to access them I'll fire up WS—it's easier than converting them to DOC/X or ODT format.
If I recall correctly Microsoft had a converter/import filter which would allow MS Word '97 to open a WordStar text file but they dropped it in Office 2000 although it was still available in O2K as a supplemental add-on.
In the '80s and early '90s I had WordStar running on three operating systems: Tandy TRS-DOS, CP/M (on a Godbout CompuPro 8/16) and an IBM compatible (AST). I always preferred WordStar to WordPerfect probably because I learned it first. Also, WS just seemed more 'streamlined'— quicker to use after the 'WS diamond' became second nature.
A couple of anecdotes, I still own a WordStar T-shirt with 'WordStar' emblazoned in 2" high lettering across the front. It still exists only because it was the last one the WS rep had and it was too small so it ended up a souvenir rather than being worn.
I must stress my comments only apply to the original versions of WS (3 to 7) and not WordStar 2000 which was a first-class flop. WS 2000 was the quintessential example of where a company attempted to update a very successful product and it failed miserably.
MicroPro, WS's developers, tried to respond to complaints that WS was difficult to learn (it wasn't of course), so with WS 2000 they attempted to simplify everything and in the process broke the very thing that made WordStar famous and loved by users—its wonderfully ergonomic CTRL key commands! We users were mightily pissed off, moreover potential new users couldn't see any advantage over WordPerfect—especially so after WS-2000 got such bad reviews from the tech press. It's worth reading the Wiki on this (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar).
What's more, yours truly made that abundantly clear to MicroPro at the time, in fact I couldn't have taken my complaint to a higher authority! The local WS rep—the one who gave me the T-shirt—knew me well as I was instrumental in having WordStar installed in the establishment where I worked and we purchased lots of copies. That pulled strings and he got me an intro to the top.
Just after WordStar 2000 was released there was a large computer show in Sydney and it was important enough for Seymour Rubinstein, the founder of MicroPro International, to cross the Pacific to promote his new product. Being a valued customer the local rep introduced me to Rubinstein and he (SR) invited me up to his hotel room for a discussion. Accompanying me was an IT colleague (a WS user) from another organisation.
Only three of us joined Rubinstein in his hotel room, the local WS rep my colleague and I. I'll spare you the lengthy, detailed and quite civilized discussion but after leaving hotel room I recall feeling sorry for Rubinstein because our arguments essentially left him defenseless.
I doubt very much that Rubinstein ever received a more intense ear-bashing about WS-2000 at any time let alone during his promotional tour (my colleague was just as didactic as I was, we made a formidable team).
I must stress again the discussion was cordial and friendly and our approach was positive and constructive but from Rubinstein's reaction there was no doubt in our minds that he knew that we users had very good reason not to adopt WS-2000.
Edit: I thought I ought to mention NewStar a similar program to WS developed by ex MicroPro employees. In many ways it was a clone of the original WS but included more advanced features. At the time there was no local importer so I imported several dozen copies (at one point I even contemplated becoming the local agent but it was complicated, also it was more expensive than WS so there was little margin in it.)
My high school got its first computers in 1986, a dozen or so Sanyo CP/M systems. Our teacher, who was as new to computers as we were, was overwhelmed with teaching everyone how to get a directory listing and use Wordstar, so he handed me some books when he saw I was bored. So my first programming experience was in Z-80 assembly.
The first computer I owned was a Commodore 128, about a year later. It came with a Z-80 and CP/M on disk. Unfortunately, I never really found anything useful to do with it that was better than what was available for the native 64 and 128 modes.
All I know about wordstar is 1) my dad used it on his kaypro luggable, and 2) I know the wordstar key commands from using Turbo C. How does wordstar compare to wordperfect 4.2 (which was my first hands-on experience with a word processor)?
To be fair, MBASIC is Microsoft Basic; albeit an older, less feature-filled version.
AFAIK, MBASIC should be fully forward-compatible with BASICA and GWBasic if you want to run that software on MS-DOS.
I don't have memories of Wordstar being fun.
WordStar isn't that difficult once you master the diamond keystrokes—E,S,D,X—and the keys adjacent to them. In fact, WordStar's control key 'diamond' was very well thought out. After one mastered the sequence which probably took several days one could enter text very quickly and efficiently. I just found this site which provides an excellent explanation:
https://benhoyt.com/writings/wordstar-diamond/
As I mentioned above I ran WordStar on multiple operating systems and I still have it running under an emulator under Windows.
It was fun in much the same way that vim is fun.
Whose (vi) keybindings I learned in 1987 on a SunOS system where it was simply the best editor available stock (about 1/2 of the user population in those days used emacs instead but you had to install that). And I can still use them to this day! Whereas I've forgotten the WS ones.
I suspect that I just have to say Control+K Control+D to awaken some memories. (-:
I was about to yell in indignation "BUT WHAT ABOUT EMACS!" and then I finished reading the first sentence. Alas, it is true, emacs was not installed by default. I learned just enough vi to modify basic files in /etc on old school unices (Ultrix, SunOS, Solaris, HP/UX, IRIX, etc.)
And the weird thing is... to this day... when I edit something in /etc, I always use vi instead of emacs. It just seems sick and wrong to edit config files with anything else.
Most first-rate tools aren't meant to be fun. WS was very effective once you memorized the more common keybindings.
Actually realizing you're referring to my "might still be fun", the fun is in discovering how things used to be. Not using the old tools for production use. Unless, I suppose, you have a daisywheel type printer that's sitting idle.