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The Intel tool for this (running on MDS-80 "Blue Boxes" and ISIS-II operating system) was CONV86. I used CONV86 way back in 1983 to convert a fairly large (back then) 8080 assembly language code base to the IBM PC. Worked perfectly.

Compared to the CP/M box it replaced, the IBM PC was a speed demon.

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Found the manual:

http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/intel/ISIS_II/9800642A_MCS-86_A...

Appendix A has the translation table.

As the article points out, 8086 was designed to be source-translatable from 8080, and DOS started life as a clone of CP/M-86[1], with identical system calls, so it makes a lot of sense that you should be able to mechanically translate 8080 CP/M software to run on DOS.

Z-80 software would presumably be harder to translate, although the x86 has additional registers and instructions you could use.

[1] the rumored easter egg of a Gary Kildall or DRI copyright message hidden in MS-DOS or QDOS was never found, sadly

I recall reading a story where Kildall stated something like, "Ask Bill Gates why '$' is the terminator in the print string call. I know why -- does he?"

In some ways that is the moral equivalent -- the function was copied without fully understanding the why of the function.

That's very interesting - I'd still like to know Bill Gates' answer!!

Why ask Gates and not Tim Paterson in the first place?

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