The C128 and Z80 CPU ...or Intel 8088?

[glitch]

The C128 and Z80 CPU ...or Intel 8088?

So as I sit here testing CP/M on a TRS-80 Model 4P, I began thinking about the Commodore 128 and CP/M mode.  I had a few instances to play with it, but never really gave it a fair shake.  To me, the C128 was always best used in C64 mode and occasionally in C128 mode.  I would boot up in CP/M mode more to test disks and CP/M compatibility than to ever use it for anything serious.  Has anyone here actually used the C128 and CP/M?  CP/M seemed to me to be past its prime when the C128 rolled out.

That got me thinking.

What if noticing that, CBM had instead made the C128 with an Intel 8088 (or preferrably an 8086) instead of the Zilog Z80 CPU?  

To me, I think this would definitely encouraged more sales.  More parents buying ONE machine instead of two - C64/C128 mode for the kids and PC mode for "serious" work.  Perhaps this would have launched the company in a completely different direction.  It could have seriously hurt the Amigas sales too, or the development of the bridgeboards at least.

In hindsight I know there are about a thousand things we could have wished CBM management had done differently, but this one got me going today...

Thoughts?

[glitch]

Oh yes, I'm not trying to stir up any which OS is better argument - I was just thinking of what if the 8088 was used instead and what different path MAY have unfolded - had they perhaps made the C128 into some PC compatible too.

I remember seeing the DEC Rainbow and thinking it was cool as well.

[glitch]

@Rabbi:

    Thank you for the AmigaZ80 link!  That will be fun too.   I am actually in the process of upgrading the RAM on the Model 4P to 128K.  I am in the process of getting it ready for sale on eBay (shameless plug if anyone is interested...)  and wanted some additional disks to include.  I downloaded some other LS-DOS disk images and even blew the dust off my old high school books and entered some lines of FORTRAN to test out the compiler I found.

I learned FORTRAN on an old PDP-11 - THAT my friends was pain.  Our teacher as brilliant as she was, wanted us to learn to code on cards and enter them with a card reader and output would be sent to the teletype.  We then switched to the terminals - at least that was easier to debug.  After that we switched to the lab full of CBM PET machines.