This is my manifesto of sorts on how I plan to implement P8OS in the forseeable future. I will keep writing it over time. Basically, you'll see the post progress as I write it down.

Part 0: Decisions, decisions, decisions

First, I'll have to make some choices to fit the limitations of PICO-8. First and formost; will we allow external programs that can be installed onto any given person's copy of the OS? And if so, how will we fit this into PICO-8?
I have the answer to both of those questions. 1) Yes. 2) A VM.
A VM is perfect for this. If you manage to design a compact and efficient bytecode and run it efficiently, then you're set.
Second decision: Should our OS have multitasking? And, once again, if so, how?
Here are the answers: 1) Yes. 2) Instancing.
If we build our VM modularly, we should be able to have a single instance of the VM for each program, which if run asynchronously, would allow for multitasking.
Third decision: Should we use the mouse and keyboard?
As demonstrated by my extremely early and nonfunctional version of the OS, yes to both.
There are more decisions that I'll add in here later. For now, we're set.

Please give feedback on the current version. I want to know what you think!

just make the applications uncompiled lua code, it'll be way easier to implement. that's what a pico 8 clone did with it's operating system bundled with it.