I had/have dual MDA and CGA compatible video cards in my 8088 PC, and used it extensively for debugging. There were debuggers that would run well on MDA, while

I had/have dual MDA and CGA compatible video cards in my 8088 PC, and used it extensively for debugging. There were debuggers that would run well on MDA, while the program displayed on the graphics adapter. Additionally, I soldered a pushbutton switch to the NMI and ground on the CPU, and hitting that would break out of whatever might be locking the system and give control back to the debugger. For the 80s, it was a delightful setup.