From what I remember, the Northstar was probably
the most widely hated
"system" around in these parts. There was a local
company which produced an
apparently quite nice accounting package (Champion???) which wouldn't run on
their most popular model, the "Horizon" because it had an 8K ROM which
reduced their TPA under CP/M to the point where this package wouldn't run
properly.
I ran my business using Champion on my Northstar for about 8 years with no
problems (except for the slowness.)