Abstract Since the introduction of coated metal cutting tools, there has been continuous development and improvement of substrates and coatings. These improvements are invariably aimed at better resistance to the stresses involved in specific cutting tasks like interrupted cutting, machining of adhesive materials or hard and dry machining. Examples of improved performance coatings include multilayer hard thin films or composite hard/soft coatings. The paper documents fundamental research work indicating how various advanced coatings affect contact conditions and wear mechanisms during the machining of different ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Layers formed during the cutting process are also considered. Results are supplemented by application-oriented experiments during a number of cutting processes.