
ReactOS, a 17-year quest for an open-source Windows, has a new release candidate - Fjolsvith
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/reactos-open-source-windows-clone-173145859.html
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SwellJoe
I've always been strangely fascinated by this project. I don't understand it.
I appreciate the technical skill involved, and the amount of effort expended.
But, I can't imagine working on it.

From my perspective, Windows is an inferior system to any UNIX-based system on
almost every front. It has a very strong application ecosystem, but
technically it's unpleasant to work on (for me). So, given that, if there's
something I want an OS to do that Linux can't do, I would be motivated to work
on making Linux able to do that thing so I could do that thing on an Open
Source OS I enjoy using, rather than work on replicating Windows so I could do
that thing on an open source OS I don't enjoy using.

But, it seems there are people who genuinely enjoy Windows more than Linux (or
BSD), and are willing to work for _17 years_ in pursuit of being able to run
an Open Source Windows version. I admire them for it, but still can't
understand it.

~~~
userbinator
IMHO the nixes have a far superior CLI, but Windows' GUI is (at least pre-
Metro, i.e. Win32 desktop) superior to the many disjoint alternatives that the
Linux/BSD/OS X/Solaris/etc. world has. Instead of Qt, Gtk, and all the others,
Windows just has Win32 and all apps have basically identical look-and-feel
(except for those that go out of their way to reinvent the standard GUI
elements, but in my experience this is much rarer on Windows) and it's
relatively easy for them to interact.

(I've been writing Win32 apps for over a decade, so maybe I'm biased that way,
but I definitely prefer (ba)sh over command.com/cmd.exe. My ideal environment
would be a pre-Metro Windows GUI with a UNIX-based filesystem and command
prompt...)

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sho_hn
> Instead of Qt, Gtk, and all the others, Windows just has Win32

No, Windows has Qt, Gtk and all the others, too. Virtually any regular user
Windows install has 2-5 Qt apps on it. And Windows has been _infamous_ for
apps reinventing standard UI elements with skinned monstrosities.

~~~
donatj
It's been about 5 years since I was a regular Windows user, but I can't think
of a single Qt app I used on a regular basis. Care to name some examples?

~~~
cozzyd
Skype might be the most popular.

~~~
pjmlp
Skype was written in Delphi originally.

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giancarlostoro
This is one OS I've kept my eye on forever, though it feels as though
Microsoft will go open source before ReactOS can catch up if anything. I
wouldn't mind if certain parts of Windows were open sourced, or replaced by
open sourced alternatives at least, not all of Windows. We saw this happen to
the Open Live Writer.

~~~
rasz_pl
Microsoft already kinda went open source, unintentionally :)
[http://www.opennt.net/](http://www.opennt.net/)

interesting thread documenting start of OpenNT project
[http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=33250](http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=33250)
from broken code base that would not compile to booting ~Windows 2003 compiled
from source.

~~~
orionblastar
Avast gives me a Win32Evo Trojan warning when downloading NT 4.5 binary or ISO
images. Is it a false positive or did they accidentally introduce a Trojan
into the code?

Anyway Avast won't let me download NT 4.5 due to a Trojan warning. So I can't
test it out unless I disabled my AV.

Edit: Why the downvote, scan it with Avast yourself if you don't believe me. I
refuse to use it unless it is verified to not have a Trojan. Even if it might
be a false positive.

~~~
easong
Antiviruses are useless and you probably shouldn't be using one in 2015. Run
the ISO in a VM if you don't trust it. (I didn't downvote you.)

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secfirstmd
As someone working on digital and physical security for human rights defenders
in the field, I've followed this project closely. I would love to have a
version of TAILS which had the Windows friendly attributes of ReactOS.
Unfortunately, far too often the people most at risk just cannot really make
the leap to a Linux based system, so a free, locked down version of something
like ReactOS mixed with many of TAILS features, would be awesome. I know TAILS
have tried to mirror some of the visual features but realistically it will
never be the same.

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dustinupdyke
A serious question: When will we see a truly new OS built from the ground up?
If there is a space where there seems to be little innovation it is in the
space of new OS paradigms. Flavors of Windows or Linux - are there really any
commercially ready alternatives today or in the very near future?

~~~
ant6n
How about an operating system that doesn't execute native code directly
anymore. No Segfaults. All programs live in the same VM space.

~~~
ferrari8608
Isn't that kind of what Android does?

~~~
ant6n
Well, if the JVM was the basic layer of the operating system, then yes. But
really it's some form of Linux, there's a lot of native code running, system
calls, user and kernel mode etc. Apps can use native code too.

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wila
Ok, played with it in a virtual machine. Good to see they are making progress.

My experience so far from today's experiment run, .. it still is quite
unstable, saw several BSODs (about 7 of them varying from processor locked to
the real blue screen) Most of the times I lost data during the crash. Files
disappearing etc.. Good part is that it reboots really fast.

VMware Tools installed -albeit complaining- and I could use VMware shared
folders which was convenient.

Of course this is a release candidate and we are not at 1.0 so stability
really isn't a promise. If they manage to get it more stable then it is
starting to become usable.

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jamesu
ReactOS may be impressive from a technical standpoint, but judging from the
release candidate its still got a long way to go in terms of stability. While
I was able to install it after puzzling over the correct hardware options, it
still hanged during installing drivers at boot.

~~~
orionblastar
ReactOS runs best in a virtual machine. Running it on bare iron is risky.
Driver support is limited and they are still working on it. For example they
just added Wifi support and printing support.

I donated to their Indiegogo campaign to get the community edition developed,
that campaign allowed them to hire developers to get to the 0.40 mile stone.

~~~
kayamon
Isn't one of the goals behind ReactOS that you can "simply" use the large
existing base of Windows drivers on it?

~~~
restalis
That's the aim, but the circle of developers working on it is not that wide
and even at the level of Windows 2003 (the project's compatibility aim) there
already was a pretty large surface of binary compatibility to be covered. Many
drivers already work, but many do not yet (because hey, it's not even in beta
stage yet).

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sutro
_Quixotic_ is a characteristic I appreciate more and more in software projects
as I get older, as my own efforts seem to increasingly tilt at windmills.

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ant6n
At this point, I wonder whether it wouldn't be easier to bundle linux and wine
together.

~~~
suprjami
I've thought this as well. I agree there's value in aiming too-high, but the
amount of effort which has gone into ReactOS would have served Wine really
well.

~~~
broodbucket
There's a ton of shared code between Wine and ReactOS. They are rather
complementary.

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mindo
Only 5%

~~~
broodbucket
One is an operating system and the other is a Win32 compatibility layer for
*nix. I'd say 5% is a lot.

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blisterpeanuts
An OEM Windows 7 disc is under $50 at Amazon now (down from $80 which is what
I paid a couple of months ago). At a certain point, why not just buy the real
thing and not have to fuss so much about compatibility? Almost every recent
Mac can bootcamp Windows now, and Linux can also dual-boot, or else maybe
install it to VirtualBox.

That's also why I've stopped updating my Crossover for $40 every year or two.
Basic laptops and desktop boxes are so cheap these days that it becomes a
question of whether your time is worth fussing around with compatibility
software.

~~~
e12e
I'm not sure it's entirely clear what you can use an OEM Windows disk for.
Isn't that just for new hardware? And that's at least 50/vm if I understand
things. The thing to compare reactOS to is probably a datacenter licensed copy
of Windows server. Productivity applications will (mostly) run in Wine - I
don't think anyone expects ReactOS to be a viable alternative to bare-metal
Windows install for gaming.

~~~
coderjames
Exactly. The Windows "OEM" or "System Builder" edition is only valid for
computers that are sold on to the final end user. They aren't legal for
personal use by the original purchaser. [1]

[1] = [http://www.howtogeek.com/197232/microsoft-is-misleading-
cons...](http://www.howtogeek.com/197232/microsoft-is-misleading-consumers-
with-windows-8.1-system-builder-licensing/)

~~~
terinjokes
Interesting. I bought Windows 8 System Builder and used the "Personal Use
License". Some point thereafter I upgraded to Windows 8.1. I'm sure I agreed
to the new terms of use (after all, I wanted to get back to my computer), and
was suddenly breaking the license.

Wonderful.

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subinsebastien
If ReactOS provides a Windows 98/ME like interface and icons and rest of the
UI/UX, I would definitely donate to the project and will install it on one of
my home computers. I love when software reminds me of my childhood. :)

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collinmanderson
I think ReactOS is still targeting XP/2003? The way things are going,
Microsoft may open source Windows before ReactOS catches up, likely with a
more permissive license.

