
ReactOS 0.4.13 - shdon
https://reactos.org/project-news/reactos-0413-released/
======
DeathArrow
20 years ago I followed the development of many alternative operating systems.
BeOS, SkyOS, Syllable, Haiku, ReactOS, hoping someone will release something
better than Mac OS or Windows. Many operating systems have died, the ones who
didn't (Haiku, ReactOS) aren't doing particularly well.

Doing a modern desktop operating system from scratch is very hard and very
resource intensive. But trying to reverse engineer one and implement it
without having specs and defined APIs is way harder.

Microsoft needed tens of thousands of software engineers, UI specialists,
software architects to implement Windows. Apple didn't have the resources to
write OS X from scratch, they got many bits from FreeBSD, NetBSD and Linux.

So trying to replicate Windows functionality and have 100% compatibility with
Windows won't happen unless Windows goes open source. Which I won't be
surprised to see in the future if Microsoft owns the rights to all Windows
code.

~~~
rvz
> Doing a modern desktop operating system from scratch is very hard and very
> resource intensive.

Well a multi-billion dollar company with a-lot of resources can afford to do
this from scratch. Unsurprisingly, those hobbyist OSes don't stand a chance
and progress will be disappointing compared to Windows and macOS.

Most importantly, you forgot one more alternative operating system that does
fit in the desktop ecosystem and that is Fuchsia. As we can already see the
hundreds of Linux distros that are still floating around for desktop market
share, they don't and won't come even close to macOS or Windows here.

Google is actually very good at 'using Linux' to step into the mobile market
with Android and the desktop market with ChromeOS which is the head start that
these distros should have done for a standard OS that general users can use,
but failed to do so. Now it looks somewhat likely that Fuchsia maybe replacing
both Android and ChromeOS by being one integrated and unified mobile and
desktop OS for laptops and phones which they can control.

If there is going to be a new OS entering the desktop and mobile markets, it
is almost certainly going to be Fuchsia.

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hosteur
Who here is actually using reactos? I try it once in a while but am never able
to run my old legacy apps on it. Eg. games, accounting or other old windows
apps.

~~~
navjack27
Well it's not really meant to be used. It's nowhere near ready for everyday
use.

~~~
strategarius
Maybe it never meant to be used? Its development started soon after Windows 95
release, as we all see in 20+ years of progress not even close to beta

~~~
rvnx
It's logical, Microsoft has more ressources and runs faster than them to
deliver because they have more people and money.

You cannot catch a flying jet with a single engine plane but I admire the
effort, it's well done.

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simonblack
Big difference in USB drivers with the new release. I can actually get it to
install now on a real machine now. Give me some more time to check it out
further.

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GekkePrutser
I never heard of this one.. But really cool. When I read it first I thought it
was some Linux distro customised to run Wine, but it looks like they went the
full way from scratch to cleanroom re-engineer Windows. Wow! Nice effort.

~~~
SirLotsaLocks
yeah it's basically to windows what Linux was to Unix back in the day.
hopefully some day it will be viable, but maybe it won't. there's only one way
to find out

~~~
rnd0
I think that by the time they become stable enough to use as a daily driver,
no one will be using 2003-compatible software or hardware. If they're even
using the hardware now, that is. I mean we're talking ten years and older.

I don't question why they're "bothering", but I do wonder why they haven't
adjusted their compatibility goals to something more useful such as Vista or
Windows 7.

------
swatkat
[https://www.kernelmode.info/forum/viewtopic6f46.html?f=11&t=...](https://www.kernelmode.info/forum/viewtopic6f46.html?f=11&t=5302)

[https://swapcontext.blogspot.com/2019/12/is-reactos-great-
ag...](https://swapcontext.blogspot.com/2019/12/is-reactos-great-
again-2019.html?m=1)

~~~
jchw
> Q: Why this isn't reported directly to ReactOS devs? A: Because I don't
> value this project as worth for any kind of official reports. Twenty years
> of unworkable alpha. Pff. This is my report. Part 1. You either fix your
> ridiculous bugs or GTFO. This is how I work.

How pleasant.

> Second one is about "we never used anything from MS blah blah blah" is an
> obvious lie for saving face and it is working only with partially brain dead
> audience

This claim is made all the time but it does baffle me that despite all the
work they put into showing how badly ReactOS sucks, they couldn’t put a
modicum of effort into the code theft allegation. I guess I must be braindead
for not assuming it’s stolen code.

All in all I think ReactOS is interesting enough that it is a bit unwarranted
how pessimistic people get. Most of us have long realized it will probably
never be a viable desktop OS and that is not really a big deal because it’s
still fun to mess with and read about.

~~~
gridlockd
> Most of us have long realized it will probably never be a viable desktop OS
> and that is not really a big deal because it’s still fun to mess with and
> read about.

I feel the same about Desktop Linux, except I _don 't_ find it fun to mess
with anymore.

~~~
jchw
Linux is a viable desktop OS. ReactOS is not. It's definitely going to come
down to opinions, but the difference in my opinion is I am typing to you from
Linux (and use _only_ Linux, no VMs, as my desktop OS, even at work) and I
don't think anyone here is typing on a daily driver running ReactOS. I don't
enjoy everything about desktop Linux, but in an age where Windows 10 and macOS
feel borderline hostile I don't really see much of an option. I do at least
think there's a lot of interesting work going on with Linux, like NixOS and
GuixSD, that are totally worth exploring.

~~~
DeathArrow
Windows and macOS just work and don't need constant tinkering and fixing
stuff.

Also, Windows runs all software I need, desktop Linux does not.

~~~
rvz
> Windows and macOS just work and don't need constant tinkering and fixing
> stuff.

I agree with this. After even finding the time to 'try out' many Linux distos
and dual-booting Ubuntu for a long time, I keep finding myself always going
back to macOS since the keyboard shortcuts just work everywhere without diving
into the dotfiles or apt-getting a missing package to fix it or even Googling
a weird X11 error that could be specific to my setup.

The last thing I want to do is end up spending days customising, playing
around or fixing annoying issues with my computer just to get to work. I don't
need to do this often with macOS and Windows. Some Linux distros however....

