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ReactOS: The Open Source Windows
Article Submitted by:
Barbara Mountjoy
June 25, 2009
Why Bill Gates Shouldn't get ALL Your Money
Just when we're all convinced there's nothing new under the sun except the latest version of Microsoft Windows, a new release of ReactOS is available in April 2008.
What is ReactOS? It is an open source operating system that will be compatible with hardware, software and drivers that run on a Windows system, including Direct X. ReactOS will be, ostensibly, the first "new" system that's been introduced since 1990 when Windows 3.0 came out.
Begun in 1998, the ReactOS project is currently in alpha stage, not recommended for everyday use. A number of Windows applications, however, will now work with the system, so Windows users should be able to use the system right off the bat, while the team continues to work on the development and configuration of drivers and other compatible hardware.
What's the big deal? ReactOS is open source. This means that the kernel, or core of the operating system, is available so anyone can write programs, drivers and other modifications to share. The OS user will no longer be beholden to Microsoft for an expensive operating system in order to use Windows applications. Right now, most of us buy Windows as part of the original purchase of a computer--and its built-in cost may be as much as 25 percent of the purchase price! But once ReactOS is perfected, a user will be able to use a Microsoft program like Office even if he doesn't have Windows installed on his computer.
Also, with the mods and applications that people will develop available for free, the OS user will be able to pick and choose the programs they want, instead of having to take a whole package like Windows with bells and whistles they may not need.
ReactOS is licensed under the GNU General Public License, unlike Windows, which uses End User License Agreements. What does this mean? When you buy a Windows operating system, you purchase the right to use it, but Microsoft continues to own it. You have no right to modify, upgrade or sell the product. Under GNU, once you have the OS, it's yours--you can modify it, sell it, make changes as you see fit. the only thing you can't do is prevent someone else from doing the same.
Want to see what all the buzz is about? Users can download this now for trial in three different forms: through an install disk, where you actually install and run it on your hard drive; on a live CD, where you can run it without actually installing it, or in a pre-made virtual package, which will allow it to run on VMWare virtual machine software.
Minimum hardware requirements for ReactOS to run are:
x86-compatible processor, Pentium or later
32 MB RAM
IDE hard drive of at least 150 MB
FAT16/FAT32 Boot partition
2 MB VGA graphics adapter
CD-ROM drive
Standard keyboard
PS/2 Compatible mouse or Microsoft Mouse-compatible serial mouse
This month is the scheduled release of version 0.3.5, with the 0.4 stage on the horizon as the last alpha release. Beta is expected to be out by the end of 2008. The team invites interested folk to get on board and try it out, then provide comments, whether you're writing code, or just discussing the project and its applications.
Source: FireFox News
Deathrow_Nzl
4 months ago
38 comments
Its fast, & it certainly doesn't need much.. I download the premade Virtual Machine & it blue screened at one point when trying to automatically install drivers.. But I am impressed by how small it was..
To be fair the Virtual machine was made for vmware & I ran it with virtualbox, To have truly tested it properly I should have at the minimum tested with the live CD.. and it probably would not hav BSOD'd at all
My thoughts when I saw it tho were like.. Man this really is like windows .. it even has the BSOD
PureEvil
4 months ago
196 comments
awesome hope it gets better
digioz
5 months ago
112 comments
ccorliss: I was actually looking for an alternate to Windows XP embedded when I came across ReactOS, so that is certainly an excellent use for it. There is so much else you can do with it though and the amount of money you would save on Windows licensing is certainly significant.
ccorliss
5 months ago
164 comments
I really do like the perspective of using these on Thin Clients. Working in a corporate support setting, the majority of our centers use Thin Client, and trying to function normally with windows installed truly is a pain, as we are forced to look for software alternatives due to the small amount of memory available on Thin Clients, and the large amount of memory taken by Windows.
digioz
5 months ago
112 comments
I have uploaded a short video of ReacOS environment. You can view it here:
http://insidetech.monster.com/videos/videos/676
digioz
5 months ago
112 comments
abednegoyulo: The difference though is that they are using the same NT Architecture as Windows, so all Windows Drivers and Hardware should work on ReactOS by default.
fahey252: Beta WAS suppose to be out by end of 2008, but the project is running behind schedule. They have recently recruited some additional programmers (21 total from initial 6) to finish it up faster.
Trying out the OS:
The easiest way to try out the OS is to run the Virtual Image downloaded from here:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/reactos/ReactOS-0.3.9-REL-qemu.zip
Simply extract the zip file, then double click on boot.bat. It will bring up the OS in a Virtual OS (no installations required).
igor106
5 months ago
18 comments
I've had the chance to play with this OS back in 2006. At a glance, it looked like Windows, but it's still far away from MS Windows. This will be useful for the end user who only runs day to day apps without any advanced needs (file and folder sharing, domain settings, user rights etc). In my view, this will be a perfect solution as a VM on top of a secured environment in Linux. As it is now, I doubt the ReactOS is stable and secure enough from online threats. The version I tested on a Toshiba m35 laptop (Intel graphics, intel LAN, 1.5Ghz PentiumM, 512RAM) didnt work well with the drivers so I gave up on it. Hopefully this new/old version from 2008 could be better than the one I tested.
fahey252
5 months ago
8 comments
They mention stuff that will be available in 2008 when this article was just written...
"Beta is expected to be out by the end of 2008. "
where the efff are the editors? It is 2009!
why is insidetech feeding me garbabe?
"...except the latest version of Microsoft Windows, a new release of ReactOS is available in April 2008."
kwickenb
5 months ago
28 comments
Can't wait to see it kick M$ @$$
abednegoyulo
5 months ago
28 comments
Sounds like the goals of the former Linspire OS
digioz
5 months ago
112 comments
It is extremely light as you are saying, which makes it the ideal candidate for Thin Clients as well.
Account Removed
5 months ago
This is very light on the spec, i like that, it leaves plenty room to load big applications.