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besson3c · Feb 2, 2009, 12:23 PM

Has anybody played around with or have any particular opinions about ReactOS?

olePigeon · Feb 2, 2009, 01:13 PM

I've never used it, but the idea is nifty. A Win32 compatible OS that's not from Microsoft.

besson3c · Feb 2, 2009, 01:17 PM

I'm not sure I get the point... I mean, this exists in WINE which I'm assuming they borrow code/ideas from? About the only perk I see here is a bare metal Windows shell that might be good for getting the most performance out of games or something, and of course not having to pay for a copy of Windows (the latter which is also the case with WINE).

What I'm mostly not sure about is whether this idea is practical, considering that Windows is not a static target. This is the same problem that WINE has, except WINE is only trying to provide the Windows APIs for applications, while this is trying to be much more...

That's just my reaction to it though, I haven't actually used it.

Goldfinger · Feb 2, 2009, 01:17 PM

Is that even possible ? I mean intellectual property-wise ?

olePigeon · Feb 2, 2009, 01:22 PM

I don't see a problem making a compatible OS so long as they don't use Microsoft's source code.

Laminar · Feb 2, 2009, 01:29 PM

Linux+Wine is never going to be a complete replacement for a full Windows system. It's not only because Linux (despite there are some really user-friendly Linux distros out there), and not only because many users might find a transition to Linux/BSD difficult, but it's due to design and implementation decisions of Linux and Wine architectures, which prevent 100% compatibility.

That's what they have to say.

besson3c · Feb 2, 2009, 01:51 PM

I hope it succeeds.

I kind of have sneaking suspicions that we've nearly plateaued on what can be innovated for the masses into an operating system without changing the whole role of what an operating system does. Granted, there is always room for improvement and refinements, but perhaps we are at a point where both OS X and Windows can be considered a fairly static foundation for developing basic applications that are not designed to be tied to or take advantage of bleeding edge OS specific features. If I'm right, the day will come when we can run most applications reliably in ReactOS and/or WINE, or possibly something equivalent for OS X.

rickey939 · Feb 2, 2009, 02:10 PM

Hmmmmm, interesting. I like it.

hookem2oo7 · Feb 2, 2009, 02:22 PM

i played with it in VMWare via their "virtual appliances." I think it was a somewhat small download (<100MB) for the preconfigured VM. It reminded me of Win95 in terms of GUI and responsiveness, but it was rather interesting to play around in.

Maflynn · Feb 2, 2009, 02:40 PM

Looks interesting, I may d/l and play with it. I agree that we've plateaued on the innovation for the moment. I'm not sure what else can be added in current modern OS that isn't considered feature bloat

Laminar · Feb 2, 2009, 03:08 PM

Everything that can be invented has been invented.

...

mduell · Feb 2, 2009, 03:17 PM

Maybe for a netbook, but I don't see it catching up with say Win7 to become a viable desktop OS.

besson3c · Feb 2, 2009, 03:22 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Maybe for a netbook, but I don't see it catching up with say Win7 to become a viable desktop OS.

Maybe it doesn't need to? Maybe it only needs to catch up to WinXP?

CharlesS · Feb 2, 2009, 03:37 PM

I don't really get it. If what you want is Windows' look and feel and Windows' applications, why not just run Windows?

Spheric Harlot · Feb 2, 2009, 03:40 PM

Because it doesn't mean paying Microsoft any money?

besson3c · Feb 2, 2009, 03:41 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

I don't really get it. If what you want is Windows' look and feel and Windows' applications, why not just run Windows?

It's free, there is no DRM, activation, etc. I'm not saying that this ought to be enough, but these are some reasons I can think of off the top of my head.

Laminar · Feb 2, 2009, 03:57 PM

It's supposed to be more secure, too.

Railroader · Feb 2, 2009, 07:50 PM

http://forums.macnn.com/alternative-operating-systems/

ghporter · Feb 2, 2009, 08:59 PM

This shows promise...

Maflynn · Feb 3, 2009, 07:53 AM

Well so far, I downloaded the VMware appliance and it promptly blue-screened. Looks like its not quite ready for prime time. Perhaps I'll try the install version and create my own vmware environment.

Mac User #001 · Feb 3, 2009, 09:45 AM

I've been using ReactOS for a long time now. I have just a select few applications that I don't need to run, but would like to run on my laptop to have anywhere, and they need Windows. So instead of buying Windows (can't justify the purchase) which will run like crap on my laptop anyways, I use Q and ReactOS. Gets the job done alright.

The newer versions (of both Q and ReactOS) are loads better than the older ones...

besson3c · Feb 3, 2009, 09:58 AM

Mac User: have you tried the new versions of WINE? Somebody in here was saying that the OS X version is finally at parity with the Linux version, although I haven't tried this myself on OS X.

Laminar · Feb 3, 2009, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Maflynn

Well so far, I downloaded the VMware appliance and it promptly blue-screened.

So you're getting the authentic Windows experience.

Mac User #001 · Feb 3, 2009, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Mac User: have you tried the new versions of WINE? Somebody in here was saying that the OS X version is finally at parity with the Linux version, although I haven't tried this myself on OS X.

Would this happen to work on a G4 iBook?

Originally Posted by Laminar

So you're getting the authentic Windows experience.

besson3c · Feb 3, 2009, 12:59 PM

Ahhh.. PPC Mac, sorry, carry on

mduell · Feb 3, 2009, 05:48 PM

Originally Posted by besson3c

Maybe it doesn't need to? Maybe it only needs to catch up to WinXP?

Which is fine for a netbook, but not a full desktop OS in 2009.

If they're chasing a 7 year old target, they'll never catch up with yesterday.

Laminar · Feb 4, 2009, 01:07 PM

I should be putting together a Shuttle with a dual-core Atom tonight. I'll load up ROS and see what it can do. If it can run a couple key programs and start up in just a few seconds, this might be my OS.

Laminar · Feb 5, 2009, 11:02 AM

Well, I tried both the Live CD and install CD on my new Shuttle X27D, but neither would even boot. So I gave up.

Mac User #001 · Feb 5, 2009, 12:47 PM

Did you try the support section of their site? The wiki, I believe? It completely babies you. At least it did when it was telling me how to install it on Q.

Laminar · Feb 5, 2009, 01:04 PM

No, the girlfriend was around and I just wanted to get something started before making supper. I got XP all updated and set up last night, and I don't want to have to go through that mess again.

Laminar · Feb 5, 2009, 01:06 PM

Wait...there's no USB support? Bahahahaha. Not a chance I'm using this anytime soon.