The latest version of ReactOS is 0.4.15. Have you had a chance to try it?

F5F Stay Refreshed Software Operating Systems The latest version of ReactOS is 0.4.15. Have you had a chance to try it?

The latest version of ReactOS is 0.4.15. Have you had a chance to try it?

The latest version of ReactOS is 0.4.15. Have you had a chance to try it?

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Crisis0401
Junior Member

13

03-02-2016, 04:40 PM

#1

ReactOS 0.4.15 was released three days ago, though it originates from a branch six months prior. Its nightly builds now support UEFI, symmetric multiprocessing, a fresh installer, NTFS filesystem driver, power management, and updated application compatibility. Linus created a video about it over five years ago. It would be fun to see Linus test it again with games from the XP era—perhaps with a GoG sponsorship for their latest preservation work? Anyone else has tried it yet?

C

Crisis0401

03-02-2016, 04:40 PM #1

ReactOS 0.4.15 was released three days ago, though it originates from a branch six months prior. Its nightly builds now support UEFI, symmetric multiprocessing, a fresh installer, NTFS filesystem driver, power management, and updated application compatibility. Linus created a video about it over five years ago. It would be fun to see Linus test it again with games from the XP era—perhaps with a GoG sponsorship for their latest preservation work? Anyone else has tried it yet?

F

Ferrandherb
Junior Member

14

03-02-2016, 10:11 PM

#2

I was thinking about whether it would be better to build the backend directly for native Windows execution on a UNIX system instead of relying on Wine, which translates Windows calls to UNIX equivalents at runtime. This approach is exactly what ReactOS implements. The development process is impressive in its own right. They don’t depend on Linux at all; they designed their own kernel, which is impressive but could explain the challenges of running it on bare metal today. It seems they aim to keep the experience similar to Windows from the 2000s, which might limit modern hardware support. Installing Windows drivers on such a system would have been much more difficult without a kernel that works closely with native environments. There’s also Free95, a newer project trying to achieve the same goal without mimicking Windows directly. It feels like it’s evolving toward a more Linux-integrated path.

F

Ferrandherb

03-02-2016, 10:11 PM #2

I was thinking about whether it would be better to build the backend directly for native Windows execution on a UNIX system instead of relying on Wine, which translates Windows calls to UNIX equivalents at runtime. This approach is exactly what ReactOS implements. The development process is impressive in its own right. They don’t depend on Linux at all; they designed their own kernel, which is impressive but could explain the challenges of running it on bare metal today. It seems they aim to keep the experience similar to Windows from the 2000s, which might limit modern hardware support. Installing Windows drivers on such a system would have been much more difficult without a kernel that works closely with native environments. There’s also Free95, a newer project trying to achieve the same goal without mimicking Windows directly. It feels like it’s evolving toward a more Linux-integrated path.