Open Source Windows-Compatible OS - This is awesome to see =]

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EGS

EGS

Hi everyone.

Sorry this is my post here. I always thought I was a member but I guess I was always a member at PC-BSD and got confused by the two. >.< Anyway this wasn't supposed to be my first post but I guess it's going to be because I can't keep this to myself.

I found this really awesome-looking open source operating system that is claiming to be a Windows-replacement operating system. I found it on Wikipedia and I never heard of it but it's been in development since the 1990's.

Wikipedia labels it as a "hobby software" and explains why: because it doesn't have enough developers, isn't funded, and isn't very much known. After reading about it, learning about it, and seeing it through screenshots...I want to help this software lift off. It's open source just like FreeBSD so I figure you guys could appreciate this very much.

This OS is written in C & C++ exclusively and is compatible with most Windows software & hardware; it even also uses WINE to help further as well as its own unique coding for compatibility. I think it's interesting because it's said to be faster and more secure, and a Windows-replacement. It makes sense since Linux would take a while when this is like completely already built for what everyone wants including its interface being very similar. I even saw games played on it and wow.

Anyway, I hope I can show this to you guys and you guys will be interested and spread the word about it at least to others. I am also hoping somewhere along the lines more developers would help with this project as it's only C & C++ and most people know that stuff.

When I get the money I'm going to sponsor it with what I can little-by-little. It's a start. Like FreeBSD, I support open source fully.

Anyway, the operating system is called ReactOS. You can search for it on Wikipedia.

Before linking you to more info I just wanted to show you some screenshots because it's really impressive, at least to me.

Desktop-
ros_033_programs.jpg


Unreal Tournament (graphics don't worsten which is great)-
ros_033_ut_3.png


More screenshots:
http://www.reactos.org/en/screenshots.html

About ReactOS and it's official site:
http://www.reactos.org/en/about.html

What do you guys think about it? For only a few developers I'm really impressed.
As stated I'm planning to donate soon. I also want to try it out on a spare PC as it's in alpha.

I really hope this takes off. It's already where what everyone wants in an alternative OS when migrating from Windows. =]
 
I now about if for at least a year.... :D
Last I tried it in emulator it sucked....
Personally I don't need Windows, so this system to me means as much as OpenDOS,
But if one day it will become enough good so you can run Fully featured professional CAD/CAM software on it, then I'll be dam, it will be very useful stuff
 
killasmurf86 said:
But if one day it will become enough good so you can run Fully featured professional CAD/CAM software on it, then I'll be dam, it will be very useful stuff
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My exact thoughts
 
I have know about react for a while now, and it is far from ready one of the issues he has is the lack of contributors and with a lack of functionality people wont go near it and another possibly bigger issue when it comes to sponsorship from a company is the possibillity of being sued by MS when he breaches copywrite.
 
There are quite a few OSes out there that very few people know about and that are kept alive only by hobbyists. Typical examples are Haiku and Inferno operating systems.
 
saxon3049 said:
I have know about react for a while now, and it is far from ready one of the issues he has is the lack of contributors and with a lack of functionality people wont go near it and another possibly bigger issue when it comes to sponsorship from a company is the possibillity of being sued by MS when he breaches copywrite.
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It's open source and Microsoft already looked at it to make sure it's not using any proprietary coding etc and it isn't. It was completely created, coded, and developed from scratch, thus Microsoft couldn't build a case against it and [hopefully] will never be able to. =]

Help spread the world. This could be a great foundation for even *nix operating systems, including BSD, to make migrating from Windows much easier and hassle-free, while even featuring backwards-compatibility, making a "why not move away from Windows to open source" solution. :stud
 
I for one had never heard of this. It'd be interesting to see how it fares, especially if more coders were to get on board. I only use windoze to run apps for which there is no *nix equivalent; this would allow me to do so under an open source solution. :)
 
It's a nice study, but it's in my opinion a lost cause. It's a pity to see some good coders spending wasting their time.
 
oliverh said:
It's a nice study, but it's in my opinion a lost cause. It's a pity to see some good coders spending wasting their time.
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A lost cause? I think the availability of a binary compatible system of the most widely used operating system in the world could drastically change the landscape.

Several linux distributions made it pretty far by selling support. Id assume a stable and robust open source operating system that could run windows programs natively would make a killing doing the same.
 
respite said:
A lost cause? I think the availability of a binary compatible system of the most widely used operating system in the world could drastically change the landscape.

Several linux distributions made it pretty far by selling support. Id assume a stable and robust open source operating system that could run windows programs natively would make a killing doing the same.
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As I said: a lost cause. Trying to get some clues about Windows via reverse engineering is prone to fail. Remember? It's closed source. Microsoft will be always light-years ahead and such a clone vice versa light-years behind. Apart from that, Microsoft wouldn't tolerate any _successful_ clone. Building homes on Mars in the next 50 years is more realistic ...
 
I agree with Oliver H here: if it actually become the least bit successful, MS would go full-bore patent troll and keep them tied up in court for the next 15 centuries.
 
fronclynne said:
I agree with Oliver H here: if it actually become the least bit successful, MS would go full-bore patent troll and keep them tied up in court for the next 15 centuries.
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Microsoft sees Ubundu as a big thread with its combination of user friendly administrating tools and wine, but they cant do a thing about it law wise. People overrate Microsoft and its greed. MS golden age has passed specially after governments who used MS products for years happily, started to publicly complain about the quality and security.
 
expl said:
Microsoft sees Ubundu as a big thread with its combination of user friendly administrating tools and wine, but they cant do a thing about it law wise. People overrate Microsoft and its greed.
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For the first, I strongly doubt that. MS went from <5% of the netbook market to >90% within a year with fairly minimal marketing effort & while Vista was a good gainer for the free software world, windows 7 got the ever living hell marketted out of its little ol' self and was exactly the sort of sales boon that MS needed. They're not the least bit scared. They'd need at least two, if not three, major roll-outs to completely bomb before they even started sweating.

As for the second, I can't speak for People, but I'm pretty sure if MS actually felt threatened that you'd see hundreds of stupid patent suits like this*, 99.44% of which would be just as invalid, every last one of which would be taken to court, wasting time & money that linux specifically & the free software world in general simply does not have.

& more power to the ReactOS bunch if they can keep their noses sufficiently clean and their lawyers happy, but it does seem like a bit of a useless exercise to me.


*not implying that MS had anything to do with said suit, merely that it was and is an excellent method of stifling and squashing free enterprise (and many other concepts which were once free) under the colour of legal authority.
 
I totally agree.

Plus, I'm not sure if it's true but Microsoft supposedly have already started fighting WINE by adding checks to some/all its software to make sure they're running under Windows proper not WINE. What would happen to ReactOS if Microsoft asked its device/chip manufacturing friends to add similar checks to all their drivers?

Anyway, to the OP: I've known about ReactOS for many years, I've tried it more than once and I must say they have done quite a good job so far. But IMHO, there's no point in recreating a system with a design such as Windows'. I think they should both focus their efforts on the bare minimum for running Windows applications: WINE.
 
Beastie said:
I totally agree.

Plus, I'm not sure if it's true but Microsoft supposedly have already started fighting WINE by adding checks to some/all its software to make sure they're running under Windows proper not WINE. What would happen to ReactOS if Microsoft asked its device/chip manufacturing friends to add similar checks to all their drivers?
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Who want to run MS software under wine anyways? I cant think of a single piece of software besides windows itself and maybe couple of APIs that I would want to run under wine. And I really doubt other corporations would spend money to include such features in their software for windows and risk competition law suits (even though MS itself can afford them).
 
expl said:
I cant think of a single piece of software besides windows itself and maybe couple of APIs that I would want to run under wine.
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Older Office applications on low-resource machines that cannot possibly run OOo, for example.
 
Speaking of which,

Microsoft Office 2007 works much faster running in wine than OpenOffice does natively.

How did this happen?!?!

Around the university we are distributing wine wrapped installations of Office lol.
 
kpedersen said:
Speaking of which,

Microsoft Office 2007 works much faster running in wine than OpenOffice does natively.

How did this happen?!?!

Around the university we are distributing wine wrapped installations of Office lol.
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Thats because OpenOffice has a lot of java(bad influence from Sun) code while MS Office is written with C++(MSVC).
 
Agreed. I have a legal XP and legal Office running in VirtualBox on my FreeBSD work machine, sometimes it's easier to type something in Word. OO.org is too damn slow.
 
Doomed to fail

Maybe not so much from MS squashing them as Apple out running them. I have no beef with proprietary software per se (maybe I'm in the minority). Anti-competitive or illegal behavior isn't synonymous with proprietary IMO.

Years ago I bought a cheap Walmart PC with Lindows (if I remember right) on it. Wiped it and installed FBSD4. No love lost. :-)
 
Again going by the level of interest in Windows-compatible productivity in the Open Source/Free Software community I think it's not going to be the most active project around.

I also think the advancements in virtualization (virtualbox etc) have taken some steam out of these projects.
 
I know Reactos. I have read on a lot of forums for this.
I think that this Os has no future. Maybe i am wrong. I don't know.
Is under developing but his development is tooooo slow!!!!
Also i don't believe that could exist on a computer as primary os!
 
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