Slashdot Mirror
ReactOS 0.3 RC1 Released
ajdlinux writes "A few days ago ReactOS 0.3 RC1 was released! After a long 6 months without a release this seems good! The ReactOS team has also started a software compatibility list for programs that are ReactOS-compatible. AFAIK the documentation and wiki hasn't yet been updated, but it should be soon. Go get it and try it out!"
More importantly, auditing of the ReactOS source is more than 90% complete.
A fully audited source will help prevent tainting of code from unscrupulous coders.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS
I guess the good news is that I can get a FREE OS that will get manipulated just by hooking up to the net.
My two cents..
"Snatching defeat from the mouth of victory on a daily basis."
First thing it did was BLUE SCREEN on me. Oh teh hilarity! I am not kidding, look here: http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8862/reactos5ba .png
Global warming is a cube.
Even if you run Linux, ReactOS is a project worth paying attention to.
Right now we have Wine (or Cedega, if you prefer) if you want to run Windows applications on Linux. However, what's always intrigued me about ReactOS is the possibility of using it as the client OS on a virtual machine. I think this has certain advantages over Wine (sandboxing, greater application compatibility), and removes the biggest disincentive to Windows virtualization -- the requirement of purchasing a Windows license.
Also, because it's open source, it seems like it would be easier to get ReactOS working as a client OS on a paravirtualized system like Xen without having to use things like Vanderpool/Pacifica or accept the performance penalties of VMware. That, to me seems very cool: I could be running a Linux system as the server/Domain-zero OS, and then have multiple paravirtualized, Windows-compatible clients running on it, at full speed, without having to purchase any licenses or being dependent on any specialized virtualization hardware.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
The short answer is yes, any OS that is going to be Windows compatible is going to be compatible with Windows malware.
The reason that Windows is so crappy with security is the evil demon of backwards compatibility. Microsoft has to make "C:\Program Files" writeable because of all of the Windows software that expects it to be writeable. Microsoft's efforts to somehow have their cake and eat it too (by locking down those directories with hacks to support older software) with Vista is a major stumbling block in getting Vista out the door.
In theory though, someone could make a locked down version of ReactOS that did not have these problems. Such a version would only be compatible with well behaved software, but for some people that may be ok. Behaving properly in these ways is a requirement to get the "Designed for Windows XP" logo, so it isn't like such software packages are unknown today.
I guess they haven't heard of Linux...
GP said "for everyone", not "for linux fans". This is a Windows compatible OS.
and the obligatory "dupe".
Which the editors would never use!
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
Linux on the desktop leaves much to be desired. Its certainly not for everyone.
here's the thing: the fact that you have the source code means that you can consider adding the FLASK security model to it, thereby providing a proper MAC control over what programs can and cannot do.
.SYS drivers and .EXEs produced for ReactOS are near-drop-in-replacements for their windows equivalents.
note: i didn't say that this would be a _small_ project - i just said that it would be _possible_.
and here's the kicker: the DLLs and
there therefore exists a strong possibility of being able to run Windows NT 5.0 (aka windows 2000 and windows 2003 and windows XP) in a "secure" mode - by replacing key components with ReactOS components.
microsoft couldn't be xxxxing bothered to put decent security into their OS (they don't make money from doing that) so someone else has to consider doing it for them.
neat, huh?
there's an even better way to make ReactOS incredibly useful: add in terminal server capability.
.SYS and .DLL components _directly_ into Windows NT 5.0 (aka Windows 2000, Windows 2003 and Windows XP) and actually have it work.
then once you have a server running in the [virtual-]machine of your choice, you can then run rdesktop or other thin client to connect to it.
here's the thing: the original developers of NT 3.1 were _not_ going to add a GUI: they planned it as a DOS-like (actually VMS-like) "thing" - and were told "from on high" to get it "windowsey". what make ReactOS so interesting is that such a goal could ultimately be achieved - making it much easier to virtualise because you wouldn't need a full desktop environment in the virtual machine: just a command prompt.
the difficulty with putting ReactOS into a virtual machine like XEN - which is a hybrid VM architecture - is that you need to rewrite your HAL (hardware abstraction layer) to fit on top of XEN, not to fit on top of "real" hardware.
here's the real kicker about that: once you _have_ written a XEN-HAL for ReactOS - with complete source code available to you - there exists a strong possibility of being able to "drop in" those
Your security enhanced Windows already exists. Go to users, and turn off the option "Run as Administrator"
Once that option is off, pretty much none of these baddies run. Cool eh? The reason that more people don't do this is because certain crappy software will refuse to run. This isn't the fault of Windows; this is the fault of this crappy software. Additionally, people would have to run installers as administrators - not a big problem for you and I but it would be a problem for Grandma.
You're right, it was a while ago. the goal is WinXP/2000 compatibility
Yeah, if you haven't noticed, it's version 0.3.
Yes, a number less than 1, which generally indicates a finished version of a piece of software.
In case you didn't figure it out by now, ReactOS is still under development.
ROMANES EUNT DOMUS
Windows on the desktop also leaves a lot to be desired. I find that it leaves more to be desired than Linux.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
"1, which generally indicates a finished version of a piece of software"
Shouldn't this be modded as Funny?
I think 1.0 generally indicates that the bug severity vs. manager severity ratio has tipped in favor of the manager, and the product ships regardless.
Even in products that actually, you know, work at 1.0, rarely are they finished.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.