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ReactOS 0.3.14 Released With Improved Networking Stack
An anonymous reader wrote in with news of the latest release of ReactOS, a project to create a complete reimplementation of Windows. The highlights of this release are the integration of a new network stack based upon lwIP, the ability to build using Microsoft's C compiler, and Wifi support. There are a few options for trying it out (emulator image and a livecd amongst others) and source code over at Sourceforge.
Ah, FOSS Windows 98 for the masses! How we've missed you...
At this point I think it's time for me to upgrade from FreeDOS to ReactOS.
There are many possible reasons why people want a functioning clone of MS Windows that can use the same drivers etc.
If nothing else, it's an interesting project.
Why not Linux? Because drivers don't always work. Why not WINE? ReactOS and WINE share a lot of code, but WINE is aiming to solve a different problem. Why not just use old MS Windows? Because the source is not there, and neither is support.
People would find a use for a Free MS Windows clone the same way that people find a use for a Free MS DOS clone (FreeDOS).
I for one am excited about ReactOS. Here's hoping they continue the good work for many years
it's a joke, son
They almost finished getting the new USB stack up and running in a different branch, but it isn't reliable (or stable even in most virtual environments) to sync it into the main branch prior to release. That's fine in a virtual environment, but on real hardware it would be nice for a few different reasons (ReactOS on USB may be possible soon because of this, maybe even debug output over USB, to name a few).
I'll just keep building the USB branch until then.
ROS has fixed a lot of their issues this last release and I look forward to the upcoming years when it will be stable enough for daily use.
Best case: ReactOS remains a toy of little practical use.
Worst case: ReactOS succeeds, Microsoft sues either the devs or the users for infringing several thousand patents.
it's still the same mess of code with a fraction of the hardware support that linux or even bsd has.
If these talented people have enjoyed the time they spent building ReactOS, then they haven't wasted it at all.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Or you can just continue to use XP since it's not going to stop working?
The fact that you can so quickly and easily sum up the volunteers' time as wasted betrays how narrow and constrictive your philosophical world view is. You sound very sure that your world view and methodology for assigning existential value to human activities is correct. Perhaps it's not.
It's an interesting project, but I fear that its progress is too slow for it to be of any practical use. It's been under development since 1998, and is still in alpha and lacking core features. As a hobbyist project I'm sure it's great, and it's hugely ambitious, so I'm hardly surprised that progress has been slow. But I have no idea when it's going to achieve its aim of being 100% compatible with Windows, if ever.
I've been hearing of this OS since the time I was a member of an Alpha-NT group. They've been taking all these years, and are not even on 1.x even now. These guys are giving Hurd strong competition on who takes forever to come up w/ an OS, particularly given all the FOSS OSs out there.
On the project itself, I think that it had a window of opportunity when MS abandoned the MIPS and Alpha versions of NT years ago. At that time, there were NT users for this platform worried about where it would leave them, and this would definitely have been a godsend. However, on the x86 platform, it's pretty much irrelevant - either people have Windows, and if that's not acceptable, they can run Linux. As it is, there are some things, like NTFS file system support that ReactOS doesn't/can't support, so it's not like even close to a complete substitute. The only people I can imgaine who might have (had) an use for it would be NT/RISC users, but that assumes that they never moved from NT to Linux or RISC to x64.
to see if they can they release version 1.0 of ReactOS before the X86 architecture becomes obsolete.
They said that about Mozilla for years. Sometimes the bazaar produces something that only few people find to be of any value for many many years that suddenly becomes of value to many people. Probably most projects never make it, period, but as long as someone finds it interesting to work on, more power to them.
If you don't find it of value, don't invest time or resources in it. :)
Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
I've been involved in Linux since Red Hat was pre 1.0, I have worked on numerous projects and volunteered time for things like the OLPC project... so sorry AC, but save it. There are projects that looking back I had wasted a lot of time and effort on that were "just because" type things, as I now get older I look back and realize the folly of youth and wish I had maybe spent that time on something more productive or valuable. They are free to do what they want, but I doubt this will ever be more than Alpha/Beta stuff and really not worth the effort.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
Except that many cooperations continue to cling to XP as staff retraining on 7 and the cost of upgrades aren't justified in a struggling economy. Purchasing new hardware for which only Win7 drivers exist is problematic. When you have the source to the OS, writing drivers that can be possibly based on other platforms such as Linux or BSD may be a blessing. A free stable clone is a migration path.
Further, not every platform is x86, nor does every use case require binary compatibility. e.g. Can Windows XP, not this shiny new Win8, run natively on ARM? Booting into ReactOS to run libreoffice on an 'Android' tablet such as the Asus Transformer is a possibility in the not too distant future. The OP suggested he had no desire to run a different Windows, Mac or Linux.
This project scratches an itch for a number of people. That it might not be personally beneficial to you is no cause for skepticism.
Well, I guess this gives an alternative to an alternative for that old pentium 100 I have in the attic...
In all seriousness, I guess this COULD be eventually useful if they manage to get it working with modern DirectX games and such... While I'm a Linux guy, I do enjoy gaming, natively and in WINE. ReactOS as I understand it contributes code to WINE (and vice-versa)...so IMHO it's still a win. Not necessarily epic yet, but it could be. That symbiotic relationship is worth something...I'm just not sure what.
I view this in terms of the number of clients of mine who come to me after hosing their Windows machines and have also managed to lose their official Windows product keys or installation media. Sure, I could charge them the cost of replacement, but if and when ROS works - well enough, of course - it would save them money and me the hassle.
And it may be "old" Windows, but lots of my customers don't need Win 7. Heck, even at my day job - sounds like seamen's - we're still using XP Pro. This work is not "without value."
Nah, it's been my experience that Linux has far better overall hardware support than Windows....
It's frequently the difference between an in-mainline, actively maintained driver shipped with the Linux kernel, and an old, unmaintained binary blob from five years ago that you have to download from an unreliable FTP server in Singapore, and which randomly locks up the hardware and/or the computer it's attached to.
Usually "better" denotes quality.
Huh? Most of your rant has nothing to do with what I was responding to. He was talking about replacing XP with ReactOS and as such my question was why not just continue using XP if that's what you want? What does ARM or companies not wanting to upgrade to Win or the rest of your rant have to do with anything?
Without support for modern file systems, It can not be taken seriously.
They should not dismiss suggestions to adopt use of fuse based filesystems such as ntfs3g, as this may likely be the most direct way to get support for popular file systems.
I get that, and I'm sure they did gain some valuable insight and learned a lot but the end result is a bit useless.
You mean like posting on Slashdot?
People have said the same to me about studying quantum mechanics (in my spare time). And about writing poetry, because nobody takes poetry seriously.
But you know, why should I validate other people's opinions of me by actually taking their advice.
Funny thing, I've been reading up on the Window's NT architecture to give myself some insight before submitting myself as a volunteer for the ReactOS project.
People have called me an Idiot all my life, so an opinionated poster on Slashdot isn't going to change my mind. (BTW, I'm not the GP). And even though posting my opinion on Slashdot is just a waste of time, I still do it because I find it entertaining (for some reason).
Have you used Windows lately? 10:1 if you pick out a random PC that was bundled with any operating systems other than Vista or 7, it's more likely to run Ubuntu without problems than Windows 7.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
It is a very useful addition.
That was when I tested their last release.
I wonder whether they have integrated the WINE code enough so one could do stupid stuff, like trying out the only DirectX 4.0 or 5.0 game that must be out there, Chaos Overlords, on it?
I'm not sure that I would go these lengths though, I'd probably have to configure the downloaded VM image I use to try ReactOS.
Hey don't blame me, IANAB
There is lots of legacy software out there that has never been ported to newer versions of Windows.
It is very myopic to declare this project has no value simply because you cannot think of a good reason.
Upgrade paths.
Hardware fails and businesses expand to require additional desktops. New hardware (e.g. 'Designed for Windows 8') might not even be capable of booting to XP in several years time.
So the user/sysadmin is then forced to consider a choice of different operating systems on new hardware. The choices as he said: Mac OS, the new version of Windows or some Linux variant.
A drop-in replacement for XP on new hardware, providing a very similar user experience to existing installations may prove useful to a number of organisations. Running an XP-clone on low cost hardware is the promise ReactOS on ARM provides.
As for continuing to use XP on existing hardware after support ends is a security risk waiting to happen.
VAX/VMS.
If you really try you can come up with tons, but at the end of the day this is alpha software (and has been for quite a while, and will continue to) it is not viable for much of anything and is more a proof of concept than anything and by the time it is (if) beta or even ready to be stable/released it is going to be even less so. I like hacks for hacks sake and I have been a part of many, I'm just saying that this is a lot of effort and work for essentially nothing. If you are eagerly waiting with baited breath for a FOSS Windows 98, then there aren't many seated with you.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
They are not coding against a moving target but a known entity i.e. XP. So I don't see why this project shouldn't eventually grow out of Beta. Attract more developers and that'll happen all the sooner.
I have two old educational Windows programs for my kids that no longer work on Win 7. I have an old XP machine for them but it bugs me that XP is no longer supported and vulnerabilities won't be fixed. React OS would make for a good alternative.
I heard you like old things, so I put a reverse-engineered Windows clone in your VM so you can simulate while you emulate.
Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
Oh, in that case, they are doing a good job supporting at least the earlier versions of Windows, like Windows 98, Windows 2000.... They at least got the blue screen working! ;)
XP support has already ended. It will just be receiving security updates until 2014 from Microsoft.
But with so many third-party security software makers (like Mcafee, Norton and Sophos) that have been working on making XP secure for practically a lifetime, I think XP will continue to remain secure at the price of an Internet Security Suite for a LONG time.
Again, I get that but this project began in 1998. That's 14 years. I was using Red Hat pre 1.0 at the time I checked this project out initially. I admire your optimism, but I don't see it happening.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea
it claims to have binary comparability with normal windows drivers. but give you a list of 'supported' drivers that it actually works on. that list is a fraction of what both linux or bsd support.
not saying they should drop it, just saying it has more attention then it deserves as it is just a hobby os. it's never going to be in a usable state.
There are projects that looking back I had wasted a lot of time and effort on that were "just because" type things, as I now get older I look back and realize the folly of youth and wish I had maybe spent that time on something more productive or valuable.
Yes, and if I'd not dropped out of college and spent a decade in radio, I might now be a really good developer, instead of someone who's merely knowledgeable enough about programming to write convincingly about it.
"The true scholar prizes all drafts, early and late."
The worst waste of your lifespan is using up major portions of it to second-guess yourself. It's unnecessary to rake yourself over the coals in order to learn from your missteps.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
It's their time, they can do what the fuck they want.
So, when a broken linux kernel driver for something as standard as a Intel network chipset, that actually implements a regression, is distributed as a stable kernel upgrade for a linux distribution, you'd call it what? It's funny how those people I've seen praising the linux drivers quickly forget the subpar print quality of their almost-a-decade-old print drivers (in some cases), the missing wireless funcionality (AP, promiscuous modes, etc) or plain old consistency (the USB stack mess).
Well, according to the screenshot you can actually run quite some useful programs (Firefox, Abiword etc.).
I'm actually considering contributing to a friend's project, that envolves programming a late 80's emulator on a late 90's architecture (both dead at least for a decade). It is a console-related project, and if I'll do it, the code will be available under a BSD license. It envolves assembly programming in 2 different achitecures, and being able to implement an emulator on a resource-limited platform, better than any previous implementations. It is both challenging from the programming point of view and from an engineering perspective, why shuldn't I tried it? Because I can actually program an operating system on a less dead architecture, and have a fraction of the users reporting bugs and whatnot? People doing stuff like ReactOS do it because they use it and they enjoy buiding it, it's not that difficult do guess. I'm surprised the press coverage ReactOS gets when compared to Haiku, given the maturity/usability of Haiku, but they're both "hobby projects", driven by will and not by commercial goals.
I don't because my embedded system that uses it, boots from a section in the same flash chip as BIOS
Pardon me, but I was recently fascinated with the idea that something like that might be possible---Stuffing an INT13-reading bootloader, like GRUB4DOS or SYSLINUX, into an archive in the BIOS and then strapping it like any other option ROM.
:P
I was always fascinated with the idea of separating the initial boot program from the hard disk layout and into the board itself. Running a bootloader from the BIOS ROM would technically allow that to happen, I think, and I thought curiously about the idea of embedding a UEFI payload into it (that probably wouldn't fit, but I digress!)... essentially "converting" a board to UEFI by chainloading it from BIOS. Not practical, but I thought it would be pretty neat
Any links or info you could provide me on projects like yours?
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.