ReactOS
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What seems so special about the screenshot? It seems that somebody just clicked on "start" in windows. So whats the fuss and why am I writing a post about it? Well, it turns out that (surprise!) it is not windows at all, but an operating system called ReactOS. To quote the ReactOS site verbatim "ReactOS® is a free, modern operating system based on the design of Windows® XP/2003. Written completely from scratch, it aims to follow the Windows® architecture designed by Microsoft from the hardware level right through to the application level. This is not a Linux based system, and shares none of the unix architecture".
ReactOS is doing something unimaginable to me till some time ago, reverse engineering the whole windows opertating system itself!. And all the while maintaining compatibility with windows. Right now it claims that it is in pre alpha stage, but already it has many features like remote desktop, explorer, etc. Surprisingly many softwares already work with ReactOS - Irfanview, winrar, quake, halo, Visual basic 5, Nero, Total Commander, Opera, Firefox, Flash,MSOffice, openoffice, Abiword - just to name a few. They even have a compendium of comaptible softwares and drivers here. There is a very interesting collection of screenshots here. Visit this if you can spare the time.
Development work seems to be in full swing, and they have short and medium term goals all planned out and it seems that they really are following the timeline. One of the surest ways to find whether a project is active is to visit the forums or the community work, and ReactOS scores here too.
On their main homepage, under "Long term plan" they say " N/A at the moment". Interesting. What might their "long term plan" be? I can only think of one thing - to make a fully Windows compatible Operating system and give it away for free. So that essentially means aiming to end the Microsoft hold on the operating system market, right under their noses, using their own weapon. Let us assume (hope for me atleast) that ReactOS does manage to create a Windows-like operating system, what happens next? Does it mean the end of Windows? Possibly not - Windows 7 is round the corner and it promises to bring radical changes to the Windows experience. Or maybe yes - if Windows 7 sucks as much as Vista, ReactOS might gain popularity just as Firefox did when IE started sucking. Taking it to the extreme, ReactOS might even redefine the Operating System Market and by extension the whole software world. Of course, ReactOS is a very long way from getting anywhere near what Windows is now, but I am just probing the possible scenarios. Well not to forget - what might in all probability happen is that Microsoft with its arsenal of legal options will sue ReactOS and that will be the end of it.
However, the project does hold promise, and it is definitely a one to watch out for.
Comments
No, we just borrowed the Tango icon set until such a time when we have resources to design our own. With Windows containing over 500 useful icons, this is obviously quite a task
Are you on the ReactOS development team or something? Blogger denied access when I tried to access your profile.
Hey pardon me if you find it intrusive, but I googled your name and you seem to be Ged Murphy. Am I right? And if I am, of course you are a ReactOS developer and blogger. Keep up the good work!