Hello from the ReactOS team! Thank you for the nice video! We want to mention that we already started the development of the next version of ReactOS. More features and bug fixes will be available this summer. P.S. We will be very grateful for any donations to support our project. The project is being developed almost only on donations of private individuals.
Can u guys make some video, how u developing the OS, if that is permitted? We have tons of gibberish todo list apps on net for nothing, but rare gems are videos or some places on net which talks about developing real massive kernel. Thanks
@Frank Blackcrow being rude don't help to the discussion. They are very nice people to develop an incredible software out of the blue and make it open source for you to play with. If you want to use it in four machines, my suggestion is to learn how to code, sit your ass 10 years in a chair making your own coding stuff and then try to hack a piece of software like this to your own needs. Otherwise, please take your opinions, fold it in like a cylinder and please gently push it into the bottom part of your lower back. Cheers!
@Frank Blackcrow i see, but I see you doing the same: "please drop everything you do and go fix my live cd now" ..so if you dont want to do this yourself (learn to codeb ;) then go and create a bug report at least, maybe send some kind words (if not straight moneys) their way ;)
You forgot to mention one crucial feature of ReactOS (and possibly the only reason to use this instead of Wine): it's compatible with not only Windows apps but also Windows drivers! So in theory, it should have the best hardware compatibility among all open-source systems. In practice, though, the support is pretty bad.
You're getting it all wrong. First of all ReactOS targets the Windows XP/2003 architecture. Not Windows 2000. And it doesn't target only running Windows apps that work with Windows XP/2003. There is work in progress to have forward compatibility shims that will allow running apps that need APIs from later versions of Windows. So yes one day it very well may run the latest Firefox. Targetting the Windows XP/2003 architecture doesn't also mean that it will be limited to working with older hardware. You can write drivers for newer hardware designed for the Windows XP/2003 architecture. Hardware manufacturers still even do it sometimes these days. So actually it will be able to do much more than what Windows XP/2003 can. It already has better capabilities in some limited areas. What ReactOS ultimately aims to be is kind of more like a fork of Windows 2003/XP that continues to improve upon the Windows XP/2003 architecture. A bit like DragonFlyBSD was forked from FreeBSD because the DragonflyBSD dev disagreed with the architectural decisions the other FreeBSD devs took. If you had looked a bit on their wiki you would have found that they also have plans to implement all kinds of features that appeared in later Windows. Such as a better WiFi stack like on later versions of Windows.
ReactOS kind of falls into the category of "it would be cool if it was actually good." I get that they have a very hard task and what they've accomplished is pretty impressive, but it's really not that consequential. It has about the same software support as Wine, but with most, if not all of the same disadvantages of just running Windows. Unless it gets a huge upgrade it's just a novelty and nothing more.
@@arthemis1039 Still, it's not even useful for that purpose. The only way ReactOS has helped with Wine development is by contributing the code for their fixes to Wine, which they could do way more if they just dropped ReactOS and started contributing to Wine full time. This is also why they have more or less the same compatibility as Wine: they're both open source so they contribute to each others' code, so they're both largely building off of the same code base for Windows APIs. There's basically nothing you can do on ReactOS that you can't do on Wine, but it also comes with the downside that instead of being a single program, it's an entire operating system that you have to install on physical hardware or a VM to use.
You can be impressed by the amount of sopport it has in 2020. There's a kernel extension somewhere that you can use to run modern applications in Windows 2000
i liked win2k for its start menu and window style. simple, to the point, and you could customize all the menus. even on xp i turned off all the bells and whistles so it would look like win2k. the vista/7 style was somewhat usable after some adjustment but if it had a classic style support id have used it, all the modern interfaces have been replaced with classic shell, as i find it completely unusable.
Never used Windows 2000 myself. My parents owned a Windows 98 desktop which they replaced with an XP laptop around 2005 or 2006 probably. I think we skipped over both ME and 2000. I did use someone else's Vista machine but I never owned Vista myself. XP and 7 were definitely great but I never used 2000.
ReactOS was the fastest installing software I ever installed on a virtual machine. However, all the windows apps I tried to run on the OS showed some strange error messages and refused to run. I think I'll stick to Linux with Wine or Windows in a virtual machine.
Near 1:24, the live iso is not to put on your USB key to boot with it (that's what I have try... and see that this version still not allows to do that), you are suppose to burn it to a DVD or CD and boot with it.
I think the point of ReactOS is for those gov administrations that are using some database programs that only work on windows and also they need the old InternetExplorer certifications compatibility etc.
Thank you for making a video about it. I'm hoping that more people will donate, contribute and test so eventually we can have a Free windows system. What ReactOS basicly will be is what GNU/Linux is to UNIX but for Windows in other terms GNU/Linux : UNIX ReactOS : MS Windows
It's more novelty then being an actual OS for daily use. I hate to be pessimistic but they have been in alpha for 15+ years, it just doesn't seem promising. Zorin , Mint and Elementary are the only alternatives we need for new linux users or people that want a windows/mac experience
@@Scrubzei well don't forget that Wine sucked and Proton did not exist until around late 2018. Wine is what powers the core userland experience on ReactOS with some modification. The project is where it is because it relies heavily on Wine's development and the fact that ReactOS has been such a small community doesn't help especially since Wine is improving and changing so rapidly. In my opinion if the ReactOS devs focus only low level features and code such as the kernel, FS support, 64-Bit support, D3D support and make the OS function on most standard hardware then the project will take off very fast. It may take a few more years but now that Windows 10 is all thats left people will take more interest in ReactOS as a future Windows 7 alternative. I don't know why Valve doesn't work with them to create a new SteamOS based off of it since if ReactOS had a few dedicated devs it can become a true Windows competetor very quickly.
@@Scrubzei windows,Mac experience? Linux is great sure but it's anything BUT windows/Mac experience. Even if zorin for example is great it's just not running my windows only professional programs. And that's sux . I'm sure we will get there someday but we are still not there.
@@AutumnWind92 I meant the overall aesthetic, eventually Linux will be able to run these apps natively instead of finding workarounds like Wine. It does have some great alternatives like Gimp and Libre that I've been using instead
@@Scrubzei GNU/Linux will NEVER be binary compatible with windows software due to their drastic differences in how they work. Wine isn't a workaround, but a translator that coverts Windows calls into POSIX calls (took that straight from their website). The Linux kernel and the GNU software that runs on top of it is too forgin for windows programs just to run. Its like trying to understand Chinese when all you know is English.
thats the problem with open source oses, and one of the big problems i have with linux, is that it seems to lag behind somewhat in support for modern hardware. its great to use on older hardware or low end devices like the ras-pi. but as a main rig os it always seems to be not quite up to snuff performance wise.
I'd guess it would leak earlier than being officially relesead as open-source. Not that it would be legal to use in any way... We already have source code for Windows NT 3.5, NT 4.0 SP3 and 2000 leaked, it's only matter of time before any newer stuff is leaked.
It's to my understanding that the current version of React OS is now equivalent to Windows XP x64 release (in Alpha). For classic PC gamers, this could be worth a low cost PC build for old Windows based games that won't run on Win 10 or virtual box (or WINE). Would be willing to try old games on React OS with modern budget hardware.
The only hope I see for ReactOS is, 1) to be more secure and antiviral than Microsoft's windows, meaning to change the way the module hooks work so it can be made to be as attack proof as possible, 2) to become a PE environment to replace miniXP on HIREN'S type rescue disks, only offering greater capability.
REACTOS is going to be awesome. The team just needs more devs. I fo not believe its reakstice to expect a modern windows. I hope in the future once stable they can get it running windows xp apps and I would be happy with it. Once stable oh t will be better then windows 10 , but more hardware testing is required.
Presumably, if ReactOS can natively run Win s/ware from the early 2000s, or indeed if it can run natively any Win s/ware, then ReactOS should be exactly vulnerable to any malicious code & vulnerabilities linked with any Win s/ware, yes? (I must say though, I like very much that classic old feel of this OS. But, an operating system is there to do a task of both the here & now AND times to come. As things stand I don't see how ReactOS can be a practical tool to do one's personal computing. But, but...FULL KUDOS to the developers of this OS.) Thanks for uploading your video!
I have been using the newest version of ReactOS in the Oracle VirtualBox. When using ReactOS one has to think of Windows 2000 w/ Service Pack 2, and not to go the latest and greatest Programs. There are great themes and wallpaper included. I am using an old Toshiba A215, AMD X64 Duo Core 2.0 GHz, updated to 4 GB RAM, updated to 120 SSD, and ZorinOS Lite as the Host. Since ZorinOS Lite works super with 3 1/2 GB RAM, I allocated 512 GB to ReactOS, and 4 GB to the Hard Drive, (the Hard Drive has 2 GB of programs with the below, 2 GB Free) for ReactOS. I am not using audio or video, will use Zorin for that. I was only able to install one of my programs from a CD, and that was Kasparov Chess 2003, so that is my game program. ReactOS can crash if you overload it so, the following programs in the Applications Manager run too slowly, and crashed, or too slow for me: Libre, GNU Cash, CCleaner and Firefox 48. Thunderbird is not my cup of tea. The Opera 9.6 and Firefox 3.6 are too old, in my opinion. I am not going to use those. Open Office, and Abi Word work fantastic as Office Programs. DosBox works OK, (for DosBox). Browsers are a great category for ReactOS. I tried two outside the Applications Manager, SeaMonkey 2.9.1, any newer will not work. The problem with SeaMonkey 2.9.1 is that Mozilla no longer has kept up on SSL's, so I cannot access Wikipedia. The other lightweight, not in the Applications Manager, that works well is QT Web Browser 3.8.5, not only is it lightweight like the D+ Browser in the Applications Manager, it will access Wikipedia. The following Web Browsers work super, are found in the Applications Manager, do not overload the system, and can access Wikipedia: Lightweight D+, MyPal 27.9.4, Firefox 28, (the one I will go with), K-Meleon 75.1, and Opera 12.18. I find this works very well as a VirtualBox with this set-up. In other computers I have Windows 2000, and XP, and I use Erpman's Main Page, and Essential Downloads to update those systems. ReactOS can be stable if one does not try to overload it.
I have some corrections/tips: 1. You don't need to enable neither 2D nor 3D hardware acceleration in VirtualBox, but this can come in handy if you install VirtualBox Additions with hardware Direct3D support and want to play video games. 2. ReactOS doesn't include any Microsoft licensed fonts, the included fonts are free replacements, with just the same names as Microsoft ones (for compatibility sake). 3. To get audio working in VirtualBox you need first to download drivers from ReactOS Applications Manager ("AC'97 Driver for VirtualBox" in "Drivers" section), then copy the contents of "inf" and "system32\drivers" directories to the exact same directories in C:\ReactOS, and then restart the virtual machine once and install driver from ReactOS Device Manager (unknown multimedia device -> Properties -> Reinstall driver) then after completing driver wizard the driver should be installed, it may take another restart for it to take effect. 4. For native (your computers display) resolution support and another usefull virtual machine stuff install VirtualBox additions (also mentioned above). In the virtual machine window menu select Devices -> Mount disk image with guest additions. Then go to "My computer" in guest machine, open CD Drive directory and run "VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe". Simply proceed with it to get it working and then after rebooting simply resize the virtual machine window or enter full screen (right ctrl + F).
Y'all just shitting on reactos but keep in mind they work closely with the wine project as the vast majority isn't unique to just reactos. It's a good thing that they exist.
I think people will care more about ReactOS as Windows 10 compatibility with older software drops off over time. At a certain point it becomes as much about game and software preservation as anything else. One might say "just use actual Windows NT" but all Windows NT is long since lost support, and using internet connected NT will get more and more risky as time passes, and I'd say it's already getting pretty risky. ReactOS offers the possibility of a Windows NT era compatible OS, that is security and feature patched over time, potentially for decades to come.
Yes definitely. But not only. It will be able to run software for later version of Windows through forward compatible shims of the later Windows APIs too. And there is no technical impossibility preventing anyone from writing drivers that target the XP/2003 architecture for the hardware of today.
The eula basically says we are open source if you want to do something that is proprietary we cannot do it, it is beta not for home yet and any that is not ReactOS approved you need to fork.
>old school The UI is not the main issue, the issue is stability and compatibility.The primary feature of this OS is that it is intended to be compatible with Windows executables.
I love the oldschool look of Windows up to 7 (the last in which you could select classic theme). With some custom colours it looked really great. I'd like to see some newer software for this OS. If I could run newer Firefox, IntelliJ Idea and VSCode I would be happy to use this system :)
Fun thing about that software center, i think it is one of the old (very old) versions of the gnome software center if i remember correctly. might have had a different name in the early gnome2.0 days
Thank you very much for the deep dive into ReactOS. I would be more interested in a distro with no x.org nor xwayland installed to see what all is missing
Sorry for necroposting but I just HAVE to mention that this was not a deep dive, but quite a shallow one. Not complaining or anything, just stating the fact.
what are the hardware specification? I would like to try installing it on an old machine, but i don't find anywhere the hardware specification... maybe I'm just dumb and I don't see them, but I really can't find them. (if you are wondering why, my father have some really old computer he would like to use again, those have my age, so I think they were running windows 2000 or something like that, and so I was searching for some light weight OS)
@@Valeleyt but I don't think that the softwares in the store are W2000ish, they seems more of XP or Vista, FF for example is very heavy by itself But if you use only w2000 software so yeah, you need nothing more than his hardware
Hi DistroTube, I know what I am about to say is irrelevant to this video but while I was watching your video I looked at your taskbar and it looks very nice and I wanted to have a similar setup as to the way you have. I believe you are using the awesome Window manager, right? I was wondering if you could please do a video tutorial on how to setup awesome the way you have setted up please?
Might make for an excellent litle OS to run on a 15W TDP fanless PC or PC stick as a media center to watch torrented movies? 15W TDP being the major point here
The crazy thing is Windows 2000 pro is now abandonware and basically FREE. I installed Win2000 on virtualbox and I was greeted with the very issue that caused me to abandon windows back in the day to begin with! Bad Audio drivers for Soundblaster! In 2k, the driver for SB16 will hiccup and get stuck when sounds play and then finally die. I had to use AC97 with Windows 2000 and XP. In Windows 98SE? HOLY! I had to go through ALOT of forced reboots and just when I finally got everything working, "REGISTRY CORRUPT"error on a reboot and basically, ALL hardware drivers I installed and got working, were wiped and would have had to start all over again! Do you all remember THOSE good old days of Windows???? Thankfully I am just having fun on VB while I sit amid a living nightmare. But when Windows 95/98 was all we had for playing midi and audio and video files and more reliable jpeg viewing and collecting, life REALLY SUCKED in the computing realm! Oh how I do not miss Windows.. I do like XP pro and Win7 pro/ult for music production and videos but THATS IT. LINUX and FreeBSD all the way for everything else baby!!! ReactOS is a good try, but maybe time to go in a different direction? NO, most of the true WINDOWS only apps made for WINDOWS only, do not run or install in ReactOS. That is why in 2020, I still have not given it a try. It crases alot too.. Hmm, seems familiar lol! Win98se!!!
I want a stable alternative to Windows98. If it weren't for the BSODs and the "illegal operation", I would still have used Windows98 and not switched to XP after a while. Now I am about to try Windows98 with KernelEX.
I'm sure the devs make some money out of companies running mission critical software that would be too costly to port to more modern versions of MS Windows. Must be a very lucrative niche for them.
ReactOS is not stable enough for that. It's not a simple drop in replacement for Windows that just works. Hardware support is one of the biggest issues currently. Getting ReactOS to correctly install on physical hardware is an exercise in patience, trial and error and research.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino I'm aware of all that as I've had my fair share of issues with ReactOS myself. Software would install and run just fine, but by the next release of ReactOS, no joy, regressions galore. The point (business case) I was trying to make is getting legacy enterprise software still in production to run on ReactOS. Kind of like what the devs at Codeweavers are doing porting software to run on Wine. Or maybe like what they're doing at TurboHercules (almost earning them a lawsuit) running mainframe OSs in an emulator. There are companies actually still using Windows 95 to run legacy applications. They would be a good fit.
Hey DT, there's a video I would like to see from you: manipulating OS marketshare website (like that global statcounter website) like you manipulate distrowatch. Some distributions like Ubuntu do this already but I believe Arch Linux, which I'm using, does not.
Most people just won't care about this. It isn't meant for gaming or many modern software. But if for some reason you are running some old windows software on like windows 2000 and it is a requirement, then this OS might be a decent replacement for you.
But there are applications that need to run with the MSWin "kernel" as well as the userspace libraries. This is where you would use ROS instead of Wine. It would be a great lightweight OS the to run inside a VM for specific applications. Roblox as an example doesn't run under Wine, and the Roblox devs are too stupid to make it usable there (I'd actually prefer not to have to install it at all).
I will ensure that no matter what happens to the official site, ill share them as a flood and it will be impossible for anyone including DCMA to takedown
Here is a more detailed written analysis, with other tests and findings from ReactOS in 2020: brunoalvieira.blogspot.com/2020/06/analise-o-react-os-em-2020.html
boot cd, lol, i havent used an optical drive in over 10 years. lack of support for any modern hardware is a huge problem that they are going to need to solve.
Hello from the ReactOS team! Thank you for the nice video!
We want to mention that we already started the development of the next version of ReactOS.
More features and bug fixes will be available this summer.
P.S. We will be very grateful for any donations to support our project. The project is being developed almost only on donations of private individuals.
@Frank Blackcrow Have you read the manual on their wiki?
Can u guys make some video, how u developing the OS, if that is permitted? We have tons of gibberish todo list apps on net for nothing, but rare gems are videos or some places on net which talks about developing real massive kernel. Thanks
@Frank Blackcrow being rude don't help to the discussion. They are very nice people to develop an incredible software out of the blue and make it open source for you to play with. If you want to use it in four machines, my suggestion is to learn how to code, sit your ass 10 years in a chair making your own coding stuff and then try to hack a piece of software like this to your own needs. Otherwise, please take your opinions, fold it in like a cylinder and please gently push it into the bottom part of your lower back. Cheers!
@Frank Blackcrow have you tried to learn? if not, I will buy you a new brain on amazon.
@Frank Blackcrow i see, but I see you doing the same: "please drop everything you do and go fix my live cd now" ..so if you dont want to do this yourself (learn to codeb ;) then go and create a bug report at least, maybe send some kind words (if not straight moneys) their way ;)
one nice quality feature reactos has is getting the wonderful "blue screen of death" at boot....
The full pleasure and experience that Windows can give to you! Hahahah
Z00mer, pls.. That blue screen was a standard thing during windows 9x/2000/XP installation process.
en mi k6 da pantalla azul les regale 40dolares de todos modos
You forgot to mention one crucial feature of ReactOS (and possibly the only reason to use this instead of Wine): it's compatible with not only Windows apps but also Windows drivers! So in theory, it should have the best hardware compatibility among all open-source systems. In practice, though, the support is pretty bad.
You're getting it all wrong. First of all ReactOS targets the Windows XP/2003 architecture. Not Windows 2000. And it doesn't target only running Windows apps that work with Windows XP/2003. There is work in progress to have forward compatibility shims that will allow running apps that need APIs from later versions of Windows. So yes one day it very well may run the latest Firefox. Targetting the Windows XP/2003 architecture doesn't also mean that it will be limited to working with older hardware. You can write drivers for newer hardware designed for the Windows XP/2003 architecture. Hardware manufacturers still even do it sometimes these days. So actually it will be able to do much more than what Windows XP/2003 can. It already has better capabilities in some limited areas. What ReactOS ultimately aims to be is kind of more like a fork of Windows 2003/XP that continues to improve upon the Windows XP/2003 architecture. A bit like DragonFlyBSD was forked from FreeBSD because the DragonflyBSD dev disagreed with the architectural decisions the other FreeBSD devs took. If you had looked a bit on their wiki you would have found that they also have plans to implement all kinds of features that appeared in later Windows. Such as a better WiFi stack like on later versions of Windows.
ReactOS kind of falls into the category of "it would be cool if it was actually good." I get that they have a very hard task and what they've accomplished is pretty impressive, but it's really not that consequential. It has about the same software support as Wine, but with most, if not all of the same disadvantages of just running Windows. Unless it gets a huge upgrade it's just a novelty and nothing more.
I don't think it is meant to be ever something else than a test system. It is used for retro engineering and wine developpment
@@arthemis1039 Still, it's not even useful for that purpose. The only way ReactOS has helped with Wine development is by contributing the code for their fixes to Wine, which they could do way more if they just dropped ReactOS and started contributing to Wine full time. This is also why they have more or less the same compatibility as Wine: they're both open source so they contribute to each others' code, so they're both largely building off of the same code base for Windows APIs. There's basically nothing you can do on ReactOS that you can't do on Wine, but it also comes with the downside that instead of being a single program, it's an entire operating system that you have to install on physical hardware or a VM to use.
@@MrHatoi compared to wine tho they can run windows drivers which is interesting
Windows 2000 was my favorite Windows by far.
Thumbs up. In my experience Windows 2000 with all updates installed was the most stable windows I've ever had on my hardware.
You can be impressed by the amount of sopport it has in 2020. There's a kernel extension somewhere that you can use to run modern applications in Windows 2000
i liked win2k for its start menu and window style. simple, to the point, and you could customize all the menus. even on xp i turned off all the bells and whistles so it would look like win2k. the vista/7 style was somewhat usable after some adjustment but if it had a classic style support id have used it, all the modern interfaces have been replaced with classic shell, as i find it completely unusable.
Never used Windows 2000 myself. My parents owned a Windows 98 desktop which they replaced with an XP laptop around 2005 or 2006 probably. I think we skipped over both ME and 2000. I did use someone else's Vista machine but I never owned Vista myself. XP and 7 were definitely great but I never used 2000.
"We have minesweeper and solitaire. The windows experience is complete"
But does it have Pinball?
0:40
It... didn't started in 2004, it started before that
It started back in 1996. It doesn't try to be Win2000. The new target is Win2003 for a while.
2004 BC
ReactOS was the fastest installing software I ever installed on a virtual machine. However, all the windows apps I tried to run on the OS showed some strange error messages and refused to run. I think I'll stick to Linux with Wine or Windows in a virtual machine.
They're essentially trying to reverse engineer Windows. It's a hard task.
I think the team behind this project is just lacking resources.
@@xijinpingpong4426 They are lacking common sense, in my opinion.
@Klejdi so?
@Klejdi I don't know the reason for their lack of common sense. Maybe someone dropped them when they were babies, who knows...
16:00 - Actually, ReactOS is trying to mimic Windows 2003 Server, not Win2k.
It's true ReactOS is based Windows Server 2003.
I like ReactOS. It’s an interesting project
Near 1:24, the live iso is not to put on your USB key to boot with it (that's what I have try... and see that this version still not allows to do that), you are suppose to burn it to a DVD or CD and boot with it.
Bad browser is part of the whole experience. I want IE6 and to be angry no websites have shims for it.
I think the point of ReactOS is for those gov administrations that are using some database programs that only work on windows and also they need the old InternetExplorer certifications compatibility etc.
I tried this on a 1 core PC and it actually worked very well.
Thank you, Derek. I remember trying it out when I was trying to defenestrate but it seems it's not too close yet to being functional.
Thank you for making a video about it. I'm hoping that more people will donate, contribute and test so eventually we can have a Free windows system.
What ReactOS basicly will be is what GNU/Linux is to UNIX but for Windows in other terms
GNU/Linux : UNIX
ReactOS : MS Windows
It's more novelty then being an actual OS for daily use. I hate to be pessimistic but they have been in alpha for 15+ years, it just doesn't seem promising. Zorin , Mint and Elementary are the only alternatives we need for new linux users or people that want a windows/mac experience
@@Scrubzei well don't forget that Wine sucked and Proton did not exist until around late 2018. Wine is what powers the core userland experience on ReactOS with some modification. The project is where it is because it relies heavily on Wine's development and the fact that ReactOS has been such a small community doesn't help especially since Wine is improving and changing so rapidly.
In my opinion if the ReactOS devs focus only low level features and code such as the kernel, FS support, 64-Bit support, D3D support and make the OS function on most standard hardware then the project will take off very fast. It may take a few more years but now that Windows 10 is all thats left people will take more interest in ReactOS as a future Windows 7 alternative.
I don't know why Valve doesn't work with them to create a new SteamOS based off of it since if ReactOS had a few dedicated devs it can become a true Windows competetor very quickly.
@@Scrubzei windows,Mac experience? Linux is great sure but it's anything BUT windows/Mac experience. Even if zorin for example is great it's just not running my windows only professional programs. And that's sux . I'm sure we will get there someday but we are still not there.
@@AutumnWind92 I meant the overall aesthetic, eventually Linux will be able to run these apps natively instead of finding workarounds like Wine. It does have some great alternatives like Gimp and Libre that I've been using instead
@@Scrubzei GNU/Linux will NEVER be binary compatible with windows software due to their drastic differences in how they work. Wine isn't a workaround, but a translator that coverts Windows calls into POSIX calls (took that straight from their website). The Linux kernel and the GNU software that runs on top of it is too forgin for windows programs just to run. Its like trying to understand Chinese when all you know is English.
Brilliant vid as always!
I could potentially see myself using it, if they ever reached 1.0... and had the capability to run more modern software.
modern software without any bloat background task.
I wouldn't count on it. ReactOS will probably never be ready for commercial use or even use for advanced computer users.
Thomas Noname that is why I used the word “potentially”.
That's why I wrote "I wouldn't count on it".
thats the problem with open source oses, and one of the big problems i have with linux, is that it seems to lag behind somewhat in support for modern hardware. its great to use on older hardware or low end devices like the ras-pi. but as a main rig os it always seems to be not quite up to snuff performance wise.
now this is true windowztube
I could see something like this becoming a viable alternative to Windows 10 if enough developers get behind it.
Microsoft is going to open source the windows kernel before this gets out of alpha...
@Windows 10 sorry, I meant core windows components and libraries. Everything coming pre installed with Windows that is not a graphical application.
I'd guess it would leak earlier than being officially relesead as open-source. Not that it would be legal to use in any way... We already have source code for Windows NT 3.5, NT 4.0 SP3 and 2000 leaked, it's only matter of time before any newer stuff is leaked.
@@MarcinKralka aaaaand source code of WinXP has leaked.
Why didn't you install the Virtualbox guest additions?
It's to my understanding that the current version of React OS is now equivalent to Windows XP x64 release (in Alpha). For classic PC gamers, this could be worth a low cost PC build for old Windows based games that won't run on Win 10 or virtual box (or WINE). Would be willing to try old games on React OS with modern budget hardware.
The only hope I see for ReactOS is, 1) to be more secure and antiviral than Microsoft's windows, meaning to change the way the module hooks work so it can be made to be as attack proof as possible, 2) to become a PE environment to replace miniXP on HIREN'S type rescue disks, only offering greater capability.
REACTOS is going to be awesome. The team just needs more devs. I fo not believe its reakstice to expect a modern windows. I hope in the future once stable they can get it running windows xp apps and I would be happy with it. Once stable oh t will be better then windows 10 , but more hardware testing is required.
Presumably, if ReactOS can natively run Win s/ware from the early 2000s, or indeed if it can run natively any Win s/ware, then ReactOS should be exactly vulnerable to any malicious code & vulnerabilities linked with any Win s/ware, yes? (I must say though, I like very much that classic old feel of this OS. But, an operating system is there to do a task of both the here & now AND times to come. As things stand I don't see how ReactOS can be a practical tool to do one's personal computing. But, but...FULL KUDOS to the developers of this OS.) Thanks for uploading your video!
S/ware? What is that?
@@hellknightf1 ..what do you think?
@@ktheodor3968 have no idea
@@hellknightf1 software
I have been using the newest version of ReactOS in the Oracle VirtualBox. When using ReactOS one has to think of Windows 2000 w/ Service Pack 2, and not to go the latest and greatest Programs. There are great themes and wallpaper included. I am using an old Toshiba A215, AMD X64 Duo Core 2.0 GHz, updated to 4 GB RAM, updated to 120 SSD, and ZorinOS Lite as the Host. Since ZorinOS Lite works super with 3 1/2 GB RAM, I allocated 512 GB to ReactOS, and 4 GB to the Hard Drive, (the Hard Drive has 2 GB of programs with the below, 2 GB Free) for ReactOS. I am not using audio or video, will use Zorin for that. I was only able to install one of my programs from a CD, and that was Kasparov Chess 2003, so that is my game program. ReactOS can crash if you overload it so, the following programs in the Applications Manager run too slowly, and crashed, or too slow for me: Libre, GNU Cash, CCleaner and Firefox 48. Thunderbird is not my cup of tea. The Opera 9.6 and Firefox 3.6 are too old, in my opinion. I am not going to use those. Open Office, and Abi Word work fantastic as Office Programs. DosBox works OK, (for DosBox). Browsers are a great category for ReactOS. I tried two outside the Applications Manager, SeaMonkey 2.9.1, any newer will not work. The problem with SeaMonkey 2.9.1 is that Mozilla no longer has kept up on SSL's, so I cannot access Wikipedia. The other lightweight, not in the Applications Manager, that works well is QT Web Browser 3.8.5, not only is it lightweight like the D+ Browser in the Applications Manager, it will access Wikipedia. The following Web Browsers work super, are found in the Applications Manager, do not overload the system, and can access Wikipedia: Lightweight D+, MyPal 27.9.4, Firefox 28, (the one I will go with), K-Meleon 75.1, and Opera 12.18. I find this works very well as a VirtualBox with this set-up. In other computers I have Windows 2000, and XP, and I use Erpman's Main Page, and Essential Downloads to update those systems. ReactOS can be stable if one does not try to overload it.
I have some corrections/tips:
1. You don't need to enable neither 2D nor 3D hardware acceleration in VirtualBox, but this can come in handy if you install VirtualBox Additions with hardware Direct3D support and want to play video games.
2. ReactOS doesn't include any Microsoft licensed fonts, the included fonts are free replacements, with just the same names as Microsoft ones (for compatibility sake).
3. To get audio working in VirtualBox you need first to download drivers from ReactOS Applications Manager ("AC'97 Driver for VirtualBox" in "Drivers" section), then copy the contents of "inf" and "system32\drivers" directories to the exact same directories in C:\ReactOS, and then restart the virtual machine once and install driver from ReactOS Device Manager (unknown multimedia device -> Properties -> Reinstall driver) then after completing driver wizard the driver should be installed, it may take another restart for it to take effect.
4. For native (your computers display) resolution support and another usefull virtual machine stuff install VirtualBox additions (also mentioned above). In the virtual machine window menu select Devices -> Mount disk image with guest additions. Then go to "My computer" in guest machine, open CD Drive directory and run "VBoxWindowsAdditions.exe". Simply proceed with it to get it working and then after rebooting simply resize the virtual machine window or enter full screen (right ctrl + F).
#1, #2, and #4 True, I have not even tried to get audio working yet. At least it is usable in VB.
Y'all just shitting on reactos but keep in mind they work closely with the wine project as the vast majority isn't unique to just reactos. It's a good thing that they exist.
Is there anything that the recent WindowsXP source code leak may help with ReactOS' development/.exe compatibility?
Maybe it is worth looking at serenityOS
Cool vid. Keep them coming!
I think people will care more about ReactOS as Windows 10 compatibility with older software drops off over time. At a certain point it becomes as much about game and software preservation as anything else. One might say "just use actual Windows NT" but all Windows NT is long since lost support, and using internet connected NT will get more and more risky as time passes, and I'd say it's already getting pretty risky.
ReactOS offers the possibility of a Windows NT era compatible OS, that is security and feature patched over time, potentially for decades to come.
Yes definitely. But not only. It will be able to run software for later version of Windows through forward compatible shims of the later Windows APIs too. And there is no technical impossibility preventing anyone from writing drivers that target the XP/2003 architecture for the hardware of today.
Don't get all the hate on ractos. Cool idea, sure it's not useful in production but it's still cool that people do projects like this.
Did you get any BSOD?
I got several of them in my failed attempts at getting it to run under Virt Manager and in VirtualBox (before I found the correct settings).
@@DistroTube Hahaha really? Then it's a successful windows-like project :D
Can you make a review of Redox OS?
The eula basically says we are open source if you want to do something that is proprietary we cannot do it, it is beta not for home yet and any that is not ReactOS approved you need to fork.
What is the theme You are using?
They brought back “The Blue Screen” which gave me nightmares. Since Win 3.1... My hand even began to tremble in fear... 😂
>old school
The UI is not the main issue, the issue is stability and compatibility.The primary feature of this OS is that it is intended to be compatible with Windows executables.
Maybe it’s not directly useful, but hopefully the wine project can benefit from discoveries made by the reactos team.
Wow, i’m so going to install this for my parents haha
Not recommended. Not recommended at all. lol
@Him can't be worse than Windows Me tbh
Why do you hate your parents so much?
@vlad @distrotube lol i’m not really going to do it! But they would get a kick out of it because they have lamented every change to windows since XP.
ReactOS : "I'm a broken windows copy."
MicroSoft : "Does not share a single line of code with Windows"
ReactOS : "Running exe and cmd files"
Well, I know at least one linux nerd that loves React.. poor, poor Lunduke. Someone really should help him.
He also loves Haiku so he's not all bad.
What's architecture of react os, 32 or 64bit? This is interesting..
What WM and theme are you using in this video? It looks great. I know you have a lot. :)
qtile...configs are on my GitLab.
I love distrotube I will try more people to subscribe distrotube this man is amazing
On the reactOS homepage there is an extension for downloading so that this OS becomes a 64bit OS
I have instaled React os alongside with windows 10 on my Notebook. It works very good. Wen i turn on my Notebook a i can chose wich os wil be loaded
Great video !! Good to see you testing ReactOS!!!! Test FreeBSD and that stuff...
I love the oldschool look of Windows up to 7 (the last in which you could select classic theme). With some custom colours it looked really great. I'd like to see some newer software for this OS. If I could run newer Firefox, IntelliJ Idea and VSCode I would be happy to use this system :)
Good video thanks
Fun thing about that software center, i think it is one of the old (very old) versions of the gnome software center if i remember correctly. might have had a different name in the early gnome2.0 days
You remember wrong. It was written from scratch it's a Win32 application not a Gtk+ application for one major thing.
@@KnutBluetooth then i stand corrected, could have sworn the old add/remove applications program back in 2008 and pre 2008 looked like that. 😊
Hi I setup qtile after following you config setup. I saved the file and just want to know how to start qtile on boot up.
Leigh Horton
I think it's called Mizu(Me-zoo), Japanese for water.
Alpha after 2 decades
Reminds me of Wayland
Alpha! You are old enough to vote! Time to grow up; Beta time!
Sounds like my adult life
Dt where do you usually find your wallpapers?
My GitLab. Check the show notes.
@@DistroTube Thank you
Thank you very much for the deep dive into ReactOS.
I would be more interested in a distro with no x.org nor xwayland installed to see what all is missing
Ubuntu server has no graphics system
Sorry for necroposting but I just HAVE to mention that this was not a deep dive, but quite a shallow one. Not complaining or anything, just stating the fact.
Better than Temple OS?
That's debatable.
Temple OS must really suck then!
+John Smith it's a joke. Look up Temple OS. And yes, it really sucks, it's made my a religious nutcase.
Temple os is more stable
does it mean it's gonna be as vulnerable as windows?
If it was more stable it would be great to run legacy and POS software
Is GNU Hurd still in Development? Might beat ReactOS in Development time
Can you please upload the icons for the layouts in qtile.?
@DistroTube thanks
Mizu means water in Japanese.
And like other languages the "I" makes an "E" sound
Seeing as it can run .exe files "windows inspired" is an understatement
Have you noticed application manager? That is software center
There is also GreenteaOS which is intended to be an open-source replacement for W10.
greenteaos.github.io/
At this rate it'll never be viable alternative to Windows but its a nice time machine and nostalgia trip.
what are the hardware specification? I would like to try installing it on an old machine, but i don't find anywhere the hardware specification... maybe I'm just dumb and I don't see them, but I really can't find them.
(if you are wondering why, my father have some really old computer he would like to use again, those have my age, so I think they were running windows 2000 or something like that, and so I was searching for some light weight OS)
Same as w2000
@@zXHAcKeRzXz oh okay, good to know
@@Valeleyt but I don't think that the softwares in the store are W2000ish, they seems more of XP or Vista, FF for example is very heavy by itself
But if you use only w2000 software so yeah, you need nothing more than his hardware
I expect insane boost of the project after windows code leak
Hi DistroTube, I know what I am about to say is irrelevant to this video but while I was watching your video I looked at your taskbar and it looks very nice and I wanted to have a similar setup as to the way you have. I believe you are using the awesome Window manager, right? I was wondering if you could please do a video tutorial on how to setup awesome the way you have setted up please?
There first thing I would want to do is install Command and Conquer...
I watched a video a while back of someone running crysis on it
I haven't tried this latest version but it was disastrous for disk management until very recently and I don't believe that's changed.. :)
Might make for an excellent litle OS to run on a 15W TDP fanless PC or PC stick as a media center to watch torrented movies?
15W TDP being the major point here
ReactOS needs more help donations and any more people that can help because they are few people in comparison to Linux.
It's a bit strange seeing you use Virtualbox for VM setups instead of QEMU or KVM, especially considering the love for minimal apps.
Well, had you watched the video, I explained that I could not get this to work in Virt-Manager. So there's that.
The crazy thing is Windows 2000 pro is now abandonware and basically FREE. I installed Win2000 on virtualbox and I was greeted with the very issue that caused me to abandon windows back in the day to begin with! Bad Audio drivers for Soundblaster! In 2k, the driver for SB16 will hiccup and get stuck when sounds play and then finally die. I had to use AC97 with Windows 2000 and XP. In Windows 98SE? HOLY! I had to go through ALOT of forced reboots and just when I finally got everything working, "REGISTRY CORRUPT"error on a reboot and basically, ALL hardware drivers I installed and got working, were wiped and would have had to start all over again! Do you all remember THOSE good old days of Windows???? Thankfully I am just having fun on VB while I sit amid a living nightmare. But when Windows 95/98 was all we had for playing midi and audio and video files and more reliable jpeg viewing and collecting, life REALLY SUCKED in the computing realm! Oh how I do not miss Windows.. I do like XP pro and Win7 pro/ult for music production and videos but THATS IT. LINUX and FreeBSD all the way for everything else baby!!! ReactOS is a good try, but maybe time to go in a different direction? NO, most of the true WINDOWS only apps made for WINDOWS only, do not run or install in ReactOS. That is why in 2020, I still have not given it a try. It crases alot too.. Hmm, seems familiar lol! Win98se!!!
I want a stable alternative to Windows98. If it weren't for the BSODs and the "illegal operation", I would still have used Windows98 and not switched to XP after a while.
Now I am about to try Windows98 with KernelEX.
I'm sure the devs make some money out of companies running mission critical software that would be too costly to port to more modern versions of MS Windows. Must be a very lucrative niche for them.
ReactOS is not stable enough for that. It's not a simple drop in replacement for Windows that just works. Hardware support is one of the biggest issues currently. Getting ReactOS to correctly install on physical hardware is an exercise in patience, trial and error and research.
@@BrunodeSouzaLino I'm aware of all that as I've had my fair share of issues with ReactOS myself. Software would install and run just fine, but by the next release of ReactOS, no joy, regressions galore.
The point (business case) I was trying to make is getting legacy enterprise software still in production to run on ReactOS. Kind of like what the devs at Codeweavers are doing porting software to run on Wine. Or maybe like what they're doing at TurboHercules (almost earning them a lawsuit) running mainframe OSs in an emulator.
There are companies actually still using Windows 95 to run legacy applications. They would be a good fit.
reactos is the operating system equivalent of someone keeping a jar of all their toenail clippings for 20 years...
There's a typo in the the title, there's is nothing inspiring about windows
Hey DT, there's a video I would like to see from you: manipulating OS marketshare website (like that global statcounter website) like you manipulate distrowatch. Some distributions like Ubuntu do this already but I believe Arch Linux, which I'm using, does not.
Most people just won't care about this. It isn't meant for gaming or many modern software. But if for some reason you are running some old windows software on like windows 2000 and it is a requirement, then this OS might be a decent replacement for you.
Pretty cool
If you can combine windows 10 with android with full perfomance, boom
All developer with you
I use notepad++ at work and found it very useful
notepad++ is great. Someone made a snap version for Linux. It just packs notepad++ with wine and tries to integrate with the DE as you would expect.
Visual studio code is open source and can be installed on Linux
What I have to say? Just use Wine. More secure and has more compatibility.
But there are applications that need to run with the MSWin "kernel" as well as the userspace libraries. This is where you would use ROS instead of Wine. It would be a great lightweight OS the to run inside a VM for specific applications. Roblox as an example doesn't run under Wine, and the Roblox devs are too stupid to make it usable there (I'd actually prefer not to have to install it at all).
Mizu is Japanese. So it's pronounced Mi as in "Me" and "Zu" as in Zoo, but the o sound cut short.
i might want to use it if it can run Crysis
good job
open an explorer window and make a new folder, it doesn't refresh on its own.
Might as well go with Q4OS
Actually, the development started in 1996.
I will ensure that no matter what happens to the official site, ill share them as a flood and it will be impossible for anyone including DCMA to takedown
back to virtualbox so soon?
Did you not watch this video? I mean....seriously..
@@DistroTube My bad, I missed the part about it not working properly in Virt-manager 😁
thanks, you can test more interesting ColibriOS
I'd like a Windows 2000 clone 🙂
Here is a more detailed written analysis, with other tests and findings from ReactOS in 2020: brunoalvieira.blogspot.com/2020/06/analise-o-react-os-em-2020.html
Has anyone tried to install this on a Mac via boot camp?
boot cd, lol, i havent used an optical drive in over 10 years. lack of support for any modern hardware is a huge problem that they are going to need to solve.