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Release of ReactOS 0.4 Brings Open Source Windows Closer to Reality

posted by martyb on Wednesday February 17 2016, @07:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the making-progress dept.
ReactOS is a free and open source implementation of the Windows NT architecture, which intends to provide support for existing applications and drivers, outside of the control of Microsoft. The release of ReactOS 0.4 brings improved file system support, including native, out-of-the-box support for ext2, ext3, and ext4, as well as read-only support for NTFS. Additionally, the bundled version of UniATA was updated to add better support for SATA and PATA devices. Support was generally improved for third-party device drivers, making it substantially easier to install and use real hardware, as opposed to just virtual machines like VirtualBox.

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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday February 17 2016, @08:08PM

    by looorg (578) on Wednesday February 17 2016, @08:08PM (#305910)

    While the story says Windows NT architecture, which version of Windows is it they are trying to be compatible with now? It started out as a Win95 clone back in the day, then it was w2000 and then XP. Are they now shooting for Win 7, 8 or 10? For normal windows you can usually just run it in compatibility mode and select a previous lower version. Normally this shouldn't be all that much of an issue but it seems that Microsoft has plans in their desires to bring everyone to Windows 10. What are they shooting for? It used to be somewhat clear on their homepage but the new and improved website seems a bit vague on the topic. Nothing about it in the FAQ as far as I can tell. Shall one just assume it's always trying to be compatible with the latest version?

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by turgid on Wednesday February 17 2016, @08:31PM

    by turgid (4318) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 17 2016, @08:31PM (#305924) Journal

    While the story says Windows NT architecture, which version of Windows is it they are trying to be compatible with now?

    The last version of Windows that wasn't Windows NT architecture was ME IIRC. Everything since XP has been NT architecture i.e. the protected-mode microkernel-based OS designed by the VMS guy [wikipedia.org].