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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: 3, Informative) by frojack on Thursday February 18 2016, @12:10AM

    by frojack (1554) on Thursday February 18 2016, @12:10AM (#306038) Journal

    Its interesting to read the wiki article on it, and all the infighting and bickering that has been going on.
    Almost none of the delay had anything to do with interference by Microsoft, it was all their own paranoia.

    They even had Wine refusing to talk to them for a while.

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Daiv on Thursday February 18 2016, @07:32PM

    by Daiv (3940) on Thursday February 18 2016, @07:32PM (#306505)

    You say interesting, I say frustrating as all hell. I've been following this project since Windows Vista released, hoping to keep my Windows 98 "Classic" interface, but the stability of XP going without depending on support from Microsoft. I believe this still has a ton of potential to gain users, especially with people learning about Windows 10 and their privacy, but if this project had made more progress 5-6 years ago, instead of bickering, it would be pulling in new users like crazy right now.

    My computing is firmly stuck in a 10-ish year old routine. I don't play games newer than Civilization IV. This OS fits what I am looking for perfectly and I believe I could convert my elder family (and extended family) over to this (along with all their PITA Windows 3.1/95 games they require) with minimal fuss. A lot easier than any version of Linux/Unix or BSD. I've tried lending them various laptops with all kinds of other OS's and the longest anyone used one was 18 minutes over the 6 months I lent it to them. Apparently, they used their phone to surf when necessary and requested all their bills to revert to paper billing. The other people did all their bill paying and web surfing at work and just waited for their new computer to come to do anything.

    WOW! I just went to the site, and while the old site was dated, this new site is a total turnoff. I guess if that's the price I have to pay to get some progress, I'll have to take it.