Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ReactOS

ReactOS is a free, modern operating system in alpha stage, based on the design of Windows XP/2003.

ReactOS

ReactOS Reviews and Details

This page is designed to help you find out whether ReactOS is good and if it is the right choice for you.

Screenshots and images

  • ReactOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-21

Features & Specs

  1. Open Source

    ReactOS is an open-source operating system, which means its source code is freely available for anyone to view, modify, and distribute. This allows developers and contributors to participate in its development and enhancement.

  2. Windows Compatibility

    ReactOS aims to be binary-compatible with Windows, especially Windows Server 2003, meaning it can run many Windows applications and drivers without modification. This could be beneficial for users who rely on legacy Windows software.

  3. Lightweight

    ReactOS is designed to be lightweight, requiring fewer system resources compared to modern Windows operating systems. This makes it suitable for older hardware that may not support contemporary operating systems efficiently.

  4. Freedom from Licensing Costs

    Being free and open source, ReactOS eliminates the cost associated with purchasing Windows licenses, providing an alternative for users who wish to avoid these costs.

Badges & Trophies

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Videos

ReactOS Demo

ReactOS 0.4.12 Review - Window Snapping, New Fonts, New Looks!

ReactOS Is An Open Source Windows-Inspired Operating System

Social recommendations and mentions

We have tracked the following product recommendations or mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you see what people think about ReactOS and what they use it for.
  • Microsoft Needs Windows Lite
    There is already a "Windows Lite", and it's called ReactOS [0]. Except, the last thing we need is for Microsoft to own / embrace-extend-exterminate this. It's best that it's kept as an independent project, enabling developers to target the Windows API if they feel like it, while ensuring that they only target the Wine-compatible parts of it, which then enables their software to also run seamlessly on other... - Source: Hacker News / 20 days ago
  • Microsoft's "Fix" for Windows 11: Flowers After the Beating
    Kinda off-topic, but I wonder if a hypothetical OS that reimplements the Windows APIs (like ReactOS[0], but with perfect modern hardware support) would be better for end users than a Linux distro with a modern DE. In the past, this hypothetical OS would be a revolution. But I feel that, in recent years, this gap is not as big anymore and Linux supports way more apps than in the past. Such an OS might even not be... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Not the Future
    On topic of less user-hostile OS , I wonder how this guys are doing: https://reactos.org/ https://elementary.io/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Using GNU toolchain for Windows kernel-mode drivers
    Compiling into object code is easy but linkig is tricky. For reference of possilbe options, I used an example from ReactOS project. ReactOS is the only working (sort of) full reverse-engineered NT operating system kernel. It is a cool project. ReactOS Github repo has a collection of build options for kernel-mode drivers that can be carved out of CMake files. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • YouTube is taking down videos on performing nonstandard Windows 11 installs
    Would this help you? https://reactos.org/ This is an open source reimplementation of winxp. I think they can even run drivers made for windows now. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Nearly 90% of Windows Games Now Run on Linux
    Microsoft might not do it, but there's always reactos [1] [1] https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Microsoft are removing mechanisms for creating a local account in Windows Setup
    There's always ReactOS[1], a project for a bug-for-bug compatible Windows clone. It used to mostly aim at Windows 9x compatibility the last time I'd checked, though, but that could probably change. And if anyone wants to create a Win7 clone, at least some of the groundwork has already been made. [1]: https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Why is Windows still tinkering with critical sections? โ€“ The Old New Thing
    > Isn't it unfortunate, the absolute degree everything legacy is at least in some way tethered to windows. If only there had been an open alternative, it would allow huge communities to emerge keeping very old software/games working indefinitely. Have a look at ReactOS: > https://reactos.org/ > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReactOS. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Unofficial Windows 7 Service Pack 2
    > but thereโ€™s no reason why a thoughtfully engineered Win7 clone DE on a lightweight Linux Why not a "thoughtfully engineered Win7 clone Desktop Environment" (without Linux :-) ). By the way: people are working on ReactOS: > https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Free95: An open-source windows-compatible operating system
    Seems very WIP. Might be easier to start with something like ReactOS[0] and work backwards. [0]https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • You can now write React in Lua
    Soon, everything will be in react. Your browser? React. OS? React. Car operating system? React. I thought I was making a joke and then googled some and here it is: https://github.com/shirakaba/react-native-web-browser-app https://star.global/posts/react-native-for-automotive/ They were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • ExectOS โ€“ brand new operating system which derives from NT architecture
    Why this over ReactOS, a much more mature open source OS, which is also based on NT? https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Someone connected Windows XP to the internet, and it didn't survive long
    I wonder how ReactOS does as it is Windows XP/2003 compatible? https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Questioning "The Value of Open Source Software"
    Https://reactos.org/ implement some of the windows API. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Windows 10 end of life could prompt torrent of e-waste
    You can use Rufus: https://rufus.ie/en/ To modify the ISO to turn off hardware check and TPM support for Windows 11 to install it on an unsupported PC. https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/wiki/FAQ#user-content-Help_I_dont_see_the_option_to_bypass_the_need_for_a_Microsoft_account_with_Windows_11 https://aros.sourceforge.io/ https://www.haiku-os.org/ and https://www.arcanoae.com/arcaos/ I know some third-world nations... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Microsoft Will Eventually Start Charging You for Windows 10 Security Updates
    I suppose you want ReactOS https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Rumor: Windows 12 could become a subscription based operating system
    On a side note, in a universe where ReactOS[0] had comprehensive drivers support, would it be a better alternative to modern Windows? Or would desktop Linux? That's a fun thought exercize, at least for me :) [0] https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Microsoft Edge is starting to annoy me big time
    Anyone tried ReactOS recently? Supposed to be a clean-room FOSS Windows NT compatible OS. https://reactos.org/ It's still on my TODO. Mostly cause my parents want XP back. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Windows 9x and Word 9x at 800x600 resolution. Spacious. Comfy
    > It's whitespace. There's wayyyy too much god damn whitespace in modern UIs, and it's awful. I wanted to see how LibreOffice would compare on my netbook, and frankly it's better than the new Word, but still "worse" than the old version: https://i.imgur.com/cWGYh3M.png That said, at least LibreOffice lets you have your custom themes and actually offers a variety of different interface layouts, which I think is a... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Outlook now ignores Windows' Default Browser and opens links in Edge by default
    I'm currently using Linux due to this kind of hostile behavior from Microsoft on Windows. However, we are power users and the big masses won't care about an ever increasing misalignment between the users' needs and Microsoft's. We cannot vote with our wallets, e.g. By using Linux instead. It won't matter. What we could maybe do is contribute to projects like ReactOS[0] and make it easier for the layperson to... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • A free Windows-compatible Operating System
    And no news on the main page since March 2022: https://reactos.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago

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Is ReactOS good? This is an informative page that will help you find out. Moreover, you can review and discuss ReactOS here. The primary details have not been verified within the last quarter, and they might be outdated. If you think we are missing something, please use the means on this page to comment or suggest changes. All reviews and comments are highly encouranged and appreciated as they help everyone in the community to make an informed choice. Please always be kind and objective when evaluating a product and sharing your opinion.