ReactOS 0.4.13
reactos.org
reactos.org
Doing a modern desktop operating system from scratch is very hard and very resource intensive. But trying to reverse engineer one and implement it without having specs and defined APIs is way harder.
Microsoft needed tens of thousands of software engineers, UI specialists, software architects to implement Windows. Apple didn't have the resources to write OS X from scratch, they got many bits from FreeBSD, NetBSD and Linux.
So trying to replicate Windows functionality and have 100% compatibility with Windows won't happen unless Windows goes open source. Which I won't be surprised to see in the future if Microsoft owns the rights to all Windows code.
Which they don't - depending on what you count as being "Windows":
- The zip functionality in Windows Explorer is licensed from a 3rd party (DynaZip[0]) - Before it was removed in Windows Vista, Pinball was also from an external developer [1][2]
I'm sure there are countless other examples.
[0]: http://www.innermedia.com/ [1]: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20121218-00/?p=58... [2]: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181221-00/?p=10...
Well a multi-billion dollar company with a-lot of resources can afford to do this from scratch. Unsurprisingly, those hobbyist OSes don't stand a chance and progress will be disappointing compared to Windows and macOS.
Most importantly, you forgot one more alternative operating system that does fit in the desktop ecosystem and that is Fuchsia. As we can already see the hundreds of Linux distros that are still floating around for desktop market share, they don't and won't come even close to macOS or Windows here.
Google is actually very good at 'using Linux' to step into the mobile market with Android and the desktop market with ChromeOS which is the head start that these distros should have done for a standard OS that general users can use, but failed to do so. Now it looks somewhat likely that Fuchsia maybe replacing both Android and ChromeOS by being one integrated and unified mobile and desktop OS for laptops and phones which they can control.
If there is going to be a new OS entering the desktop and mobile markets, it is almost certainly going to be Fuchsia.
You cannot catch a flying jet with a single engine plane but I admire the effort, it's well done.
It would also be nice if they had VMware drivers out of the box, but given how quickly the project progresses I may be asking for too much in that regard.
> ReactOS is an operating system.
> Our own main features are:
> ReactOS is able to run Windows software
> ReactOS is able to run Windows drivers
> ReactOS looks-like Windows
> ReactOS is free and open source
I don't question why they're "bothering", but I do wonder why they haven't adjusted their compatibility goals to something more useful such as Vista or Windows 7.
How pleasant.
> Second one is about "we never used anything from MS blah blah blah" is an obvious lie for saving face and it is working only with partially brain dead audience
This claim is made all the time but it does baffle me that despite all the work they put into showing how badly ReactOS sucks, they couldn’t put a modicum of effort into the code theft allegation. I guess I must be braindead for not assuming it’s stolen code.
All in all I think ReactOS is interesting enough that it is a bit unwarranted how pessimistic people get. Most of us have long realized it will probably never be a viable desktop OS and that is not really a big deal because it’s still fun to mess with and read about.
I feel the same about Desktop Linux, except I don't find it fun to mess with anymore.
Also, Windows runs all software I need, desktop Linux does not.
I agree with this. After even finding the time to 'try out' many Linux distos and dual-booting Ubuntu for a long time, I keep finding myself always going back to macOS since the keyboard shortcuts just work everywhere without diving into the dotfiles or apt-getting a missing package to fix it or even Googling a weird X11 error that could be specific to my setup.
The last thing I want to do is end up spending days customising, playing around or fixing annoying issues with my computer just to get to work. I don't need to do this often with macOS and Windows. Some Linux distros however....
When I want the nix experience, I'll get it on VirtualBox (I don't count WSL, personally; though I do use it)
General users mostly need the proprietary software to do their basic work. Some want Microsoft® Office (Especially Excel®, not LibreOffice Calc), others want Adobe® software, another needs Autodesk 3DS Max and they don't want to play with their OS if something is broken which is what you'll always get with a Linux distro.
No person can take desktop Linux seriously if they still ask about this software still being missing in Linux. It's back to macOS and Windows for them.