I think it actually is even more relevant today than 10 years ago, as the only real production use case I can imagine for it is specialized industrial software written only for XP that no one wants to update to w10 because of the risk of breaking production but which are running on a not supported anymore OS full of vulnerabilities. If really ReactOS achieves parity then that's a possible niche.
That was the argument back in the day too. For people/devices not looking to run Windows XP/Vista.
I don't think the metric has ever changed. What has is the scope as Microsoft continues to chug along. But, I believe, their goal is still primarily some hybrid of Win98/Win2K compatibility.
Not yet but it seems like they've finally started working towards that. Driver compatibility has improved dramatically over the last few years, for one.
And yes that USB gadget thing. I had to use it recently to turn a RPi Zero into a parallel -> USB converter. It's impossible to debug and sometimes makes you question your own sanity. Here's my script that does it: https://github.com/grishka/miscellaneous/blob/master/AVDecod...
Having a full Windows desktop with a Linux install saves me from formatting and partitioning into yet another installation mess that Linux still has and choosing a distro while not messing around with display managers or searching around why some apps do not display correctly when connecting to an external monitor.
Related:
30 Years of ReactOS
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46716469
Why is this relevant today?
I think it actually is even more relevant today than 10 years ago, as the only real production use case I can imagine for it is specialized industrial software written only for XP that no one wants to update to w10 because of the risk of breaking production but which are running on a not supported anymore OS full of vulnerabilities. If really ReactOS achieves parity then that's a possible niche.
I remember seeing laser cutter drivers which only ran on Windows XP, but the cutters themselves were still in use and worked great.
For (ham) radio programming software which often only supports windows, getting the programmer working on reactOS seems like a win.
That was the argument back in the day too. For people/devices not looking to run Windows XP/Vista.
I don't think the metric has ever changed. What has is the scope as Microsoft continues to chug along. But, I believe, their goal is still primarily some hybrid of Win98/Win2K compatibility.
I think OP means, this project is very old, what's new about it?
It runs btrfs, if you like to live dangerously.
When was it relevant?
Same as Haiku
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/05/06/171220/reactos-unif...
ReactOS Unifies Installation Media, Introduces GUI Installer and New ATA Driver
Note: unrelated to React.
Considerably predates it I think. I’ve followed ReactOS on and off for years, since the early 00s.
Looking at the website, they celebrated their 30th anniversary recently which is pretty impressive.
ReactOS came first though.
Always an interesting project and some great achievements, but it’s hard to see it being more useful than Linux + Wine (or now Proton)
Does anyone use ReactOS in a production-like fashion?
Drivers exclusive for Windows.
You know your old Soundblaster AWE64 Gold, with all bundled programs [0]. Or that very special Analog Video grabber card you have.
Wine is user space. This is the full OS.
[0] Ok, that maybe works in linux, but you get your point.
Not yet but it seems like they've finally started working towards that. Driver compatibility has improved dramatically over the last few years, for one.
Do they finally have a WDM compatible driver stack? For a long time, that was their biggest hamper to being anything useful as a real desktop.
If they can pass that hurdle + add WDDM, I'd be willing to take another look at them even if application compatibility remains hit and miss.
Intel, NVIDIA, AMD GPU Drivers Finally Play Nice With ReactOS
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/21/1712201/intel-nvidi...
Last i tried it a couple years ago, it was basically impossible to install natively. (On basic intel haswell system)
A windows compatible OS is a good idea but it looks more likely to be Linux.
As someone who very much dislikes the Linux/Unix philosophy, I'm happy to see diversity.
Out of pure curiosity, what do you “very much dislike” about it?
Don't get him started:
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
Heh… Wait ‘til I tell him that his beloved macOS is Unix underneath.
I know and I don't like that either. But at least I don't have to touch the Unix layer too often.
There have been some notable discussions here on this subject.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22076348
That's an excellent talk, thanks for sharing it.
And yes that USB gadget thing. I had to use it recently to turn a RPi Zero into a parallel -> USB converter. It's impossible to debug and sometimes makes you question your own sanity. Here's my script that does it: https://github.com/grishka/miscellaneous/blob/master/AVDecod...
You mean Windows subsystem for Linux.
Having a full Windows desktop with a Linux install saves me from formatting and partitioning into yet another installation mess that Linux still has and choosing a distro while not messing around with display managers or searching around why some apps do not display correctly when connecting to an external monitor.
The best Linux distro is Windows (with WSL).
Not funny anymore.
It never was supposed to be.