Open Source

ReactOS 0.3.14

By // February 14, 2012, 1:48 PM PST // dobes

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  • ReactOS is no flash in the pan; look at the years on the copyright notice to see how far back this project goes.

  • ReactOS: set-up

    ReactOS acknowledges the other free and open-source projects used to create this distribution. As can be seen in the GPL dialog to the left, ReactOS uses GPL v2.

  • ReactOS: desktop

    ReactOS aims to create an operating system that is binary compatible with Windows NT 5.0. That quest gets off to a good start with something I remember from Windows days of old: the new hardware dialog. It couldn't find the drivers for it either, much like circa-2000 era Windows.

  • ReactOS: explorer

    The ReactOS explorer offers some extra functionality and views over its Windows namesake. At the bottom is the ReactOS collection of control panels.

  • ReactOS: apps

    A familiar collection of applications: Notepad, RegEdit, and the Device Manager.

  • ReactOS: old favourites

    Solitaire, Minesweeper, and the command prompt.

  • ReactOS: installing new software

    Installing new software is a similar process to other open-source package-management solution.

  • ReactOS: installing Firefox

    After downloading the Firefox package from the Application Manager, the usual Windows installer appears.

  • ReactOS: running Firefox

    Firefox functions without any issues, unless you hit that "Apply Update" button; then bad things happen.

  • ReactOS: a front end to system.ini

    Where was this tool when I needed it?!?!

  • ReactOS: Diablo II

    Oh boy, Diablo II; this is going to be awesome!

  • ReactOS: Diablo II, not so awesome

    Um, yeah, this is not as awesome as I expected. Hopefully the bad colouring is because I am running this in a VirtualBox instance.

  • ReactOS: installation

    Even the ReactOS installer throws back to the Windows installers of yore.

  • ReactOS: installation restrictions

    As alpha software, it's no shock to learn that it isn't as flexible as many other operating systems.

  • ReactOS: file systems

    ReactOS has one choice of filesystem, and the filesystem of choice shall be FAT.

  • ReactOS: installation progress

    Thanks to its lightweight size, installation of ReactOS was quite quick.

     <em>(<strong>Image Credit:</strong> Chris Duckett/TechRepublic)</em>

ReactOS is no flash in the pan; look at the years on the copyright notice to see how far back this project goes.

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About Chris Duckett

Some would say that it is a long way from software engineering to journalism, others would correctly argue that it is a mere 10 metres according to the floor plan.During his first five years with CBS Interactive, Chris started his journalistic advent...