ReactOS: Windows Makeover from Scratch
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This more than 12-year-old project doesn’t seem to get enough recognition. ReactOS started in 1996 with seemingly impossible goals. Right now, even though the project is still in the alpha phase (0.3.9), lots of milestones have been reached. ReactOS is totally written from scratch, resulting in Windows XP/2003-like OS implementation that gives full binary compatibility with Windows applications, NT/XP drivers, and hardware.
Having said this, ReactOS is a free operating system that is downloadable by anyone, currently in alpha stage, meaning it’s not recommended for everyday usage. As of the past few years, heavy development has been going into this, and developers have promised that starting from 0.5 releases, the project aims to reach the beta stage—thus, suitable for everyday use.
Throughout this article we will review its current release (0.3.9), clearly pointing out its capabilities. But before we begin, we think it’s truly important to understand how cloning an operating system without infringing copyrights and development secrets is possible. Once we’ve understood this and the effort that’s been put into it, we’ll move on.
In order to demystify some of the misconceptions regarding ReactOS, it should be understood that it’s not yet another Linux distribution with a Windows-like look-and-feel. The project was written using complex reverse-engineering techniques. Everything was designed and coded from the ground up, starting from its kernel, user interface, and GDI, up to its API. It follows the exact architecture that Windows was built upon. That’s how ReactOS is able to make the following claim:
“The ultimate goal of ReactOS is to allow you to remove Windows® and install ReactOS without the end user noticing the change.”
Now let’s begin to understand how this is possible in detail and find out Microsoft’s reaction to the development of such a project. You can pretty much guess they weren’t delighted to hear about its progress. We’ve already experienced ugly lawsuits in the past, such as Apple Computer Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation that everyone has heard about.
Next: Project Details >>
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