ReactOS, the open source implementation of a Windows XP/2003 compatible operating system, just published a new interview in their series of interviews with ReactOS developers. Today's interview features the developer Johannes Anderwald, who has worked on source compatibility with Visual Studio Development Suite lately.
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Member since:2006-04-22
Backwards compatability is essential for MS as most people won't upgrade to the lateat version of windows until all their favorite apps will run on it.
One of many reasons ReactOS is much smaller than a standard XP install is the fact that many apps that are automatically installed by XP are not in ReactOS, plus there are other services/enhancements/bloatware (please choose whatever one you beleive) that have not been worked on fully yet, so by the time we start to see "rock solid" versions the install size may well be more than 40meg.
Member since:2006-08-01
"...so by the time we start to see "rock solid" versions the install size may well be more than 40meg."
That is very true that ReactOS will become much larger as they add functionality and compatibility, but I don't think it will ever become as large or bloated. Trust me, I'm not trash talking Windows. I happen to think that Windows is a good OS, even though I'm a Mac and Linux guy 
All OS's grow larger as you add features, thats why OS X comes on an install DVD now.
All I can say, is that hopefully by the time ReactOS is considered feature-complete, it will manage to remain somewhat small and efficient.
Member since:
2006-08-01
I'm glad to see how far ReactOS has come over the years. It's nice to see that they aren't following Microsoft's development model which over the years has been all about maintaining backwards compatibility even though it actually drags the system down with it; whereas ReactOS seems to focus more on present and future Windows feature implementation. I guess thats why ReactOS is only around a 40 MB download whereas XP almost completely fills a CD. Keep up the good work ReactOS team!