"Alex Ionescu, the ReactOS kernel coordinator, has resigned. Alex first joined the project in 2004, around the 0.2.2 release. Since then, he's been at the center of quite a few squabbles about how to code the kernel. However, Alex has also been responsible for completely rewriting the kernel almost from the ground up. Today, about 60% of the kernel code is probably his. The reason for Alex's departure is because of his joining David Solomon's Expert Seminars as an instructor. Because this job would place him in close contact with many Microsoft programmers and also give him access to other Microsoft properties, continuing with the project would have resulted in possible conflicts of interest."
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Member since:2007-03-24
you would put up with alpha quality software?
No, definitely not. I would test it, report bugs, and I would use it only when it's stable. This is true for any software, including Linux development releases.
I don't use Linux because it's free, I use it because it works better for me than Windows
I don't use Linux because although being free, it doesn't work as good as Windows for me.
Member since:2005-11-10
Yes, but one day your copy of Windows XP won't validate anymore, or you'll come across some data that only works with an ancient and dead program that does not work on a modern version of Windows.
Just like DosBOX before, ReactOS and WINE will be the only way to access these older programs and data - so it's importance now, even at alpha quality, cannot be understated.
Member since:2005-09-21
I don't use Linux because although being free, it doesn't work as good as Windows for me.
Fair enough, but is it really worth thousands of hours of testing, bug reporting, and fixing, just to get something that works as well for you as Windows? Just use the real Windows. Sure it's not free, but it's also not prohibitively expensive (especially with a new computer) and it will always work better than ReactOS, no matter how many developers join the team.
Member since:2006-06-15
No. The main advantage of ReactOS is not cost - it's its license.
Its license allows you to do things you can't with Windows - thus enabling a BETTER Windows. You won't have to cope with Windows deficiencies because the system will be implemented in a far saner way. You have the possibility to end up with a system that is far more stable and, more important, far saner.
Even if we might prefer Linux, ReactOS will allow better integration in virtual machines - which, along with a good license, is worth far more than the 500$ of Windows.
Member since:2007-02-11
Its license allows you to do things you can't with Windows - thus enabling a BETTER Windows.
Ugh, at this point I'd say that the license is almost as capable as the code.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the work that has been put up so far, I couldn't do even half as well -- but ReactOS is *still* both slow and unstable. Well, it is a Windows clone after all :-P.
Member since:
2005-09-21
It's basically a free version of Windows in version alpha.
So to save anywhere from $50 to $500 (depending on where you buy Windows), you would put up with alpha quality software? The only advantage of ReactOS is cost. If ReactOS was a 100% perfect clone of Windows, which it is far from being, then it will still only be Windows.
I don't use Linux because it's free, I use it because it works better for me than Windows (for most tasks). Because of that I can put up with the disadvantages like lagging support for laptop hardware that one inevitably encounters with alternative OS's. Why would I put up with that pain to run what is essentially a really bad version of Windows? I don't want to put down the project, it is very interesting to play around with and work on as a hobby, but it holds no interest for me as something that can be actually used.