“The ReactOS Team is pleased to announce version 0.2.9 of its operating system, designed to be binary compatible with Windows drivers and applications. This release brings improvements to the network model allowing applications such as firefox to run, significant improvements in Plug and Play support now provide a basic working model able to detect and load drivers, plus many other feature additions and bug fixes. We also now provide vmware player images on our download page. The full changelog can be found here, and screenshots are available here.”
great work, I’m assuming 0.29 doesn’t have usb mouse/keyboard support (atleast I couldn’t find anything in the changelog), so I’ll have to wait for 0.3 (aww, I’m so eager to try it out on real hardware!) it’s making good progress though, from what I can tell. here’s hoping that a year from now, I’ll be able to migrate from my (nowadays unsupported) win2k, to Reactos 1.0
anyone tried it already under VirtualPC ?
0.2.9 RC1 and RC2 did not install under VirtualPC.
Release 0.2.8 worked, the ability got lost somewhere in between.
(live cd however works)
Virtual PC does not work. There is a problem with the VBE driver that it emulates(maybe more we dont know yet). We plan to fix it very soon.
-Brandon
It’s fixed in ReactOS SVN trunk already, but the fix haven’t made it into the 0.2.9 version in time. Meanwhile it’s possible to run ReactOS in VPC with VGA driver (for display) or use a snapshot from svn.reactos.com/iso/.
– Filip
It’s close, but we’re not quite ready to pull out the cigar just yet
The said 0.2.5 to be the last 0.2.x release. Now we’re looking at 0.2.9. And the main new feature – networking – was the goal of 0.3.x…
Networking is still the goal of 0.3.0. It has improved enough in the last 2 months to warrant a new release, but it’s still not stable enough to call it 0.3.
“The said 0.2.5 to be the last 0.2.x release.”
That information was incorrect. We are closer than ever to 0.3.0, it’s just around the corner, but that doesn’t mean to say there won’t be a 0.2.10
“And the main new feature – networking – was the goal of 0.3.x”
Networking isn’t a main feature in this release. There are no new main features in minor increments.
Although there is much better network support now than there was in 0.2.8 (which allows firefox to run) it’s still a little buggy (e.g. it runs slow). Our current tree has many improvement over 0.2.9, constantly working towards 0.3.0
Networking is still the main feature for 0.3, and all subsuquent minor 0.3.* releases.
Hope that clears up the general misconceptions.
ReactOS has no right to exist. It’s completely wasted time – to keep the inferior Win32 platform living.
ReactOS has no right to exist. It’s completely wasted time – to keep the inferior Win32 platform living.
OS euthanasia now, is it?
ReactOS has no right to exist. It’s completely wasted time – to keep the inferior Win32 platform living.”
I would say that narrow minded idiots like yourself should not have the right to exist.
anyone has teh right to live…
if live == !death:
me.slave
else:
me.kill
Linux is a clone of unix, ReactOS is a clone of Windows, and please do not mistake your personal opinions as fact
“Linux is a clone of unix, ReactOS is a clone of Windows, and please do not mistake your personal opinions as fact”
Actually GNU is Not Unix. It’s built to be compatible with Unix, but technically superior at the same time.
I assume ReactOS aims to be compatible with Windows, but to say it’s a clone gives the impression they want to be identical, when in fact they want it to be better.
This is the best open source project of the moment. I see a lot of potential for ReactOS in the future.
reactos0.2.9-REL-vmplayer.zip is corrupted. I’ve tried several mirrors.
Edited 2005-12-23 00:50
🙁
I’m sorry, there was a problem when it was uploading to sf.net and i wasnt sure if it was going to be alright or not. Ill try to fix it as soon as i can.
Brandon
I have re-uploaded it to sf.
Brandon
The technical feat alone is awe inspiring and it could well make Windows obsolete.
I would say it’s a larger competitor of Linux, than of Windows. It’s free, runs Windows applications, smaller learning curve, etc…… You do the math.
I wouldn’t really see things that way, ReactOS is an attempt to create a Windows compatible alternative which right now looks like it’s also going to have a very similar GUI. Linux on the other hand isn’t attempting to be like Windows at all and instead is headed in it’s own direction.
As I see it Linux is the unix for home users, it can be gotten for free or found at a price the customer likes, and it is quite easy to learn for home users compared to commercial alternatives. Just the same ReactOS could become to Windows what Linux is to commercial Unix systems (yes I do believe Windows could be made easier to use and more pleasent for the user).
>which right now looks like it’s also going to have a very similar GUI
>
This is the only thing that i don’t like of ROS: the philosophy.
Why CLONING a non so good os instead of building a compatible but better one ?
So, a better interface could be http://www.sharpe-shell.org/
Marco Ravich
nota: i hope to see the same growing of http://www.osfree.org/ in the future…
they’re not CLONING, they are building a compatible OS. and hopefully better one, and given that it is open source, it has the advantage of giving developers from all over the world the opportunity to chip in and improve it (see linux). don’t worry, you will be able to run sharpe on it in given time, but no, I’m certain it will never replace ros explorer as the default shell, with good reason.
I forgot to mention, I picture Linux and ReactOS becomming very good buddies. The main development of both is done for free so really there’s more likely to be some beautiful cooperation between the two instead of competition. There could be shared standards between the two easily, perfect network cooperation and in any environment the two could cooperate perfectly with each other to make things much more pleasent for administrators and users.
Of course such a thing won’t happen for a few years at least, and since it’s my opinion it is subjective.
In a very real way, they already are working together – ReactOS has contributed to WINE in a very real way, and are also helping with things like wifi driver wrappers.
linux has no competitor, it’s free.
Reactos is a good project, it’s also free. And they COOPERATE with the (linux) wine developers if I remember right.
The kid’s got a point you know, the time they put in this project to become a windows compatible OS had probably better been spent in Wine, once this thing works linux is far better, and for drivers, well: ndiswrapper could use some help, but definitaly is already somewhere. The points ReactOS adressess are taken care of in Linux, and is in my point of view a better solution, but I suppose the devs of ReactOS disagree with this, I wish them good luck anyway, but it’s not gonna help us to get rid of the proprietary protocol windows mess.
Edited 2005-12-23 01:55
The ReactOS team works closely with the WINE developers, so progress they make with ReactOS benefits Linux users who prefer to use Linux, but need/want to run certain Windows applications. Even if the code they’re writing didn’t aid Linux users (which it does) I would still be glad to see them working on this project. Alternative OSes and open source code should be about choice and freedom, not about “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” Just because Linux is a very cool OS with a lot going for it, doesn’t mean that every person dissatisfied with Windows should be obligated to use/support Linux. There are the BSD derivatives, BeOS derivatives, Solaris, and OS X among others. I admire Linux and the philosophy behind it, but I don’t use it as my everyday OS. Personally, I use OS X because I want everything to just work, with no messing around.
As someone already said, we work very closely with wine. One of our devs works for codeweavers even. We sync tons fo code with WINE and submit patches back. NdisWrapper? Please look at their code and then look at our code, hmmm… Captive(the ntfs for linux driver), yeah, once again please compare the code.
Brandon
Maybe you’re right.
Only time will show.
But you could just as well say that BSD is a waste of time and they should work on linux. And all linux developers should only work on one distribution.
But people are no robots and will never work efficient like that. Because motivation is what matters, and if these people feel they want to make reactos, let em and look in amazement what they can do with all that motivation
This is fantastic — great work guys and gals!!
what kernel does this OS use? OR is the kernel also written from scratch?
ReactOS uses its own kernel, written from the ground up. It is NOT based on a Linux kernel.
First congratulations and best wishes for a fantastuc job. I’m wondering if ReactOS can be a host os for running VMPlayer ? I don’t have a spare machine to test it but a lean host OS can be very useful for running virtual guests.
Regards
Khalid
Wonder if any computer manufacturers will install this along with linux .
Gaming is a major reason people wont play with linux.
Linux distros that install this os also have a good shot at winning people over since linux has virtually game support.
When ReactOS becomes a viable alternative commercially it may be used as the default OS by some companies, though I doubt they’d start shipping two OSes by default.
“Wonder if any computer manufacturers will install this along with linux.”
A better question might be: Wonder if any manufacturer will install this rather than Linux? Anyone counting the number who ship PC’s pre-loaded with Linux?
I wish it has good and fast console support. Currently console/console apps in Windows are god damn slow compared to Unix. I mean speed of drawing and executing console apps. Run configure script in Windows (cygwin) and Linux, then compare speed of both.
That has nothing to do with console support per se. The speed of cygwin/MSYS and other GNU ported projects (gcc in particular) is dependant on other factors like process startup time. The programs usually spawn external processes and do that in not so efficient way (not to say that it’s easy to make it efficient in Windows because of all the backwards compatibility code)…
Well; IMHO anyone needs ReactOS or Linux or whatever…
Variety is the key… and variaety leads to freedom…
I love Linux and use it.. but I also have machines with other OSs, including BSD, Windows..
I disapprove the policy of Ms is so many aspects… but this does not mean that we wanna make a monopoly of Linux too, isn’t it ??? The ReactOS project is fantastic. If it becomes really usable it will make people to swith from the “Big Brother corrupted, inferior” Os we all know to another OS. This can only be positive, and will force Ms, Big Companies, Administrations, politicians etc. worldwide to a change in social and commercial behaviour!!! Hopefully!
I HAVE checked the “SharpeE” site , and I’ve found the project quite interesting, I wonder if is usable in ReaactOS right now??? It would improve the “Old Style-Poor-demodé” interface of ReactOS, which would push more peopme to try to use the OS. Maybe the responsables for the project have tried, or are interested in the SharpE Shell… A cooperation between the two projects could be interesting, in lmy view.
HAS anyone tried to install the SharpE Dhell in ReactOS?? and with what result ???
Angel–Fr@gzill@
> HAS anyone tried to install the SharpE Dhell in ReactOS?? and with what result ???
See http://www.sharpe-shell.org/forum_viewtopic.php?8.2745
I see…
I will have to wait for a time then… a pity!
Probably i will try to do it mayself in one or two versions more of ReactOS…
thanks anyway!
Personally a Win32-capable OS with a nicer UI, a good, games-capable VDM (sort of like the current one plus VDMsound) and an OS/2 subsystem that does more than run OS/2 1.x textmode programs would be quite nice. ReactOS looks like it could easily become just that and I appluaud it.
Because its about choice you idiot.
Have you been so caught up with Linux that you have forgotten what it stands for? The freedom to choose.
To offer a compatible Windows-clone without dealing with “activation” and “genuine advantage” schemes as well as having a great price…That’s what ReactOS brings to the table.
Once it offers everything that Win2k does, I’m switching those Windows boxes over.
Your absoulutly right man …
I answered his guy something similar in a former post called “Who needs Reactos when you’ve got Linux ???”
Angel–Fr@gzill@
I love Linux and I love ReactOS: is there anything wrong with that? I love every good OS, especially the open source ones.
Many of the ROS devs dont particularly relish the idea of a 16bit subsystem in ROS. Namely because MS intends to put the axe to the 16bit subsys on the newer and upcomming 64bit editions of its OS.
Many older DOS games do not play properly in a VDM anyway, and really need a virtualizer, like DosBox.
Speaking of DOSBox, I have heard reports that it works with current SVN trunk.
There was some discussion many many many moons ago about forking some DosBox code for an NTVDM, but I havent heard much about it since.