ReactOS has just released version 0.3.0 RC2 of their open source Microsoft Windows-compatible operating system. They are also now 94% finished with the code audit.
The second issue of the ReactOS status reports was published today by Aleksey Bragin (ReactOS's project coordinator). It's a general overview of the last 6 months of project's progress, with some additional information and future outlook. The document is available in .doc, .rtf, Word 2003 .xml, .txt, .odt, and .pdf.
NeoSmart has reviewed ReactOS. "ReactOS is a brilliant idea at heart, and it has come a long way in the past couple of years. It is integral for there to be more than one choice for alternate operating systems, since Windows isn’t the best and Linux isn’t for everyone." And yes, there are screenshots to blindely stare at too.
ReactOS 0.3.0 RC1 has been released. Get it from the download page; the changelog doesn't seem up yet, so no information on any improvements. As for the code audit, it is at 90.5% complete. Read the associated Wiki page for more information.
At its core, OSNews is a site driven by interesting content about alternative Operating Systems. As such, we're introducing "OSNews Alternative OS Contest," a contest aimed at getting back to our roots and generating interest and publicity in alternative Operating Systems. Read on for the rules & prizes.
ReactOS developer Ged Murphy posts on ReactOS's blog website: "Ok, well I’m gonna start blogging, considering that’s what we set this thing up for. This, my first ReactOS blog, will attempt to shed some light on the audit process answering the many questions which commonly appear on IRC. Firstly, why has the audit progress bar been stuck on 15% for the past few weeks?"
ReactOS released news today regarding the project's status, recent confusion and future development. The news item is slightly confusing in itself though, but the the gist is this: there is no code inside the ReactOS SVN repository that has been directly pasted from Windows source code. However, it might be that some people had access to Windows source code and used it as inspiration-- these developers should mark their code as 'dangerous', and these sections will then be audited by a 'clean' person. Currently, 15% has been audited and can be declared 'clean'.
"Among the many free software projects out there, I think ReactOS is particularly worth some discussion. This is an effort to create a complete, clean room re-implementation of the entire Microsoft Windows NT operating system. Here is why I think this project is important."
"There has been a lot of talk about possible tainted code in ReactOS
and or developers that had access to leaked Microsoft source code.
This has caused a lot of speculation about the future of the ReactOS
Project. I'm going to try to put those fears to rest and explain what has been going on and where we are going to go from here. There was one issue that started this discussion and it related to clean-room reverse engineering of certain code in ReactOS."
People visiting the ReactOS website today were in for a shock. "Accusations have been made by some of ReactOS' own developers about certain parts of ReactOS code. The project is suspending development pending legal council. The project will resume once the issue has been rectified." I could not find any more information, as the links to the mailinglist archives are dead.
"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."
"Welcome to Issue 7 of the ReactOS Weekly Newsletter, as persistant as a Jehovah's Witness. This week, I'll be taking a look at the NDK used by the ReactOS developers, covering WINE 0.9.2, and detailing the latest SVN activity."
ReactOS is an open-source Operating System designed to be compatible with Windows NT. Version 0.2.8 sees the culmination of months of work since 0.2.7, and sees the project coming closer to the long-awaited 0.3.0 release.
The ReactOS website has been completely redesigned. That in itself won't get your panties in a twist, however, the screenshots section might. They show just how far ReactOS has come: OpenOffice.org 1.1.4, MS Office 2003's setup, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, Flash Player, and much more. Note that some of those apps will only run in the latest SVN version.
ReactOS 0.2.7 has been released. The ReactOS homepage hasn't been updated yet to reflect the release, but you can download it from their SourceForge page. You can get a live-CD, install CD and a Qemu-image. Update:screenshots.
I would like to announce the arrival of a newsletter for the ReactOS operating system. It covers and summarizes the activities on IRC, the mailing lists, and CVS. Splash will come out on a roughly bi-weekly basis, sometimes weekly.
Some have claimed to release a product called Ekush a Windows replacement Operating System. The problem is that it uses code from ReactOS, Wine, Qemu and Freetype without obeying the GPL or LGPL that ReactOS and Wine use as their license.