4 ms·

ReactOS Shows Improved Stability and 64-Bit Support at Chemnitz Linux Days 2026

70 points by jeditobe 6mo ago

jeditobe 6mo ago
Photos and videos from the event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LrSoM4qNecdmpqh6 https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LrSoM4qNecdmpqh6
MORPHOICES 6mo ago
[dead]
haolez 6mo ago
On a side note, _in the context of workstations_, I wonder if a hypothetical OS that reimplements the Windows APIs (like ReactOS, but with perfect modern hardware support) would be better for end users than a Linux distro with a modern DE. In the past, this hypothetical OS would be a revolution. But I feel that, in recent years, this gap is not as big anymore and Linux supports way more apps than in the past. Such an OS might even not be relevant anymore, even if it exists. Do I have a blind spot on this? Is there value in having a "working ReactOS" as of 2026 _for workstations_?
- bombcar 6mo ago
  SteamOS but for more than just games, perhaps?
- seszett 6mo ago
  Wouldn't that just be Linux with Wine? It would be less effort to implement further APIs/fix incompatibilities on Wine rather than reimplement a new OS from scratch.
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
- Philpax 6mo ago
  You may be interested in https://loss32.org/ https://loss32.org/
  - haolez 6mo ago
    This is pretty damn cool.
- flohofwoe 6mo ago
  IMHO with a couple of fixes which allow Linux+Wine to better simulate some specific lowlevel Windows behaviours (like this one recently in the news: https://www.xda-developers.com/wine-11-rewrites-linux-runs-windows-games-speed-gains/ https://www.xda-developers.com/wine-11-rewrites-linux-runs-w...)... a Linux distro with a 'Windows personality' (e.g. running Windows Explorer as desktop) should be pretty much indistinguishable from native Windows. In the end it's all about driver diversity and quality though...
  - dmitrygr 6mo ago
    > should be pretty much indistinguishable from native Windows PRO: less telemetry CON: less battery life
- aleph_minus_one 6mo ago
  > Is there value in having a "working ReactOS" as of 2026 _for workstations_? The ideas behind the NT kernels are much deeper than what many Linux fans think of it. Just to give some examples: - the NT kernel is build around supporting multiple subsystems, even though currently only "1.5" are in active use: the Windows subsystem and WSL1 (the latter has for many purposes been replaced by WSL2) - the NT kernel is not built around "everything is a file" (a very leaky and very incompletely implemented abstraction that is used in GNU/Linux); instead the central concept is the handle - the I/O in NT kernel is built around the idea that the API is "completion-oriented" instead of being "readiness-oriented" as in Linux. This manifests in concepts like I/O Completion Ports (IOCPs), Overlapped I/O, ... Since this is a deeply technical topic, I refer to https://speakerdeck.com/trent/parallelism-and-concurrency-with-python https://speakerdeck.com/trent/parallelism-and-concurrency-wi... (the most important information is in the backup slides (slides 43-54)).
  - mghackerlady 6mo ago
    For a better implementation of everything being a file, Plan 9 and inferno come pretty close to literally everything being a file.
  - MisterTea 6mo ago
    - the NT kernel is not built around "everything is a file" ... instead the central concept is the handle File descriptor, handle. Potayto, potahto.
    - aleph_minus_one 6mo ago
      > File descriptor, handle. Potayto, potahto. Under Windows, a lot more concepts are handles than just files, directories, symbolic links, pipes, mail slots, ..., e.g. - processes, threads - synchronization objects (mutex, semaphore) - events (CreateEventEx) - I/O Completion Ports - Sections (ZwCreateSection) and Partitions (https://www.geoffchappell.com/studies/windows/km/ntoskrnl/api/mm/partition/index.htm https://www.geoffchappell.com/studies/windows/km/ntoskrnl/ap... ) for memory - waitable timers - GUI components (HWND)
wg0 6mo ago
I have the feeling that this OS might become to Windows what Linux became to Unix.
- guerrilla 6mo ago
  Well, I think we need that considering the directions MS wants to go in. Windows isn't even usable for the people who don't hate it anymore.
- mghackerlady 6mo ago
  People have hoped that for a long while but sadly I don't ever see that happening
nix0n 6mo ago
Driver support seems to me like it could be an advantage over Linux. Does anyone here know the current state of installing a browser on ReactOS?
- mghackerlady 6mo ago
  I think it has WINEs browser which is webkit based
  - ForLoveOfCats 6mo ago
    Wine's recreation of MSHTML is based on Gecko from Firefox https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Gecko https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Gecko
mrbluecoat 6mo ago
> Of course it BSODed a few times, but a simple reboot later I was able to continue. Not sure what concerns me more, the "BSOD" or "Of course".
- prmoustache 6mo ago
  its goal is to be a fully compatible version of NT5 no?
dmitrygr 6mo ago
ReactOS is a labour of love and it is heartwarming to see it progress. For more than a decade I lived with the dream of switching to it fulltime from Windows on my personal hardware. Alas, it was not to be, as apple silicon appeared and provided me with an immediate good-battery-life-and-not-Microsoft option.

70 points by jeditobe 6mo ago

Photos and videos from the event: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LrSoM4qNecdmpqh6 https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LrSoM4qNecdmpqh6

MORPHOICES 6mo ago

[dead]

haolez 6mo ago

On a side note, _in the context of workstations_, I wonder if a hypothetical OS that reimplements the Windows APIs (like ReactOS, but with perfect modern hardware support) would be better for end users than a Linux distro with a modern DE. In the past, this hypothetical OS would be a revolution. But I feel that, in recent years, this gap is not as big anymore and Linux supports way more apps than in the past. Such an OS might even not be relevant anymore, even if it exists. Do I have a blind spot on this? Is there value in having a "working ReactOS" as of 2026 _for workstations_?

bombcar 6mo ago
SteamOS but for more than just games, perhaps?
seszett 6mo ago
Wouldn't that just be Linux with Wine? It would be less effort to implement further APIs/fix incompatibilities on Wine rather than reimplement a new OS from scratch.
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
Philpax 6mo ago
You may be interested in https://loss32.org/ https://loss32.org/
- haolez 6mo ago
  This is pretty damn cool.
flohofwoe 6mo ago
IMHO with a couple of fixes which allow Linux+Wine to better simulate some specific lowlevel Windows behaviours (like this one recently in the news: https://www.xda-developers.com/wine-11-rewrites-linux-runs-windows-games-speed-gains/ https://www.xda-developers.com/wine-11-rewrites-linux-runs-w...)... a Linux distro with a 'Windows personality' (e.g. running Windows Explorer as desktop) should be pretty much indistinguishable from native Windows. In the end it's all about driver diversity and quality though...
- dmitrygr 6mo ago
  > should be pretty much indistinguishable from native Windows PRO: less telemetry CON: less battery life
aleph_minus_one 6mo ago
> Is there value in having a "working ReactOS" as of 2026 _for workstations_? The ideas behind the NT kernels are much deeper than what many Linux fans think of it. Just to give some examples: - the NT kernel is build around supporting multiple subsystems, even though currently only "1.5" are in active use: the Windows subsystem and WSL1 (the latter has for many purposes been replaced by WSL2) - the NT kernel is not built around "everything is a file" (a very leaky and very incompletely implemented abstraction that is used in GNU/Linux); instead the central concept is the handle - the I/O in NT kernel is built around the idea that the API is "completion-oriented" instead of being "readiness-oriented" as in Linux. This manifests in concepts like I/O Completion Ports (IOCPs), Overlapped I/O, ... Since this is a deeply technical topic, I refer to https://speakerdeck.com/trent/parallelism-and-concurrency-with-python https://speakerdeck.com/trent/parallelism-and-concurrency-wi... (the most important information is in the backup slides (slides 43-54)).
- mghackerlady 6mo ago
  For a better implementation of everything being a file, Plan 9 and inferno come pretty close to literally everything being a file.
- MisterTea 6mo ago
  - the NT kernel is not built around "everything is a file" ... instead the central concept is the handle File descriptor, handle. Potayto, potahto.
  - aleph_minus_one 6mo ago
    > File descriptor, handle. Potayto, potahto. Under Windows, a lot more concepts are handles than just files, directories, symbolic links, pipes, mail slots, ..., e.g. - processes, threads - synchronization objects (mutex, semaphore) - events (CreateEventEx) - I/O Completion Ports - Sections (ZwCreateSection) and Partitions (https://www.geoffchappell.com/studies/windows/km/ntoskrnl/api/mm/partition/index.htm https://www.geoffchappell.com/studies/windows/km/ntoskrnl/ap... ) for memory - waitable timers - GUI components (HWND)

wg0 6mo ago

I have the feeling that this OS might become to Windows what Linux became to Unix.

guerrilla 6mo ago
Well, I think we need that considering the directions MS wants to go in. Windows isn't even usable for the people who don't hate it anymore.
mghackerlady 6mo ago
People have hoped that for a long while but sadly I don't ever see that happening

nix0n 6mo ago

Driver support seems to me like it could be an advantage over Linux. Does anyone here know the current state of installing a browser on ReactOS?

mghackerlady 6mo ago
I think it has WINEs browser which is webkit based
- ForLoveOfCats 6mo ago
  Wine's recreation of MSHTML is based on Gecko from Firefox https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Gecko https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Gecko

mrbluecoat 6mo ago

> Of course it BSODed a few times, but a simple reboot later I was able to continue. Not sure what concerns me more, the "BSOD" or "Of course".

prmoustache 6mo ago
its goal is to be a fully compatible version of NT5 no?

dmitrygr 6mo ago

ReactOS is a labour of love and it is heartwarming to see it progress. For more than a decade I lived with the dream of switching to it fulltime from Windows on my personal hardware. Alas, it was not to be, as apple silicon appeared and provided me with an immediate good-battery-life-and-not-Microsoft option.