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I love the idea of ReactOS, but my guess is that, in the current conditions, either it will get nowhere, or it will take an extremely long time to get anywhere

I love the idea of ReactOS, but my guess is that, in the current conditions, either it will get nowhere, or it will take an extremely long time to get anywhere significant (that is, not a niche product). I've followed all the newsletters and it feels like the development it's always a somewhat working rewrite on top of a somewhat working rewrite on top of a somewhat working rewrite. The way to go, while it appears small, it's the last 10% which is a 200% in practice. It's pretty clear from the development that is's an excessively large project for a small, changing, group of hobby developers. Obviously, I hope things will change. I'd really like a free Windows XP in virtual environments.

vxNsr 13y ago
I bet in about 10 years Microsoft will release XP as a free product, without support, kinda like what adobe did with cs2
- wvenable 13y ago
  No. If it wasn't for security issues, that might be a possibility. But Microsoft would not want an inferior product out there giving them a bad name.
- zokier 13y ago
  Adobe did not release CS2 as a free product.
zokier 13y ago
> I'd really like a free Windows XP in virtual environments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_Mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_M... "Windows XP Mode is available free of charge to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate"
- pizza234 13y ago
  I understand this "offer" from Microsoft, or maybe "strategy", but that's not a replacement for an ideally stable ReactOS. As somebody else pointed out, security is a primary concern. Once Windows XP support is phased out, the product is gone. Installing it is going to be a serious security risk, unless very specific cases, e.g. machines disconnected from internet. Of course, that's not the only reason; Microsoft will stop selling licenses, then what about installing it in VMs on a Linux host? An O/S is part of an ecosystem. Once it's phased out, if it's closed source, it's dead unless it's taken over by a third party (see O/S 2).

vxNsr 13y ago

I bet in about 10 years Microsoft will release XP as a free product, without support, kinda like what adobe did with cs2

wvenable 13y ago
No. If it wasn't for security issues, that might be a possibility. But Microsoft would not want an inferior product out there giving them a bad name.
zokier 13y ago
Adobe did not release CS2 as a free product.

zokier 13y ago

> I'd really like a free Windows XP in virtual environments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_Mode http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Virtual_PC#Windows_XP_M... "Windows XP Mode is available free of charge to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate"

pizza234 13y ago
I understand this "offer" from Microsoft, or maybe "strategy", but that's not a replacement for an ideally stable ReactOS. As somebody else pointed out, security is a primary concern. Once Windows XP support is phased out, the product is gone. Installing it is going to be a serious security risk, unless very specific cases, e.g. machines disconnected from internet. Of course, that's not the only reason; Microsoft will stop selling licenses, then what about installing it in VMs on a Linux host? An O/S is part of an ecosystem. Once it's phased out, if it's closed source, it's dead unless it's taken over by a third party (see O/S 2).