Reactos: A real alternative to Windows?

Reactos (short form: Ros) is one Open source operating system, which is based on Windows NT/XP in its optics and functionality. In contrast to many other replicas, it is not based on Linux, but was constructed from scratch. Due to compatibility with the Windows NT Kernel, software and drivers of Windows NT and the direct successors should be used. We took a closer look at the operating system and show from our experiences, Whether Reactos can also prove itself as a Windows alternative in everyday use.

1. What is Reactos?

Reactos is a free operating system that is subject to the provisions of the GPL and is based on Windows's architecture. The aim of the open source project is to compatibility (binary compatibility) to Windows itself as extensive as possiblewhich means that the drivers and applications can be used without additional support. Reactos is designed for 32 and 64-bit systems And supports all processor types from Intel Pentium.

The kernel is largely with NT 5.2. compatibleThis roughly corresponds to the Windows Server 2003 stand Applications, on the other hand, are based on the newer versionsIn the end, the focus is also on compatibility with Windows Server 2003.

For the implementation of Reactos, the development team worked closely with other projects (e.g. Wine or Haiku for the USB drivers), such as special programs, such as Applications for configurationsbut were completely rewritten.

Good to know: Reactos was designed for the highest security requirements. It builds on a Windows NT architecture and therefore has, for example, a flexible safety model based on lists for access rights. In addition, it does not share common security gaps with other operating systems such as Windows XP.

2. First steps with Reactos

In this section we look at the Installation, configuration and functionality from ReactoS once more precisely.

2.1. The installation of Reactos

The system requirements of Reactos are very reduced compared to Windows: the installation requires Only at least 500 MB free hard disk memory and 96 MB RAM.

For comparison: In Windows 10, 16 GB (32 bit) or 32 GB (64 bit) are required free space on the hard disk and a whopping 1 GB (32 bit) or 2 GB (64 bit) on RAM for installation and operation.

In addition to download for the installation CD, you will also find various system images on the manufacturer's side for VMware, VirtualBox or Qemu. With the live CD you can also test the operating system without installation.

For this demonstration we start the Reactos ISO on a 32-bit virtual box machine. In the first step of installation, navigate to the desired language with the arrow keys and confirm your selection with «Enter“.

In the next window, click again «Enter“To continue with the installation. Would you like to have one instead Repair existing Reactos InstallationPress on «R«. About the button»T“You can, on the other hand, Show license. let.

Reactos is still located In an early stage of developmentso you will receive a warning in the next step that certain restrictions can (can) exist. Because of this we recommend Reactos exclusively for test purposes and not as a daily-use operating system to use. We do not let that put off and set the installation with «Enter“ fort.

In the next window you will receive a summary of the current device settings. Confirm with «Enter“To get to the partitioning settings. There are no changes for our demonstration here, and we can use the installation with a new“Enter“Just continue.

Alternatively, you also have the option here (analogous to Windows) „D“ to delete an existing partition, a primary («P«), Expanded («E«) Or logical partition («L«).

Now select the type for the file system. In the new version of Reactos, BTRFS is now also available in addition to FAT, which is very common, especially under Linux. Confirm with «Enter“To format the partition.

The required installation files are copied into a directory on the hard disk that you can define in the next step. In our example we keep the default Reacts.

Reactos is now installed on the virtual machine. In our example, the process took less than three minutes.

The installation is almost done. Finally, define where the boot loader is to be installed and confirm one last time by entering. After a restart (In our case of the virtual machine) Reactos is already ready for use.

2.2. The setup and configuration of Reactos

After a restart he greets us Setup Wizard von Reactos in the usual Windows manner. Click on «Further“To get to the settings for language and keyboard.

We already know the next steps from Windows: In the further steps you can have one User and computer names as well as an administrator password Set, set the time zone, date and time, choose a layout and finally specify whether your computer is one Working group or a domain should be added. End the setup assistant with a click on «Ready“.

If there are missing drivers, you can now install them with the help of the hardware assistant. Choose «Install the driver automatically“If the operating system is to search for the right drivers or click on“Install the driver of a specific directory“If you want to search for the file yourself.

2.3. Working with Reactos

At first glance he seems Desktop in Reactos like an early version of NT and thus exudes a touch of nostalgia. He uses the functions of the «Shell32» library and thus allows some comfort, as is known from Windows. That includes that Opening folders by double -clicking Or the allocation of individual symbols for individual directories.

Die The first point of contact is the application manager. Although some basic programs such as Paint, an editor or the ReactoS entry prompt are already installed, a browser can be searched for in vain, for example.

The application maker corresponds to the common Linux standardsbut has little to do with Linux itself: here you can only find Open source programs that demonstrably compatible with ReactoS are. Among them are known names such as Notepad ++, GIMP, LibreOffice or CCleaner, but these are usually older versions.

We have tested the Mozilla Firefox and LibreOffice as a test. We have that *.exe file downloaded from the application manager And installed on our reactos by double -clicking. This worked without difficulty in both programs, the desktop symbols were created and Add the corresponding menu entries.

In the new version of Reactos the focus was also more on the gaming: Despite many improvements, the system is still not stable enough for current Windows games, but older versions of game classics such as Grand Theft Auto, Command & Conquer or Sim City are well got to run. In most cases, unfortunately, the sound is missing.

Tipp: You can make Direct 3D settings via the WINED3D options in the Control Panel. There are several options for choice, the mode of action of which is most comparable to DirectX 8.

3. Conclusion: Is Reactos a real Windows alternative?

Due to the alpha status, the current version of Reactos is not yet fully developed in their functionalitywhich makes a final conclusion difficult. Windows compatibility does it in any case Interesting for a large part of the PC users. For daily work, the system is due to our experience through the still occurring Bugs and uncertainties At the moment, however, not yet suitable. But should the developers make it to bring a reasonably stable beta version onto the marketthe project could certainly establish itself as a serious competition with the currently prevailing operating systems such as Windows, Linux and Mac.

(26 votes, average: 4,20 out of 5)

Loading…