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The discovery of ReactOS was a discovery of pure accident. On the surface, this seemingly replicated Windows-like operating system is ripe with fantastic possibilities. Seriously, when we consider the ability to run Windows applications in a Windows-like environment, we feel that the user can finally be free of Windows... sort of.
It's Better Because It’s Not Windows? Before trying the OS, we made sure that all of the supplied documentation was followed very closely. Before the ISO file was even finished downloading, we were shocked at some of the following statements. Let's start off by considering the two of them.
While I applaud the efforts that the writers have expended on ReactOS, it's definitely not ready for prime-time. Yes, I'd heard of ReactOS for a while, but my recent upgrade in HD and simultaneous release of OpenSuSE 10.2 prompted me to go ahead, download the ReactOS ISO image, and give it a try. But not wanting to risk wiping out some valuable data on my primary machine, I chose to install it on an older one - a system that was okay to wipe clean.
Let me first say, yes, it's a small download. Unfortunately, the first machine I tried it on (a 433MHz Celeron) absolutely refused to boot properly. Okay, I'd had some difficulties with some other OSes on that motherboard (notably Damn Small Linux), but FreeDOS had installed without a hitch on that machine, as did LinuxXP. So I pulled the HD and put it in a box with a 1.6GHz Duron motherboard. This time it booted and installed very quickly. Unfortunately, upon first reboot, it was asking for drivers which it didn't seem to be able to find. Sure, I'd copied W98, WME, WNT, and WXP drivers to a CD, but it just didn't seem to be able to find them.
Okay, I thought, I'll just install them later. No such luck. The components were not high-end whiz-bang jobs, but pretty standard devices, common on most boards (example, RealTek ethernet) so I didn't expect any difficulties. Other than the audio driver, no other driver seemed to install. The "setup.exe" programs all failed. On a positive note, OpenOffice 2 installed beautifully. Unfortunately, word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics programs don't do a lot of good without a printer, and mine is connected on the ethernet that is in the house. No ethernet driver means no printer, so I didn't even bother to try to load the HP drivers.
So it's back to reloading my "legitimate" copy of Windows on my PC, using a tiny partition. I was so in hope of being able to toss Microsoft Windows, as about the only thing I use it for is utility programs, such as the one that allowed the HD to run at ATA133 instead of ATA100 speed. Everything else is on the Linux side.
Perhaps in another year or so, this product will have evolved for me to give it another try. I'm not writing it off yet. But I found it not ready enough for me to trust it with anything more valuable than playing with it as a curiousity right now. Perhaps, in the future, the designers might consider releasing it as a "barebones" version (OS & GUI) and a "usable" version, with Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, The GIMP, and a few other programs thrown in. Now THAT (assuming the hardware drivers worked) would be worthwhile.
Best of luck to the folks working on ReactOS. I'll check back later.
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Let me first say, yes, it's a small download. Unfortunately, the first machine I tried it on (a 433MHz Celeron) absolutely refused to boot properly. Okay, I'd had some difficulties with some other OSes on that motherboard (notably Damn Small Linux), but FreeDOS had installed without a hitch on that machine, as did LinuxXP. So I pulled the HD and put it in a box with a 1.6GHz Duron motherboard. This time it booted and installed very quickly. Unfortunately, upon first reboot, it was asking for drivers which it didn't seem to be able to find. Sure, I'd copied W98, WME, WNT, and WXP drivers to a CD, but it just didn't seem to be able to find them.
Okay, I thought, I'll just install them later. No such luck. The components were not high-end whiz-bang jobs, but pretty standard devices, common on most boards (example, RealTek ethernet) so I didn't expect any difficulties. Other than the audio driver, no other driver seemed to install. The "setup.exe" programs all failed. On a positive note, OpenOffice 2 installed beautifully. Unfortunately, word processors, spreadsheets, and graphics programs don't do a lot of good without a printer, and mine is connected on the ethernet that is in the house. No ethernet driver means no printer, so I didn't even bother to try to load the HP drivers.
So it's back to reloading my "legitimate" copy of Windows on my PC, using a tiny partition. I was so in hope of being able to toss Microsoft Windows, as about the only thing I use it for is utility programs, such as the one that allowed the HD to run at ATA133 instead of ATA100 speed. Everything else is on the Linux side.
Perhaps in another year or so, this product will have evolved for me to give it another try. I'm not writing it off yet. But I found it not ready enough for me to trust it with anything more valuable than playing with it as a curiousity right now. Perhaps, in the future, the designers might consider releasing it as a "barebones" version (OS & GUI) and a "usable" version, with Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird, The GIMP, and a few other programs thrown in. Now THAT (assuming the hardware drivers worked) would be worthwhile.
Best of luck to the folks working on ReactOS. I'll check back later.