67 specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

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dizt3mp3r
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67 specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by dizt3mp3r »

If anyone says, "what's the point in ReactOS, I have Windows, why would I want ReactOS instead?" I give them this list:

Note: The list starts with my own personal desires and then matures into more of a wishlist with reasons supplied by the community.

1. Safe browsing in a virtual ReactOS sandbox (Firefox)
2. A platform for development using legacy environments (VB6)
3. A platform for widget desktop development and packaging (Yahoo Widget Engine)
4. A platform for graphical design (Photoshop CS ver 8.0 - the oldest and still the best)
5. A platform that I can theme fully without patching.
6. A platform that I can change the underlying o/s fonts, colours without the GUI denying me this capability.
7. A platform I can bundle and distribute with my own customisations - a ReactOS distro.
8. A platform that I can use multiple instances of for testing.
9. A platform that I can build into any x86/AMD64 computer by default.
10. No licensing restrictions
11. Full DOS gaming under NTVDM.
12. All/most older/current 32bit Windows apps should just function.
13. All/most older/current 32bit Windows drivers should just function.
14. Access to all legacy apps that stopped working under NT6+
15. ReactOS is open source, so we have full access to the source code if required for bug-fixing or even just for analysis. Helps others determine what ReactOS and Windows are both trying to do.
16. Real support from a dedicated and growing ReactOS community, you can actually report bugs and obtain feedback!
17. Real support from the Windows community too for all apps/driver problems, at the very least for comparison purposes.
18. Documentation will exist for ReactOS and that documentation will apply also to Windows, it will complement existing Windows documentation and fill the holes for that functionality which is hidden by Microsoft and that does not already exist. More Windows documentation is always good!
19. Escape from Microsoft's eternal UI redesign - controls, options, everything are right back where I want them to be.
20. Freedom from forced obsolescence by design, being forced by MS to abandon useful software.
21. Freedom to use the o/s of my choice without abandoning my prior knowledge and experience.
22. There are no restrictions with regard to functionality added or removed from the different home/professional versions, there are no crippled versions!
23. It is free of DRM restrictions.
24. Gaining an old and familiar desktop environment - see 19.
25. Gaining an o/s that is quicker to boot, much slimmer with regard to footprint, and much more efficient in operation.
26. It is free, completely! No licence costs for multiple servers. Multiple instances cost nothing.
27. Bug fixing - ReactOS is open source. The code is reviewed by MANY eyes and bugs are caught and fixed, rather than ignored and buried.
28. No metro apps bundled by default that consume more resources than needed.
29. No possibility of unwanted or undocumented telemetry data-mining your system, ReactOS will not expose your data thus also saving bandwidth.
30. The ability to port an NT-compatible OS to hypervisors with paravirtualizing capabilities.
31. Ability to compile the source code and know how an NT compatible system actually works, or at the very least, get an idea of how it works.
32. NSA backdoors less likely due to peer review of the open source codebase allowing monitoring and quick fixing. The code is reviewed by MANY eyes and security flaws are caught and fixed, rather than ignored and buried.
33. Will be able to support many different types of Windows filesystems. Will run FAT32 and NTFS in kernel mode as well as non-native types such as BTRF and ReiserFS, will support CDFS, VFD, UDF as well as network file systems.
34. I want an o/s that does not complain and stop booting when I change the hardware beyond what it thinks should be in my PC.
35. No need ever to call Microsoft to re-enable software I have already purchased. ReactOS will never call home to check whether your licence is valid.
36. Has the potential for compilation to other hardware platforms and not just x86/AMD64 but potentially ARM, PowerPC &c leading to a multi-platform NT-compatible o/s!
37. Extends the capabilities of XP/2003 to encompass newer technologies that were not present in the original versions of these o/s.
38. No unwanted advertising on various o/s components (login screen, live tiles &c)
39. Allows creation of specific distros, stripped down or focussed for gaming purposes, themeing, server operation, POS systems &c.
40. A solution for managing ESX hosts from the Linux desktop platform. Creating lightweight ReactOS Virtual Machines in VBox and installing vSphere Client.
41. Fast installation times - sub 10 mins.
42. NT6 application compatibility allowing you to run Vista/Win7 (NT6) desktop programs on an NT5 based system.
43. Bundling ReactOS as a virtual platform with legacy Windows applications that no longer run under later versions of Windows to allow continued access to legacy programs and/or data (i.e. you compile your code and distribute your binary with a complete o/s for live running or test purposes).
44. To escape from the situation where a Windows update can brick or make your hardware unstable due to the bundling of incompatible microcode/firmware.
45. To avoid the situation where due to a BIOS reflash your Windows licence key is blocked and cannot be changed, even by Microsoft...see 34.
46. To allow vastly improved configuration practices such as the separation of the user profile from the o/s system drive.
47. Freedom from forced hardware obsolescence by design, MS making useful hardware obsolete by dropping support for existing drivers - see 20.
48. Freedom from Microsoft-enforced driver updates overwriting user-selected drivers causing hardware instability or failure to operate.
49. Freedom from deliberately poor design choices such as the premature opening of the desktop well before the rest of the o/s is actually ready to operate.
50. No hidden and undocumented APIs that only Microsoft and its partners can take advantage of.
51. ReactOS won't make a previously licensed version of the o/s into an unlicensed one overnight as can happen on Windows without warning, without any changes being made to the machine... see 34.
52. ReactOS won't prevent you from installing your software the way you prefer, will never force you to use the ReactOS appstore under some Unified ReactOS Framework as Microsoft initially intended to do, restricting you to UWP apps only, forbidding Win32 apps altogether.
53: NT6 added restrictions to the "Program files" and "Program files (x86)" directories and removed the ability to edit and view (?) configuration files files within these folders causing incompatibilities with some programs designed for NT5. ReactOS being compatible with 2003 should provide access to these folders.
54. ReactOS being compatible with Windows 2003 will hopefully implement facilities that were present in 2003 and subsequently removed in NT6. Specifically within Explorer, a fully functioning "open with" menu option that remembers all possible associated and useful programs, the ability to display animated images on the active desktop and control and consistency over how audio and associated filetypes are displayed and ordered.
55. ReactOS being compatible with Windows 2003 will implement a non-indexed search facility that includes date ranges, sub-folders &c that also highlights what folder is currently being searched.
56. ReactOS being compatible with Windows 2003 will not implement a "file discovery" phase prior to copying/deletion/moving operations on folders containing thousands of files/sub-folders, avoiding the problem where an operation does not start due to the sheer volume of files being 'discovered'.
57. ReactOS being compatible with Windows 2003 will return the ability to adjust sound output to mono/stereo, allow adjustment of volume per speaker/channel and restore sound broadcast to multiple end points.
58. ReactOS won't nag at you when installing your software the way you prefer, will not state "this software is not certified to run Windows, would you prefer to try again from the Windows store?" or some other nag screen designed to stop you from doing it the Microsoft way - see item 52 above.
59. ReactOS will never disable local accounts forcing you to sign up and give Microsoft your details in order to access to the o/s.
60. ReactOS will not install or re-install unwanted software against your will (Candy Crush, OneDrive...) - see 28.
61: Development of ReactOS helps other projects, notably WINE, ReactOS being a major contributor to Wine's code base.
62. ReactOS will not compulsorily "reboot in 5 minutes" after performing a normal administrative task such as resetting network drivers.
63. ReactOS will not arbitrarily reboot your system during worktime just because it has recently updated your system.
64. ReactOS will not arbitrarily force you to update your system just because you have logged into another account...
65. ReactOS will not have scrollbars that are invisible until you find them... (related to item 100.)
66. Provides a Windows-like demonstration environment that is freely available for installation on any PC.
67. Hardware drivers will not need mandatory code signing from Microsoft in order to operate within ReactOS.

There is now a page on the REACTOS WIKI that expands on the list above, you can add help by modifying that list yourself.
The page is here: https://reactos.org/wiki/Reasons_for_ReactOS

If you do add to that list let me know and if it is a valid reason I'll add it to the list here too.

I thought about adding this to the list:
100. ReactOS will never have an interface that triggers user-despondency and self-mutilation

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Last edited by dizt3mp3r on Fri Oct 21, 2022 9:34 pm, edited 72 times in total.
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milon
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by milon »

27. It's open source. The code is reviewed by MANY eyes and bugs / security flaws are caught and fixed, rather than ignored and buried.
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

28. No metro apps that consume more resources than needed.
29. No telemetry that data mines your system and saves bandwidth.

This list is great, but I don't know how many Windows people actually care about stuff like this. You have to remember that majority of people that are on Windows are people that aren't too experience with tech stuff or just plain old don't care about it at all (like telemetry, open-source, old hardware compatibility, etc).
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

30. Can run on many different types of filesystems, since NTFS hasn't really been updated since XP times.

Most of them aren't implanted, yet, but it is also a good point to bring up.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by dizt3mp3r »

List updated above.
Last edited by dizt3mp3r on Mon Jun 12, 2017 12:27 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
Murmur
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by Murmur »

I work as a Windows Administrator and the idea that we can have a ReactOS server interact with windows desktop clients would be of a great interest to me.

-Think of being able to replace windows servers which cost a great deal in maintenance fees with a free alternative.

-Being able to bundle ROS with software (Installing up a huge software that takes a long time to setup could be easily just installed on a pc pre-setup such as a web server / wordpress)

-Having a server which is lightweight and can handle a single task such as managing a SQL database with little overhead.

-Being able to have a free VM when you only want to host a single program on it such as legacy software, test environment or tools.
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by Blackcrack »

Murmur wrote:I work as a Windows Administrator and the idea that we can have a ReactOS server interact with windows desktop clients would be of a great interest to me.

-Think of being able to replace windows servers which cost a great deal in maintenance fees with a free alternative.
+1

WinXP it is in this case re-programmed thru the Programmer Community up to WinNT server 2003 if i not wrong..
unter GPL2 fully without MS Code over a clean room.. because it is give diffrent possibility to a goal .
Murmur wrote: -Being able to bundle ROS with software (Installing up a huge software that takes a long time to setup could be easily just installed on a pc pre-setup such as a web server / wordpress)

-Having a server which is lightweight and can handle a single task such as managing a SQL database with little overhead.

-Being able to have a free VM when you only want to host a single program on it such as legacy software, test environment or tools.
this works later like in XP with an OEM-Folder where it is later possible for
silenceinstall /unattended installs what the peoples whant..
the whole.. or the most setups it is able for use /silence, /qn and /s and /quite swiches
for let it installes in the installation, my self have use the nlite and have build up
my own XP installs, wthis schould works like i guess, in Reactos too..

You can send every time paches and so on..
and make big advertising for ROS at your Colleagues and other people,
the Reactos mus be made known by the Peoples and other programmers
in your environment/sphere :)

best regards
Blacky
JHKr0md1yk
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by JHKr0md1yk »

my €0,02.

-The ability to port an NT based OS to other platforms, including hypervisors with paravirtualizing capabilities, without having to wait for the Redmond guys to do it themselves. Keep an eye out on OpenPOWER and RISC-V; either one or both ISAs show great promise and might acually be the next big thing(s) in the CPU ISA landscape if the Intel Management Engine or AMD AGESA practices get out of hand.

-No hidden backdoors (NSAkey anyone?).
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by Blackcrack »

JHKr0md1yk wrote: -No hidden backdoors (NSAkey anyone?).
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Open Source under GPL :mrgreen: self-talking ;)

best regards
Blacky
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

- Ability to use open-source drivers from AMD/Nvidia/etc that Microsoft/Windows has refused to do.
JHKr0md1yk
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by JHKr0md1yk »

Blackcrack wrote:
JHKr0md1yk wrote: -No hidden backdoors (NSAkey anyone?).
:mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Open Source under GPL :mrgreen: self-talking ;)

best regards
Blacky
While the point in question might be already implicitly included in the GPL2 FOSS software benefit bullet point, I felt it being worthy enough to be brought up as a standalone point, especially in this age of digital espionage.

No offense taken though ;) .
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by Blackcrack »

:D hihi, np.

best regards
Blacky
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by ROCKNROLLKID »

- Being able to compile the source code and know how NT actually works, or at the very least, get an idea of how it works.

Since Windows is the number 1 OS, maybe people could be curious how NT works to begin with.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: My specific reasons for wanting ReactOS:

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Added.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
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