Page 1 of 1

ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2016 10:53 pm
by reactosuser7
Do ReactOS Team and Community guarantee that will ReactOS be more stable than Windows XP and Server 2003,
in the way that if does not need to to be reinstall as often as Windows XP needs?

And if one day it is possible to install and works well ReactOS on an ext4 filesystem, it does not need to be defrag
so often as Windows XP?


And fix problems presents in Windows XP like registry clean?

And possible fix NT faulty design if there are?

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 2:14 am
by middings
You want a guarantee? I believe the ReactOS team will work as hard as they want to toward the goal of producing a superior operating system that is API-compatible with a famous Microsoft product. I believe all of the project's written guarantees are in paragraphs 11 and 12 of the GPLv2 license.

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 4:12 am
by ROCKNROLLKID
My only wish is they keep it ultra lightweight (like it is now), while still offering future compatibility. But I guess as more features get added and all, this will probably change. It's only super lightweight now because it is only half finished.

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 6:07 am
by reactosuser7
At least it won´t be to reinstall so often as Windows XP, and will have better repair tool to avoid irreversible damage
to actual installation, that cause to reinstall. (When ReactOS beta or more will be ready).

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 9:45 am
by EmuandCo
Why do you ask so many questions no one will give you an answer to?! If you did not realize yet, we are still in Alpha stadium and our main aim is compatibility at first. Anything else is ZERO prioritiy right now

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Fri Nov 25, 2016 8:46 pm
by Z98
Breathe Daniel.

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 12:25 am
by EmuandCo
If you have a problem with my way of moderation, would you please PM me instead of posting in different threads? Thank you.

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:24 am
by PurpleGurl
reactosuser7 wrote:Do ReactOS Team and Community guarantee that will ReactOS be more stable than Windows XP and Server 2003,
in the way that if does not need to to be reinstall as often as Windows XP needs?

And if one day it is possible to install and works well ReactOS on an ext4 filesystem, it does not need to be defrag
so often as Windows XP?


And fix problems presents in Windows XP like registry clean?

And possible fix NT faulty design if there are?
Nothing is guaranteed. It is open source software created with mostly volunteer developers. At this point, we will be happy if it is as stable as either of those versions.

I don't know how feasible that ext4 would be as the main filesystem. It would be nice in the future if you had the option to install it that way at startup. If you don't want to have to defrag your drive, then you could install ROS on an SSD drive, assuming ROS properly supports TRIM.

Registry cleaning is not a problem. In most cases, the registry works best if you leave it alone. Since ROS has less components than Windows, and there are some that likely won't be added unless there is sufficient demand and someone is willing to code it in the appropriate languages, then there is less likelihood that certain bogus keys will be added. Windows installs with registry errors, IMHO, because they sell different releases of the same version that are geared to different users. When they cut things down to create a Basic Edition, they often just yank out files and maybe change some .INF files so the installer won't complain about the missing files, but still use the same seed registry. So the default registry is made for another edition of Windows of the same version. However, we only have one official edition of ROS as of yet, though we will have a Community Edition. Since we are not selling ROS or creating different editions for different segments, then this situation is less likely. If others start creating their own distros, or even forks, then they might run into registry bloat on a new install.

If you are talking about registry bloat from programs you add or install, well, that is beyond the scope of ReactOS. You could install your own solutions such as snapshot tools or tools that use forensic methods (dig for the registry keys inside the executables/DLLs and trace the software's logic to see what the program does when it gets installed), but this is not foolproof. Even if we were to add a snapshot type tool (beyond System Restore), I can see how it could get borked and cause more harm than good. For instance, what if you manage to install 2 programs at the same time? How will a snapshot tool know what belongs to whom?

One problem that Windows 2000 and XP have as far as I've seen is internal hive duplication in the USERS hive. Each time you do certain things, a new set is added. I've wanted to purge the old ones and delete the root of each unused set (and yes, I know about the other keys that control which sets are used for what), but it won't let you try it. By theory, a single user PC should only have 2 sets, the current user set and a backup set. Now, if you want to boot with last known good configuration, I think it copies the backup set to a new set and changes a key to tell Windows to get HKCU from a different base key in the USERS hive. HKCU is a virtual hive which remaps to a portion of the USERS hive. Other things that might cause it to create additional USERS sets include a repair install of Windows and adding additional user accounts. I've never seen it, but it could grow to have 99 user sets. Like I said, I know of no safe way to remove the redundant or dead user sets. In theory, you take the current one that is being used, copy it over the first entry if it isn't already the first entry, add a backup to the next one and set the registry keys found in another hive to use the first one as the current, the next one as LastKnownGood, and delete all the rest of the sets. Microsoft pretty much says not to bother.

If NT's design is faulty, then we likely won't be able to address that, since that would likely mean breaking compatibility. ReactOS' main "constitutional" or nonnegotiable stipulations are that it will run both 2003 Server software and drivers. If you want to change the kernel to some way you deem as better, then you likely introduce driver incompatibility. If you want to change the Win32 side of things too much, then you introduce software incompatibilities.

Re: ReactOS-better-than-WindowsXP

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2016 12:36 pm
by Smiley
reactosuser7 wrote:not need to to be reinstall as often as Windows XP needs?
Often? I have a 8 year old installation of xp that still run properly. Of course, the last years I use it less but it still works. It all comes down to how you use the OS and what kind of things you do. If you keep installing and unistalling weird stuff or changing system files or registry settings it can get bad pretty quick. Also if something breaks there is always system restore to well, restore it. Oh and I really doubt we can beat XP.