I'm not completely sure I understand which particular platform you guys are using as a benchmark. Are you aiming for NT 4.0? Win2k? XP? But it doesn't really matter all that much, does it. Even if version 1.0 is more or less an NT 4 clone, you will have accomplished something very important: You will have presented a solid Operating System alternative to the world that is NOT Linux based and is NOT owned by Microsoft (or any other big corporation, for that matter) but by the community.
As someone mentioned in another post, Linux is like a Grand Piano delivered in kit form -- all the pieces of a great OS are there, but you have to put it together. And I know I couldn't just build a piano if someone gave me such a kit.
But -- and this is the crux of my post -- what is absolutely essential is that ReactOS have a clear vision NOW of where it intends to go AFTER 1.0. Following are my thoughts on how to lift ReactOS to the long-coveted and oft-imagined status of Windows Rival. (Linux isn't there and never will be -- don't listen to the fanboys who say otherwise, they don't live in our world.)
First and Foremost: There must be no serious attachment to riding Microsoft's Coat-tails, or this Project will eventually die.
As others have suggested, the goal should NOT be to replicate Windows. That is, ultimately, quite pointless. Yes, free code, open source, yada yada, and that's all well and good -- but what the world really needs is NOT another Windows. We've got one, and frankly, it ain't so bad, even if I do have to shell out a bit. At least in doing so I can say I'm on the bleeding edge of operating system technology, eh? Or at least that's how I feel as a consumer.
What the world DOES need, though, and what ReactOS will soon be in a position to offer the world, is a NEW Operating System, that is more-or-less compatible with Windows but has its OWN Unique Identity and Featureset, along with a willingness to take a fresh view in how people use computers. There are things that annoy us all about Windows, and after 1.0, ReactOS will be in a position to directly address those. Furthermore, the project must actively pursue revolutionary OS design concepts.
Everyone's got ideas and suggestions in that area -- I'm no different. But that's not the point. The point is to give people something that feels like Windows, 'cause that's what their used to, but which -- once they start using it -- offers a whole new perspective on using the personal computer.
If the Project takes this view, and continues active development as they have done, I see a bright and beautiful future for this exciting product.
Long Live ReactOS!
If it is the Windows-killer, we must support it and Windows. That would require some fancy memory-management waltzing.