When picking operating systems for a closer look here in the Daily Drivers series, the aim has not been to merely pick the next well-known Linux distro off the pile, but to try out the interesting, esoteric or minority OS. The need remains to use it as a daily driver though, so each one we try has to have at least some chance of being a useful everyday environment in which a Hackaday piece could be written. With some of them such as the then-current BSD or Slackware versions we tried for interest’s sake a while back that’s not a surprising achievement, but for the minority operating systems it’s quite a thing. Today’s choice, ReactOS 0.4.15, is among the closest we’ve come so far to that ideal.
For The N’th Time In The Last 20 Years, I download A ReactOS ISO
ReactOS is an open-source clone of a Windows operating system from the early 2000s, having a lot on common with Windows XP. It started in the late 1990s and has slowly progressed ever since, making periodic releases that, bit-by-bit, have grown into a usable whole. I last looked at it for Hackaday with version 0.4.13 in 2020, so have five years made any difference? Time to download that ISO and give it a go.
Installing ReactOS has that bright blue and yellow screen feeling of a Windows install from around the millennium, but I found it to be surprisingly quick and pain free despite a few messages about unidentified hardware. The display driver it chose was a VESA one but since it supported all my monitor’s resolutions and colour depths that’s not the hardship it might once have been.
Once installed, the feeling is completely of a Windows desktop from that era except for the little ReactOS logo on the Start menu. I chose the classic Windows 95 style theme as I never liked the blue of Windows XP. Everything sits where you remember it and has the familiar names, and if you used a Microsoft computer in those days you’re immediately at home. There’s even a web browser, but since it’s the WINE version of Internet Explorer and dates from the Ark, we’re guessing you’ll want to replace it.
Most Of The Old Software You Might Need…
There’s a package manager to download and run open-source software, something which naturally Windows never had. Back in 2020 I found this to be the Achilies’ heel of the OS, with very little able to install and run without crashing, so i was very pleased to note that this situation has changed. Much of the software is out of date due to needing Windows XP compatibility, but I found it to be much more usable and stable. There’s a choice of web browsers but the Firefox and Chromium versions are too old to be useful, but I found its K-Meleon version to be the most recent of the bunch. Adding GIMP to my installed list, I was ready to try this OS as my daily driver.
I am very pleased to report that using K-Meleon and GIMP on ReactOS 0.4.15, I could do my work as a Hackaday writer and editor. This piece was in part written using it, and Hackaday’s WordPress backend is just the same as in Firefox on my everyday Manjaro Linux machine. There however the good news ends, because I’m sorry to report that the experience was at times a little slow and painful. Perhaps that’s the non-up-to-date hardware I’d installed it on, but it’s evident that 2025 tasks are a little taxing for an OS with its roots in 2003. That said it remained a usable experience, and I could just about do my job were I marooned on a desert island with my creaking old laptop and ReactOS.
… And It Works, Too!
So ReactOS 0.4.15 is a palpable hit, an OS that can indeed be a Daily Driver. It’s been a long time, but at last ReactOS seems mature enough to use. I have to admit that I won’t be making the switch though, but who should be thinking about it? I think perhaps back in 2020 I got it right, in suggesting that as a pretty good facsimile of Windows XP it is best thought of as an OS for people who need XP bur for whom the venerable OS is now less convenient. It’s more than just a retrocomputing platform, instead it’s a supported alternative to the abandonware original for anyone with hardware or software from that era which still needs to run. Just like FreeDOS is now the go-to place for people who need DOS, so if they continue on this trajectory, should ReactOS become for those needing a classic Windows. Given the still-installed rump of software and computer controlled machinery which runs XP, that could I think become a really useful niche to occupy.
Is it out of alpha yet? I’ve been waiting nearly 20 years for a beta.
That graphic reminds of a BYTE cover. But yeah ReactOS for that E-waste argument that’s the current fashion.
Daily driver this, daily driver that yet your user agent shows Windows / Firefox combo 😂
Hmmm.. curious where you found her user agent.
But… my second thought… It’s a Windows clone. I bet the user agent reflects that.
Sure enough, running Firefox 52.9, the latest supported by the app database in ReactOS and surfing over to https://whatismyuseragent.com gives me a user agent that includes the words Firefox and Windows.
My copy/paste does not seem to function between my ReactOS V/M and the host machine. And I don’t feel like typing it out character by character to give you the exact user agent… sorry.
But.. when I tried to leave this comment directly from the browser in ReactOS… the comment box doesn’t work! Didn’t Jenny say all the WordPress stuff worked fine? Well, there are lots of other browsers and browser versions available in the installer. And one could always attempt (good luck) at just downloading the installer themselves for an unsupported browser. Maybe she was on a different version. Well… I’m not going to try that. This was enough for me.
On that note BTW, shame on you HaD for not being more backwards compatible! I mean visually I don’t see anything here that would have been out of place on a website since.. I don’t know.. 1998? Which is fine. Eye candy isn’t what the site is about. But why then doesn’t it function in a browser from as recent as 2018???
Problem is you want modern CMS so collaboration and management is easy, and those usually build on top of modern technologies. You would need to build converter from whatever wordpress generates into retro flat pages.
That shouldn’t be that complex.
Even more so now that chatGPT and others can give you all the API calls you need, reducing the -sometimes horrible- documentation of such modern tools.
Also, in adition to make it compatible for old hardware, it would reduce the bandwidth to serve the pages.
Granted, you may loss some anoying, I mean, “””useful””” features, like google adnonsense cookies.
But hey, that’s just my two cents = )
The problem is ms trying to modernize everything to the point they want it to be a touch screen phone use experience which us as PC users don’t or never wanted!!
Yes touch screen is nice but that’s where it ends!!..
And windows 11 is the worse!!!. Nothing like adware and spyware running as your daily driver with a mix of ransomware thrown in…
Ok seriously, I switched to Linux full time a couple months ago, and then yesterday I actually needed to dust off my dual boot and use Windows 11 for a minute. Oh my God! Windows had already gotten bad enough that it made me leave, but it’s gotten even worse since I left! The amount of enshittification that’s happened in like 3 months is wild. I did what I needed and rebooted to Linux as fast as I could, it was crazy. After spending a few months using an OS that is just a solid OS with no AI slop, surveillance capitalism, or advertising thrown in, Windows felt like straight up malware.
It just is now.
Got any proofs? Or are you talking out of your arse?
I guess you would not be so eager if you were to repeat those words in court.
For each their own, for a normal user, windows 11 is fine. Sure, the taskbar being pinned to the bottom of the screen is a PITA, but it can be circumvented. Games work without issues, nordvpn works, microtorrent works. What more could one wish for ?
Enshittification. I like that term. I might have to adopt that one.
I use windows11 for work.
They even manage to make NOTEPAD glitch…
I repeat, they managed to make notepad glitch.
When you put your cursor at the end of the file and save (and that happen quite some time), you lose the cursor. Also, it really don’t like empty lines at the end of the file…
Damn, notepad worked fine, (almost) unchanged since what, windows 1?
Also, they manage to make it weight… 25Mo. It was hundreds of kilobytes before…
So yeah, I don’t really like this OS as everything is like that.
I prefer Haiku,
can You make a benchmark gimp or blender?
i periodically try to run it on my old rigs, but it never does. best ive been able to do is run it in a vm, poorly. if there was a time for reactos to drop beta, now would be it. with windows being unusable and so many people reluctant to open the linux can of worms. but it seems late to the party. linux is also doing a really good job at bringing over the gamers. i admit the only reason i havent switched are a couple of pieces of pro software ive not been able to use on linux even with wine/proton/etc.
i like the idea of reactos but the glacial development and aiming for low end hardware (does it even do 64-bit? gpu drivers work?) kinda kills it for someone who builds a new rig every few years. i always joke that by the time the os hits beta, it will be good enough to use for the control system on fusion reactors.
Hi, yes. A 64-Bit build does exist, I vaguely remember. But it doesn’t have WoW64 yet.
32-Bit ReactOS runs Win32 applications, 64-Bit ReactOS runs Win64 applications.
Not sure about Win16 support, though. DOS applications run in an NTVDM substitute based on DOSBox, I think.
What I think is nice about ReactOS is that it’s free like FreeDOS.
It also doesn’t do phone home like Windows does, so no headaches here.
Thus, it’s nice to have around.
It’s like a free Windows 2000 that belongs to those Windows fans
who like the good, “old” Windows experience of the 90s and 2000s.
Back then when Windows itself still was relevant as an operating system and not just a “software as a service”.
It’s also cool that it can be modified as needed, since it’s source code is available.
So new types of hardware could be supported in the future.
Things like USB 5 or a succesor to UEFI, which a real old Windows couldn’t handle without much hacking.
I know, that sounds hopelessly optimistic,
but “down to earth” things like ReactOS help to keep your sanity in this crazy IT life of today.
Because, I think, the Windows 2000 used as a role model was very clean, very logical by design.
It was the peak of Windows NT line from a professional point of view.
(Windows XP to 7 were cool, too, but 2k was rock-solid and serious.)
Linux does run on most older machines and most Windows software runs on Wine just fine unless it requires device drivers. Some old software runs better on Wine than on current Windows.
Hi there! WINE is used by ReactOS, too. 😃
So if seen from a certain angle, ReactOS basically IS a stand-alone WINE (though that statement doesn’t do ReactOS devs any justice).
Thus, there’s no reason to basically say that people should use Linux/WINE instead.
People who choose ReactOS want a Windows-OS that can use Windows drivers and do windowsy stuff.
Maybe because they have special needs,
want to run Windows applications natively or want to apply their vast Windows knowledge.
Or maybe because they want to run a 90s-themed cyber café with a dozen PCs for lan partys.
Or have a factory that runs on an aging Windows NT4 system that needs a more modern backup hardware, eventually.
From a licensing point of view, ReactOS is safe here since its GPLed.
It prevents getting into legal troubles here, it can be used in public installations and needs no Windows key/activation of any kind.
Let’s think of it, unlike with Windows there’s no COA sticker with a serial nr. on the PC case that could be stolen (written down/photographed) by users.
(An alternative would be to keep the COAs in a cupboard or a folder, with each of them being associated clearly to an individual PC by number. PC#1, PC#2 etc. The PCs would have to be numbered, too.)
Everyone believe it or not, there’s more than Linux in this world. 😝
Linux is not our universal savior, as crazy as it may sound. 🤪
Have you woken up straight from 2005?
Data used for activating modern Windows install is kept in ACPI MSDM table (in other words – inside motherboard). I have not seen Windows CoA sticker in years.
And if it’s Windows XP you’re talking about, why would anyone want to steal its CD-key in 2025?
Anyway, in a real industrial facility the cost to hire an IT pro who’ll get a regular Windows PC and Siemens S7 software up and running within a day is miniscule compared to losses from production line being stuck, while some sweaty nerd needs just two more weeks to fix that pesky bug with GNU dildotronics 2.1.37 interfering with GNU cocksuckism 6.9.0000.1-beta on a GNU Totally-not-a-Windows-Clone that’s been stuck in year 2000 for the last 25 years.
Do you have to be personal?
Anyway, I wrote about possible legal aspects of using Windows vs ReactOS here.
– In particular about Windows NT 4 vs ReactOS.
Because in some countries, law is strictly being applied.
Age of software doesn’t matter, doesn’t affect its value there.
So if a PC used in public uses copyrighted, commercial software without its proper license then this can lead to court.
And especially Microsoft software is being checked for being legal,
because the authorities are familiar with it (some countries run their whole internal administration on MS software).
Again, it’s about law and legal aspects here.
Here it’s crucial to think very pedantic, there’s no place for such things as “common sense” and “to let five be even” (to bend the rules a bit).
In legal things, rules are rules. Period.
What someone does at home, non-commerciall, for the psrsonal enjoyement is an entire different story, also.
Here, in practice, it might be fine to use some wa*ez from the internet because “nobody cares”.
But not if it’s being used in public or to run a business, it’s an entirely different story.
That’s like driving a car without a license plate, more or less.
You can do that on your private property but not on public streets.
PC gamers should grow up and learn the difference, maybe.
I don’t know – what’s going one in some people’s heads, anyway?
Why do people love playing games that have the sole goal to cause other creatures (simulated) pain? Doom? Moorhuhn?
Windows 2000, 98SE, Me, XP, Vista, 7 etc used the same type of COA sticker basically, I think.
I’ve seen them on the underside of various laptops in the past.
Not sure about Windows NT4, I admit. Windows 95 had it on a yellow sticker in manual or on the paper sleeve of the CD-ROM?
WfW still had it in manual, I think, but wasn’t required for installation.
Windows 3.x didn’t use any serial numbers yet, I believe.
Here, the original disk sets (mainly disk #1) and the manual itself served as a proof of authenticity, maybe.
Speaking under correction here.
You wrote some feel-good fairy tales that will never come to life because this “system” has been obsolete the moment it was released.
Stallman is not your friend, he will give you a wet kiss but its only to satisfy his lust.
Speaking of it, another elephant in the room is the current geopolitical situation.
Modern commercial software, especially the popular type made in North America, can be updated, activated but also remote-controlled over internet.
If a powerful being over there wants it, -for what ever reason-, then all that software can be locked down world-wide.
Every Windows PC on the internet could then be locked, just to “make a deal” with the other countries.
That’s worrying. Switching from Windows or Microsoft software in general to free software is something to be considering.
Even Linux (yikes!) is a worthy consideration here.
Someday I will try ReactOS. Currently WINE and Proton gets windows software going for me. The biggest problem is DirectX, Linux relies on Vulkan which has a high hardware requirement vs running it all in windows. A new and very expensive GPU is required for Proton to handle newer DirectX versions. Whereas in Windows 10/11this stuff works on meager specs.
Thanks Jenny, I regularly think about giving ReactOS “another” go as well, but generally assume it just won’t cut it and I’m too lazy to try it and then have to reinstall Windows. So glad that you did the legwork and report that it’s getting… well, maybe not there, but closer I suppose.
Sadly still a waste of time I suspect to try to install directly on real hardware. I tried to do that at the latest version a few months ago and it didn’t work.
So instead I’m keeping Windows 10 32bit running with network disabled, to run a Yamaha SW1000XG sound card in a Fractal case. It’s a MIDI sound module that just so happens to run Windows as its OS.
Hi! I guess ReactOS still needs “good” hardware at the moment, just like Linux did by the turn of the century.
Try something like a Pentium MMX or Pentium II with 64 MB RAM (or 128 MB), an IDE/PATA HDD of 2GB (or 20GB), a PATA CD-ROM drive (or DVD/BD) and a VESA VBE 2.0 compatible PCI graphics card (or VBE 3.0 AGP card that has good compatibility).
And an PS/2 mouse and keyboard. Something normal, you know.
Rather than a hot-rod PC from the 2010s with PCI Express, multi-core CPUs and Gigabytes of everything. Something normal instead.
Something humble that servers had used in 19″ racks, rather than what gaming PCs use.
You’ve got to really be putting in some serious hours each day to daily drive all of these jalopies! Always fun to see what you dig up though
Now it is time for Haiku ;)
+1
Over here in Germany, Zeta was popular for a while. On TV, I mean. That was in the mid-2000s.
For a while, to the TV viewers at least, it seemed like it could make it as a Windows killer.
To many casual users, Zeta (or BeOS) seemed to be the better, brighter alternative to the more nerdy Linux.
Because Zeta was very quick, had low requirements and was multimedia capable.
Unlike Linux distros, which at the time didn’t even had a DVD or MP3 codec shipped.
(Some PC enthusiasts perhaps even remembered the BeOS 5 Personal Edition that was bundled for free on cover CDs of PC magazines by turn of century.)
Here’s a video of an (in)famous German teleshopping channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQW-q2vp6W4
I run a database that is so old that the manual references OS2 warp. It’s lotus approach and it runs just fine on Windows 11
I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade and I salute these interesting adventures. I may even try it on a virtual machine, Y’all got me curious