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Reactos as a windows alternative
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Reactos as a windows alternative

This way you don't have to pay for licenses /etc.

From what I saw, most programs you use on windows should work on reactos, except games :/

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Comments

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    Its alpha, firefox and 7zip works. I tested it, I just used it in virtualbox and messed with it. Some old games also working, but no steam or something like this.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    It's been half functional and only worthy of alpha status since before half the members of this forum could walk. I don't think it'll ever go anywhere significant ;)

    Thanked by 1marrco
  • I've heard of this but have never actually went ahead and used it, but why would we need a windows alternative? If your machine is slow install XP. Although I guess wine can be a hassle somethimes

  • That's see if it could go to be stable

  • @BuyCPanel_Kevin said:
    I've heard of this but have never actually went ahead and used it, but why would we need a windows alternative?** If your machine is slow install XP**. Although I guess wine can be a hassle somethimes

    (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ ┻━┻

    Don't use that ugly XP word anymore.

  • c0yc0y Member
    edited November 2013

    There are some (technically illegal) XP "distros" that are stripped down, customized and have custom updating that could fit your needs.

    ReactOS won't ever make it because games will emerge to Linux before that and all generic audience will be gone from ReactOS.

  • Of course it won't ever make it when people donate to save warez files, but not to help magnificent open-source projects like ReactOS.

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

    @Frost ha, ATI is shity at Linux support. Not updating drivers and these shit.
    I can use the same graphicard under windows but not under linux because there not update under linux the driver anymore..

  • @kontam said:
    Of course it won't ever make it when people donate to save warez files, but not to help magnificent open-source projects like ReactOS.

    The problem is that isn't that incredibly useful unless you're building something like an application sandbox. They can't really do anything without MS jumping on them to get them down. IIRC nobody wanted to develop for it (because all devs now it's pointless) and nobody is going to donate for expensive developers whereof nobody really knows what they're doing...

    As far as I am aware donating is the last thing warez downloaders would do without getting something in return...

  • @Infinity580 said:
    Frost ha, ATI is shity at Linux support. Not updating drivers and these shit.
    I can use the same graphicard under windows but not under linux because there not update under linux the driver anymore..

    Yea, most drivers are terrible at this point. But those companies are starting to see they are starting to miss out on a market and are slowly adjusting.

    For example, commercial products like the steam box or whatever it's called will hopefully speed up the development. (it's an x86 game console running on Linux)

  • TheLinuxBugTheLinuxBug Member
    edited November 2013

    I think I have said this before in another conversation on here, but I will repeat it for those unaware. "Technically" Running any non-server windows OS on a virtual instance is against Microsoft's licensing. In other words, regardless of whether you have a license for it, Windows XP, Vistas, 7, etc which are NOT server licensed OS's are not to be run on virtualized services and would break the license agreement if you do so. For this reason I can see how ReactOS might be a way you can run a lightweight windows-like operating system on a virtualized server without violating any type of license agreement (as it is open source) and it is still able to run a good portion of Windows programs.

    Note: before someone says it, of course it is POSSIBLE to run XP, Vista, etc in a virtualized environment, it just isn't legal to per the license that comes with the operating systems. (I have read that it can be legal to run XP/Vista/etc on a VM, however, you can only legally run ONE instance of said operating system on a server, meaning physical piece of hardware, so you could not run more than 1 instance of XP on that server legally.) This is why no host offers these as templates or install cds. Hosts found allowing multiple instances of these non-server OSs can be fined for doing so.

    For a lack of a better reference I will include the following: http://serverfault.com/questions/134251/vmware-windows-xp-guest-licensing

    Cheers!

    Thanked by 1marrco
  • Frost said: ReactOS won't ever make it because games will emerge to Linux before that and all generic audience will be gone from ReactOS.

    CAn you prove this?

    TheLinuxBug said: or this reason I can see how ReactOS might be a way you can run a lightweight windows-like operating system on a virtualized server without violating any type of license agreement

    That's exactly what I'm trying to say.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    What can be proven is the test of time. ReactOS has stood through the test of time and proven without a doubt it's ability to remain only useful enough to be declared an alpha staged product. I've been eyeing their progress from near the beginning and little has improved since that time. It's "potential" has been as useful as vaporware and it's development has faced too many obstacles and too little interest.

  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    TheLinuxBug said: (I have read that it can be legal to run XP/Vista/etc on a VM, however, you can only legally run ONE instance of said operating system on a server, meaning physical piece of hardware, so you could not run more than 1 instance of XP on that server legally.)

    I assume you are talking about OEM here because retail versions can be run everywhere, including more vms on a hardware server as long as you run one per key in total all over (including physical machines).
    Volume licenses and OEM have a lot of restrictions indeed.

  • @Maounique said: retail versions can be run everywhere, including more vms on a hardware server as long as you run one per key in total all over (including physical machines).

    Thats not what Microsoft specifies on licensing guides and PUR (Product Use Right). You can legally run a grand total of one (1) Full Product Package license of a client operating system per physical node, AND the whole physical node must be dedicated to a single user.
    To legally run multiple Windows VPS for multiple users on the same host, a Windows volume license with Software Assurance is required for each VPS (you can therefore use the Windows 7 / Windows 8 Enterprise edition), and it should be activated with KMS (the KMS server will periodically send license usage data to Microsoft). The required license is not available on SPLA. As alternative, you can activate a Windows VDA subscription for each VPS.

    Thanked by 1TheLinuxBug
  • What does ReactOS have to offer over

    1) Wine
    2) Windows in a VM
    3) Just use Windows.

    Also, if games do not work, what exactly do you want to run on it that will not run on another OS altogether?

    I am pretty sure the money you save on license fees will be out weighed by time spent getting stuff to work. It is not generally worth worrying about the cost of an OS. I use Linux for everything (including desktops) but because I like it - not because it is free of cost (open source has other advantages that do matter).

  • @Frost said: ReactOS won't ever make it because games will emerge to Linux before that and all
    generic audience will be gone from ReactOS.

    @duckeeyuck said: CAn you prove this?

    Common sense can.

  • Microlinux said: Common sense can.

    Not long ago it was common sense that women were inferior to men.
    A while ago it was common sense that computers wouldn't ever hit consumers like it does now.

    graemep said: 1) Wine 2) Windows in a VM 3) Just use Windows.

    You never been in a situation when you:

    Your program only has windows binaries.
    You don't want to use a license.
    It's light as your dick.

    Thanked by 1ihatetonyy
  • @duckeeyuck said:
    Not long ago it was common sense that women were inferior to men. A while ago it was common sense that computers wouldn't ever hit consumers like it does now.

    You're supporting your own misassumption: ReactOS was promised and advertised as the platform that would run Windows games etc, but as you pointed out time learnt otherwise.

    Read up on the docs of React, it's based on Wine. That is not an assumption, it shares codebase (for the kernel primarily IIRC). That is not extracted from the code by me, that's what they say.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    @duckeeyuck said:
    It's light as your dick.
    ...
    Not long ago it was common sense that women were inferior to men.

    Not long ago Hitler was killing Jews. Do you support killing Jews? Not long ago blacks were slaves in America. Do you support slavery?

    I think the thing to take away here is that you're a hitler supporting racist.

    Sorry just talking random crap that does nothing to advance a light discussion but instead draws focus to more sensitive and toxic discussions so as to attempt to shame people who don't think like I do. That's how discussion works, right?

    Thanked by 1Zen
  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    @jarland said:
    Do you support slavery?

    Well all christians and jews do, it is in the holy book, but there is a restriction, jews cannot be enslaved.
    Compared to the slavery issue, the homosexuality issue takes a lot less space and is mentioned among many other things yet it is a focal point in most judeo-christiano-muslim cults today while slavery/racist propaganda took a back seat.
    I wonder why it is so.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    Haha I love you @Maounique. Let's detail this mother :D

  • Maounique said: retail versions can be run everywhere

    Adding to what @TheLinuxBug and @pcan mentioned, SPLA is the only legal way to offer Windows OS to VPS clients hosted on the same physical node. Since client OS (Windows XP, Vista, 7, etc.) is not listed in SPLA, there is theoretically no way to license client OS to customers.

    Besides, you can't buy a retail DC edition and start offering Windows VPS, that would be illegal from MS's perspectives as well. BYOL simply doesn't work as long as there are multiple tenants on the same physical node.

  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran
    edited November 2013

    pcan said: To legally run multiple Windows VPS for multiple users on the same host, a Windows volume license with Software Assurance is required for each VPS (you can therefore use the Windows 7 / Windows 8 Enterprise edition), and it should be activated with KMS (the KMS server will periodically send license usage data to Microsoft).

    Yes, that comes at no extra cost for volume licensing.

    Anyway, nobody mentioned selling clients here, we sell the VM, separately we sell also vms with windows and spla, it has an extra cost of course.
    As a user of your own retail license or academic, i think, you can install it in a VPS as well as trials, at least this is what I understand.
    IIRC even SPLA allows for 30 days trials.
    Getting involved in microsoft licensing nightmare is for specialists, no wonder they are always finding something wrong, I am sure even MS representatives are not sure in some cases.
    That is why using free software is much better.

  • @Maounique said: Yes, that comes at no extra cost for volume licensing.

    Software Assurance (SA) is a additional product on top of volume licensing, and it has its own extra price on top of the regular volume license price. A volume license does not automatically includes SA and virtualization rights. But some volume licensing programs are bundled wit SA.

    @Maounique said: As a user of your own retail license or academic, i think, you can install it in a VPS as well as trials

    Microsoft basically states that BYOL (Bring Your Own License) does only entitles for tests and trials, no real production work is allowed. A Windows client BYOL scenario is only possible with some high level volume licensing contract (Enterprise Agreement) and with a special provider accreditation with Microsoft (I guess it does not come free).

    @Maounique said: I am sure even MS representatives are not sure in some cases.

    It works this way: Microsoft has product licensing specialists (one for Windows, another for SQL server etc). The Microsoft sales representative calls each one of them, then compile the final licensing proposal. For small contracts (below 250-500 client licenses), Microsoft delegates to partners.

    @Maounique said: That is why using free software is much better.

    Of course it is (with some caveat). But most productivity software (CAD, etc) does only works in Windows. Microsoft pressure is so intense that certain enterprise software is being developed in Unix and is only sold as a Cgiwin Windows port. That's extreme, but real.

  • ReactOS has been under the "alpha" stages for years now. ReactOS us Unix based, as far as I believe. If you wanna be Windows free, just go Ubuntu or any other Linux-based Distribution. Who would even want an OS to look like Windows 2000?

  • MaouniqueMaounique Host Rep, Veteran

    I liked 2000 a lot. Was a big change from win98.
    Implementing a windows-like environment was a drem for many people in the nineties and early 2000 but it didnt happen, there was even an attempt to reuse dumped code by microsoft (someone remembers the "longhorn" saga ?
    Today the demand is no longer here, desktops are more and more irrelevant for the youth today, mobile devices are the hype.
    From my PoV, mobile devices will be used by everyone and desktops and servers by professionals some kind of front-end and back-end of the IT world.

    Thanked by 2Zen jar
  • eLohkCalbeLohkCalb Member
    edited November 2013

    Maounique said: As a user of your own retail license or academic, i think, you can install it in a VPS as well as trials, at least this is what I understand.

    For companies offering hosting services, SPLA is the only legal way to license Windows OS to VPS clients in Microsoft's eyes, all other methods are not the right way to do it, including BYOL.

    Enterprise Agreement is of course an exception since this agreement can overrule everything they defined.

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    @Maounique said:
    I liked 2000 a lot.

    Me too. It was the last version of Windows that I directly purchased.

  • duckeeyuckduckeeyuck Member
    edited November 2013

    Frost said: You're supporting your own misassumption: ReactOS was promised and advertised as the platform that would run Windows games etc, but as you pointed out time learnt otherwise.

    I don't know about that. But reactos is moving forward, slowly but it's moving forward at the very least, that to me is more than enough to take them seriously. But that's just how I feel.

    I said that because I didn't like that common sense comment. Sorry if it came out another way.

    Frost said: Read up on the docs of React, it's based on Wine. That is not an assumption, it shares codebase (for the kernel primarily IIRC). That is not extracted from the code by me, that's what they say.

    I don't get where you're going with this.

    jarland said: Not long ago Hitler was killing Jews. Do you support killing Jews? Not long ago blacks were slaves in America. Do you support slavery?

    I think the thing to take away here is that you're a hitler supporting racist.

    Sorry just talking random crap that does nothing to advance a light discussion but instead draws focus to more sensitive and toxic discussions so as to attempt to shame people who don't think like I do. That's how discussion works, right?

    How does hitler relate? I'm saying reactos is in pretty soft on your machine, thats a fact.

    Jeffrey said: ReactOS has been under the "alpha" stages for years now. ReactOS us Unix based, as far as I believe. If you wanna be Windows free, just go Ubuntu or any other Linux-based Distribution. Who would even want an OS to look like Windows 2000?

    I'm not going to judge something by it's looks. Especially when it's on a server.
    Maybe you like installing fancy eye-candy on your instances, I really don't know what you want, some other people have different goals and different reasons. I hope that's not the case, I don't know you.

    Feel free to do what you want, I see leb/let as a hobbyist website, if you're a provider or you have something important that you do not wish to risk, do whatever you want and install an official windows image.

    I love screwing around, who doesn't? In the past I've had the need to use windows to run stuff that isn't available on linux.
    I should be clearer, what I wanted by posting this thread was to give anyone who feels like experimenting or simply doesn't mind doing this for w/e reason.

    In most cases it's not a desktop/server alternative, we're on LOWENDBOX/TALK'S GENERAL section, people usually come here to do/have fun with less, it's an amazing thing.
    It doesn't matter if you're saying reactos is a bad thing or w/e you want to do. But if anyone feels like just trashing or just gets mad about this without actually trying to discuss and get somewhere (not my intention), feel free to talk about it

    I'm inviting you (whoever is reading this) to try something else, not to drop your life away. And instead, just have fun.

    Thanks.

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