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ReactOS Updates

reactos.org

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Re: ReactOS Updates

#71

Post by vel0city »

userbinator wrote: post #64
quietbritishjim wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The classic theme doesn't use DWM sadly (at least it didn't in Windows 7, I assume it still true in 10). So it doesn't just change appearance but also how it performs: DWM offloads compositing from the CPU to the GPU.

The classic theme is simple enough that it doesn't need GPU assistance (besides the usual 2D acceleration); and you get a noticeable decrease in latency from it: http://www.lofibucket.com/articles/dwm_latency.html

Gotta love when you cite a source which starts off with:

> Note: These results are totally wrong.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#72

Post by inetknght »

quietbritishjim wrote: post #32
chungy wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a real shame that Microsoft has seen fit to try to hide the ability to use the classic theme in Windows 8/10. There are ways to enable it again, but they tend to break on every update... The classic Windows 2000 theme has just the perfect balance of looking good, being totally usable, and not being overtly flashy.

The classic theme doesn't use DWM sadly (at least it didn't in Windows 7, I assume it still true in 10). So it doesn't just change appearance but also how it performs: DWM offloads compositing from the CPU to the GPU.

> DWM offloads compositing from the CPU to the GPU.

That was actually a feature. I wanted to use my GPU for other things like gaming and rendering things I actually wanted to be pretty.

The OS interface doesn't need to be pretty. It needs to be usable. The pretty and usable are usually conflicting goals.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#73

Post by fiddlerwoaroof »

da_big_ghey wrote: post #43
sanxiyn wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Emoticons absolutely make it better, just by saving chat traffic for simple acknowledgements. Emoticons are also used as a simple way to poll, which is very useful.

But they're annoying to type. I never end up using them because I'd have to go look up the icon for something, then copy and paste. I think phones have keyboard features or something, but I actively avoid typing messages from a phone because it's so slow. This represents another move towards "mobile-first" stuff, which I generally dislike.

In slack, at least, typing a colon begins autocomplete by name, which is mostly how I type them: e.g. `+:+1:‘ to react to the post above me with a thumbs-up.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#74

Post by ransom1538 »

londons_explore wrote: post #69

What is ReactOS's endgame? It seems they will never have enough resources to become more popular than windows. And they will never manage to become the desktop OS of choice over Linux or Mac either. It seems to sit in an odd place with only a tiny userbase and no real goal, permanently playing catchup.

How dare you. It is not AS3.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#75

Post by dspillett »

wongarsu wrote: post #58
scoopertrooper wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite the opposite, any developer that so much as glances at the leaked source code is banned from the project. The legality of ReactOS rests upon its developers reverse engineering Windows without having access to the source code.

As far as I'm aware you can however look at the leaked source code and use those insights to fix or write documentation about the behavior of the APIs and general behavior. You just can't write any ReactOS code yourself because you are tained once you've seen the leak. But I think the overlap between people who can extract insights from the leaked code and people who enjoy writing documentation in their free time (mo…

> As far as I'm aware you can however look at the leaked source code and use those insights to fix

You can, but if your solution is at all like theirs the onus will be on you (what-ever legal team you can afford against their 800lb gorilla) to prove that you didn't copy it.

It is far safer not to look at all, and IIRC ReactOS's developer guidelines prohibit their devs from doing so for the avoidance of doubt.

> or write documentation about the behavior of the APIs and general behavior.

What Compaq did to implement the behaviour of IBM's BIOS (the only part of the original PC that wasn't off-the-shelf) was to double-clean-room. Two completely separate teams were on the job: in one "clean room" they analysed the chip's behaviour in detail and documented everything significant, and in the other a team implemented a design that mimicked said behaviour.

I doubt the ReactOS team have the resources to properly pull this off for something as large as the Windows source code though, and even if they did that still wouldn't get close to their target of Win2003 & later compatibility (there have been some significant changes to parts of the driver model since the XP days).

Re: ReactOS Updates

#76

Post by nonbirithm »

inetknght wrote: post #72
quietbritishjim wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The classic theme doesn't use DWM sadly (at least it didn't in Windows 7, I assume it still true in 10). So it doesn't just change appearance but also how it performs: DWM offloads compositing from the CPU to the GPU.

> DWM offloads compositing from the CPU to the GPU. That was actually a feature. I wanted to use my GPU for other things like gaming and rendering things I actually wanted to be pretty. The OS interface doesn't need to be pretty. It needs to be usable. The pretty and usable are usually conflicting goals.

The issue is, at least when I tried it in Windows 7, without DWM you don't get Vsync. That means any video or game you play will have horrible screen tearing. I used to have a script to switch to Aero temporarily when I got fed up with it enough.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#77

Post by kmeisthax »

ransom1538 wrote: post #74
londons_explore wrote: post #69

What is ReactOS's endgame? It seems they will never have enough resources to become more popular than windows. And they will never manage to become the desktop OS of choice over Linux or Mac either. It seems to sit in an odd place with only a tiny userbase and no real goal, permanently playing catchup.

How dare you. It is not AS3.

...what does ReactOS have to do with ActionScript 3?

Re: ReactOS Updates

#78

Post by CivBase »

londons_explore wrote: post #69

What is ReactOS's endgame? It seems they will never have enough resources to become more popular than windows. And they will never manage to become the desktop OS of choice over Linux or Mac either. It seems to sit in an odd place with only a tiny userbase and no real goal, permanently playing catchup.

I think of it as a safety net.

If Microsoft ever damages the reputation of Windows too much, ReactOS can act as a drop-in replacement for many things with relatively little investment compared to migrating to an OS on another kernel. Even if they're not currently a threat Windows, they have done enough of the groundwork that some extra funding and support could make them a serious competitor should the need ever arise.

Plus, it's just cool.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#79

Post by highwind »

londons_explore wrote: post #69

What is ReactOS's endgame? It seems they will never have enough resources to become more popular than windows. And they will never manage to become the desktop OS of choice over Linux or Mac either. It seems to sit in an odd place with only a tiny userbase and no real goal, permanently playing catchup.

Why does it need an endgame? As long as it has enough interest to keep it going, then they should make whatever they like.

Not everything has to be #1 to be sustainable, interesting and/or worthwhile.

Re: ReactOS Updates

#80

Post by pjmlp »

mhd wrote: post #56
johnchristopher wrote: post #5

ReacOS is a testament to how solid were Windows 2000/XP's UI for everyday tasks. I wouldn't mind being back in a Windows env/shop with ReactOS.

As with many things, I think from a pure UI perspective every Windows/Office release made things worse. Win95 was pretty solid, even improved on a few things that they took from the state of art at that time (Nextstep, Classic Mac, OS/2). The Taskbar being a good example. I'm still not sure that the move from actual buttons on a button bar to just a flat series of icons was right, and many such changes happened after…

> Not that my hopes are very high in that regard, as Linux and the BSDs didn't manage to do that either, despite having most of the technology and even doing some half-hearted attempts (CORBA was a part of early GNOME)…

D-BUS has taken up that role, but it doesn't get as much as COM/UWP, which many still don't realize that since XP the large majority of new Windows APIs are only available via COM, with a possible additional .NET wrapper on top.

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