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ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

reactos.org

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Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#31

Post by majewsky »

EGreg wrote: post #23

Didn't Microsoft release the .NET API and also Wine can be used? https://www.winehq.org/ I am really impressed with what ReactOS is doing, but what is the practical reason for it? I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) they're cloning Windows XP, which happens to be my favorite Windows operating system.

Wine and .NET only cover the userland. There are a huge number of Windows installations out there that are stuck on XP because some specialized device (e.g. a lab probe or a CNC mill or a dialysis machine) only has drivers for XP. If we could get these on ReactOS, it could decrease the impact of the next WannaCry.

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#32

Post by qb45 »

majewsky wrote: post #29
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the bugs that are utilized by worms Which is why I said an email attachment. The average virus relying on user interaction doesn't need bugs.

It doesn't need a code execution bug, but it usually needs some sort of privilege escalation bug.

Simple viruses will just email themselves to all your contacts and steal your banking password, no special privileges are required for that.

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#33

Post by AstralStorm »

walterbell wrote: post #24
janvidar wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

KVM is QEMU. QEMU is already listed there.

Qemu provides device emulation for KVM, but there is other code that could affect Windows/ReactOS compatibility, including guest drivers for net/disk IO.

Virtio drivers should already work. The emulated SATA and E1000 ones also work as they are the same as for QEMU, which works. Audio HDA also works. (a bit better than in Windows if you pick pulseaudio backend)

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#34

Post by mickrussom »

StevePerkins wrote: post #17

I tried installing this on the latest VirtualBox release. It installed cleanly, but the VM would not fully boot. It just hangs on the startup splash screen, with the progress bar about three-quarters of the way across. I found a wiki page advising VirtualBox users to disable "I/O APIC", and to change the virtual network adapter to "PCnet-FAST III". But this made no difference. Just to be thorough, I re-installed comp…

I just tried it in VMware Workstation, both on Linux and Windows. Looks to be 32-bit only. Did not install. Rebooted to black screen. Also did not detect multiple CPUs. Tried settings for windows NT, 2000, 2003, Windows XP and Windows XP-64-bit. I've booted Windows NT 3.51 in here as well as OS/2 Warp, Solaris, and other less used OSes in here. This is one of the very few that didnt boot. I dont get how Windows NT 5.2 (2003-level) is going to be very useful anymore as the two OSes at that level, Windows XP-64 and Windows 2003 are out of support so while this project is impressive Im not what the point of it is outside of being an interesting science project. It also didnt support NTFS, only FAT during install.

NOTE: Just got it working. Seems to be UP only, 32-bit only, works under "Windows XP Pro" profile with IDE only.

Impressive clone of windows 2003 32-bit, 13-14 years after...

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#35

Post by [deleted] »

mickrussom wrote: post #34
StevePerkins wrote: post #17

I tried installing this on the latest VirtualBox release. It installed cleanly, but the VM would not fully boot. It just hangs on the startup splash screen, with the progress bar about three-quarters of the way across. I found a wiki page advising VirtualBox users to disable "I/O APIC", and to change the virtual network adapter to "PCnet-FAST III". But this made no difference. Just to be thorough, I re-installed comp…

I just tried it in VMware Workstation, both on Linux and Windows. Looks to be 32-bit only. Did not install. Rebooted to black screen. Also did not detect multiple CPUs. Tried settings for windows NT, 2000, 2003, Windows XP and Windows XP-64-bit. I've booted Windows NT 3.51 in here as well as OS/2 Warp, Solaris, and other less used OSes in here. This is one of the very few that didnt boot. I dont get how Windows NT 5.…

[deleted]

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#36

Post by garaetjjte »

StevePerkins wrote: post #17

I tried installing this on the latest VirtualBox release. It installed cleanly, but the VM would not fully boot. It just hangs on the startup splash screen, with the progress bar about three-quarters of the way across. I found a wiki page advising VirtualBox users to disable "I/O APIC", and to change the virtual network adapter to "PCnet-FAST III". But this made no difference. Just to be thorough, I re-installed comp…

>So if you don't have an up-to-date and accurate list of instructions for installing ReactOS on VirtualBox

They have preinstalled image for VirtualBox.

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#37

Post by snvzz »

_b8r0 wrote: post #21

I wonder how practical ReactOS could be as a small business server? With Microsoft's changes in Licensing, it seems there's a demand for an OS as straightforward as Windows, obviously with some degree of compatibility, but without all of the telemetry garbage. Could ReactOS (or a distribution derived from it) plug this gap?

If you're looking for AD, samba4 can do it on Linux.

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#38

Post by nathan_f77 »

I haven't really looked into ReactOS, but I just read some more about it [1], and I'm starting to get interested. There's still not a lot of software for Linux, but there's a ton of software for Windows. I also don't really care about the price of the Windows license, but I really like that the source code is available, and that I would be able to fix any bugs and submit a pull request. Having said that, I don't recall ever noticing a single bug in Windows, and I used it for more than 10 years. Definitely a lot of security holes though (i.e. viruses.)

Unfortunately, I don't think I will ever have a practical reason to use this or contribute to it. I use Windows 10 to develop apps, and sometimes to play a couple of games on Steam, so I think I'll always need to be running the latest version of Windows.

[1] https://www.reactos.org/wiki/ReactOS

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#39

Post by cwyers »

majewsky wrote: post #29
TazeTSchnitzel wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the bugs that are utilized by worms Which is why I said an email attachment. The average virus relying on user interaction doesn't need bugs.

It doesn't need a code execution bug, but it usually needs some sort of privilege escalation bug.

But that bug doesn't have to be in Windows. If you can get privilege escalation in a Windows app that the user trusts (hello, Office), then you're in. ReactOS is based on Windows circa XP and doesn't implement UAC, so that vulnerability is wide open.

Re: ReactOS 0.4.5 Released

#40

Post by SyneRyder »

StevePerkins wrote: post #17

I tried installing this on the latest VirtualBox release. It installed cleanly, but the VM would not fully boot. It just hangs on the startup splash screen, with the progress bar about three-quarters of the way across. I found a wiki page advising VirtualBox users to disable "I/O APIC", and to change the virtual network adapter to "PCnet-FAST III". But this made no difference. Just to be thorough, I re-installed comp…

I had that issue with the boot process hanging 3/4 through on 0.4.3, but it (so far) seems to be fixed for me on 0.4.5. I'm using Parallels Desktop, with a 32-bit VM set to act as Windows 2000.
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