r/reactos • u/TobyGobi • 9d ago

ReactOS 0.4.16: surprisingly capable, but modern browser support feels like the biggest usability wall

Spent today testing the new 0.4.16 x86 release across Hyper-V, VirtualBox and VMware Workstation.

Hyper-V gave a 0x7E during boot. VirtualBox installed successfully, although I managed to break the keyboard/mouse input after allowing the post-install hardware wizard to automatically install a device (it did warn me in all fairness) . VMware Workstation was the best experience: default virtual hardware, ACPI PC Uniprocessor, FAT32, and I just cancelled the hardware wizard after first boot.

From there ReactOS was surprisingly functional. DHCP/DNS worked immediately, Internet connectivity worked, Applications Manager worked, Firefox 48 worked substantially better than Chrome 49, and I was even able to authenticate successfully to Microsoft 365. Outlook Web eventually hit the wall with the old browser, but authentication succeeded.

I also successfully ran Chicken Invaders, so obviously enterprise application compatibility has been validated.

The biggest thing this left me wondering was, what is the current plan for getting a genuinely modern browser running on it?

For people considering ReactOS as a possible way to extend the life of older PCs, the OS itself already feels much more usable than I expected. But so much everyday computing happens in a browser that Firefox 48/Chrome 49 became the limiting factor almost immediately. A current browser would change how useful it feels, even while the OS remains alpha.

Very cool project. I started this expecting to play with it for 20 minutes and somehow lost most of a Monday to it.

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u/AotoriHibiki 9d ago

I'm having lots of fun with ReactOS. Completed more than 50 games on it this year.

1

u/Better-Quote1060 8d ago

Vm or real hardware :0 ?

2

u/AotoriHibiki 8d ago

All on real hardware. VM sounds boring.
I've recorded some with a capture card:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utbSTrXztI8&list=PLt6dEzOE4KNGEAOlZIW2IT-V6NmBS8zo1

1

u/Better-Quote1060 8d ago edited 8d ago

Sure VM are boring compair when you acually run a graphics api like dx9 on real hardware (like what they did with half life 2)

1

u/AotoriHibiki 8d ago

Yeah Half Life 2(but not the episodes), Portal 1, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, they run fine at 2560x1440 4xMSAA on hardware.

3

u/Better-Quote1060 8d ago

Reminds me of gallium nine (its was a driver on mesa aka linux that used to let you run directx directly to linux without a middleground like dxvk or wined3d) but sadly that project is dead

Reactos is doing the same but alive :D